Barking ferret...

Question
is it because I am feeding her puppy chow?  I am confused.

Answer
Hi Dana:

Gosh, I hope you're not seriously feeding your ferret puppy chow! LOL  Ferrets do sometimes make a sound that is similar to a bark when they get excited, especially when they are very young and excitable.

Seriously, though, your ferret needs a kibbled food that is no less than 34% protein, high in fat and has taurine in it.  Totally Ferret is probably the best known premium ferret food. While it seems like a small thing, it WILL affect your ferret's health and longevity. Trust me, vet bills are much higher than the cost of a higher quality ferret-specific food.  

If you truly cannot afford a premium ferret food, please consider putting your ferret on IAMS KITTEN CHOW (in the purple bag) - it most closely meets a ferrets special needs.  Dog food does not meet a ferrets needs in any way. Over time, your ferret will become very unhealthy, have lots of tooth problems and other health problems that will make it sick a lot and not live long, so I truly hope you will reconsider what you're feeding your little one.

Here is a link to a great website that talks about ferret foods, and compares the various ones.

 http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html   

It's actuallly a good idea to feed at least TWO of the kibbled foods mixed together. Ferrets 'imprint' on their food when they are young and it is hard to change them over onto a new food (you may experience this when you try to chenge him now also). The best way to change them over is to start with a bowl of their regular food and just add a few pieces of the new food (or you can even use the new kibble as a 'treat' that you handfeed to your ferret until he decides he likes it, then slowly introduce it into his food bowl).  Slowly, decrease the amount of the old food and increase the amount of the new food.


A great snack for ferrets is MEAT - they are 'obligate carnivores', which means they are meat eaters....no vegetables, NO sugars or candy of any kind (even tho they love it -  just like kids, we have to control what they eat because it is what is best for them).  If you want to give your ferret a treat, try warming and thinning down a bit of chicken (meat only) or turkey (meat only) with water and serving it very warm, using your finger - dip your finger into the 'soup', then touching it to your ferret's mouth (even inside his lip if he won't try it on his own). OR, you can use a 'duck soup recipe' to feed to your ferret:

  http://groups.msn.com/Ferret/ducksoups.msnw

(be sure to read the "CAUTIONS" near the bottom of the page about feeding ferrets soup)  Once he has tasted it several times - maybe even multiple tries on different days, but it should always be a pleasant experience, don't force it - he will eventually understand that it is good and he will come to love it.  

It's very important that we all get our ferrets to eat some kind of "soup", even if it is just their normal kibble, put in the blender until it is just crumbs, then add very warm water until it is about gravy thickness. Offer it with your finger, touch his nose with it a few times so he *has* to taste it - and try again daily until he accepts it.  Eventually, some day he will be sick and you will need to handfeed him and you will be really glad that he is already familiar with 'soup' and will eat it - it can mean the difference between life and death with ferrets. They *must* eat about four times a day and when they are sick, sometimes it's really hard to get food down them four times a day.

Another "treat" is Hill's A/D Feline - which you get at your vet's office. I haven't seen a ferret yet who doesn't love it as a treat and it's an excellent food to give them if they stop eating or start losing weight....eventually every ferret will experience this, so it's good to have some A/D on hand.

Hope that helps!  Best of luck to you and your little one. I think you'll be surprised in his activity level and better health when you increase the quality of his food. For his good, I hope you will not even finish the bag of food he's eating now - it's that important that he have a better diet.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers