Bloated Belly and Mistaken Snack Issue

Question
Ok, I've had my eldest baby J (almost 2 years of age on the 22nd of Jan 2008). Me and my husband adopted him from my brother-in-law because he didn't wish to take care of him any longer when he and his wife got their divorce. At that point, he was consuming Whiskas brand cat food (in the bright fushcia purple colored bag) since he was a baby. When we got him home, I made the mistake of not reading up much on how to take care of a ferret and assumed it was similar to a hamster, just that it needed high fat and protein foods instead. I quickly discovered that I might wanna research deeper into the food for his bowel movements were very small. So I switched him to Ferret Ultra-Blend and he's been fine. Well, I also made the mistake of thinking that cheerios might be an ok snack in moderation after watching a video of ferrets eating from a box of them. I later got my hands on a ferret book and read a statement that made my heart sink in the "food no-nos" section on toasted oats. I've since eliminated cheerios from his treats and switched to creamy peanut butter, since this book said it was ok. I've been looking at him more closely these days and his stomach seems to be a bit bloated and a bit bigger than what I think it should be. He's a big boy, but he just seems really bloated, almost abnormally. I've been hoping that it's just winter weight, but I don't remember him being this big last year. We also just recently gotten a new ferret (3 months old) and he is really showing some deep depression signs and not being as active as he use to be and sleeping most of his day away. I love on him and give him individual attention away from Harle, but he just seems to get worse and his bowel movements have gone back to being small even though he's been eating regularly. I haven't a clue if I should be worried and hope things pan out for the best, but I'm really getting worried on whether or not I should take him to the vet. Please, what should I do? I can't bare to think about losing my baby over my mistakes.

Sorrowfully Hopeful,
Bri

Answer
Hi Bri:

Usually a new ferret in the house will energize an existing ferret - the new little bundle of energy usually gets the oldster all silly and playful.  If, however, baby J is not feeling well, that would certainly explain his lookingn bloated and acting depressed. Most importantly of all the symptoms you described was "skinny poops".  All ferret parents learn (sometimes the hard way) to become connoissoeurs of ferret poop.  By watching our ferret's poop, we can tell how their general state of health is. A ferret with skinny poops is NOT good. A ferret who has skinny poops and is very lazy acting is very very bad - possibly dying. A ferret who has skinny poops, acts lazy and has a bloated belly - oh my, that's really really bad news.

I would recommend you get your baby to the vet, just because the symptoms are SO extreme in this case.  Your vet will probably want to palpate his tummy to see if he can feel any blockage inside; possibly even xray to see if he can locate any blockage on an xray; and maybe even give him some Hill's A/D feline (warmed, thinned with water) with barium added, then xray as the barium courses thru his system to see exactly where the blockage is.

There is a possibility that a product called VETASYL could help your ferret. The problem is that IF your ferret has had this for a while, and/or if his bowels aren't moving enough, the cure *could* kill him.  Vetasyl is kind of like metamucil for people. Mix 6-oz warm water, 2-level tsps Uncle Jim's Duck Soup Mix and the contents of 1-capsule Vetasyl bulk laxative for pets (throw the capsule itself away). Stir well and feed as much as your ferret will eat - hopefully all of it.  My large male ferret will eatl all 6 oz and it really cleans him out.  THE PROBLEM IS....IF your ferret is *too* blocked, he could ingest this concoction, then it might not be able to pass through, since it swells while inside the ferret (that's how it moves the blockage thru the ferret).  You might want to either give him this at home and watch him for 6 hrs to be SURE he passes it; OR let your vet monitor him at the office to be sure he passes it.  This is the only thing - short of surgery - I know of that *may* help get the blockage moved thru...*may*...no guarantees.

It's really important that you learn the things that are dangerous to your ferret - both foods, toys, how to ferretproof, etc.  There is a book called FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kim Schilling that I highly recommend. It covers all these topics and is a fun-to-read format - easy to look up, etc.  I hope you'll get a copy and read it.  Also, you can read a lot of interesting information at http://www.ferretcentral.org and click on FAQ's.

Best of luck. I hope your little one is okay.  The best thing you can do for your little guys is learn as much as you possibly can. Since they can't read for themselves, they do depend upon you to read for them :-)  

I do think a vet visit is definitely in order for the little guy with the skinny poops - on an emergency basis - it definitely sounds like he has an intestinal blockage. Unless you have Vetasyl and Uncle Jim's on hand AND can sit and watch him to be sure he is okay until he passes the mixture, the only other way to handle this is to get him into a vet hospital ASAP. Please don't wait.  Once their poops are skinny, it means they are already blocked and poisons are backing up in his system.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers