Alitasha, BillyBob, TrichBezoar, Unagi's Switch

[cristina]

Nothing to report can be very good news sometimes!

Thats great that everyone is settling in well with the pinkies, let me know how they take them whole, Im excited to see how it fairs!

[ferretfreke]

So here's my report for today... I'm waiting for my rodentpro order to get here and they should be delivering my chicken necks and backs, and turkey necks to my work tomorrow. I'm thinking once I get my rodentpro order that I want to work with the ferrets some more with getting them to eat pinkies before offering some live mice. They wouldn't eat the cut up one I offered the other night. The last batch of pinkies I got from Petsmart and they were $12 for six so I was only able to mix one pinkie in the soup each time. I have a lot on the way so I want to slowly increase the amount of pinkies to the soup and then start mixing in some cut up.

I do have one concern... Aside from Bezoar, the others are mainly just eating chicken breast, chicken wings, and gizzards. They won't eat the beef chunks, lamb chunks, kidneys, heart or quail eggs that I offer. Bezoar is my best eater. He'll eat them all, then gets diarrhea sometimes because he eats all of the ferret's share. Pretty much the only thing he wont eat is the commercial raw I have. Nobody likes that. They seem to be getting bored with eating the chicken wings too. I wish they were all as easy as Bezoar. He seems to get excited when I offer him new stuff. Of course he wont eat mice either, but other than that he's done very well once I got him going. The other three do eat the other stuff usually if blended in soup. My concern is I'm not any closer to getting them to eat the above mentioned meats without the soup.

They all seem somewhat lethargic to me also. They haven't been that excitable and they go to bed pretty early. I let them out to play about 40 min ago and they've all gone to bed already. It bothers me. They normally play for at least 2 hrs before taking a nap. I try to make sure they're getting plenty of stimuli by rotating their toys, taking them outside, etc. So it seems more than boredom to me.

[ferretfreke]

One of the ferrets vomited all over during the night. Someone vomited a little when I was at work yesterday too. Whoever vomited last night, vomited a lot. It was all over the cage and out too. I suspect it was Unagi because he doesn't look like he feels very good.

I just offered them some chicken soup and everyone ate it well except Bezoar, but that's normal for him. He prefers meat. So now I'm watching them to see if they all hold it down.

[cristina]

Vomiting is a pretty concerning matter just for the reason that ferrets get dehydrated very easily, so I would check their scruff to see who (if any) are dehydrated (if the skin doesnt snap back quickly then they are dehydrated, and I would call the vet just to see their opinion...this happened to my little girl and it wasnt too much vomit but she had to have IV fluids because it took a toll on her body)

Im not sure about the lethargy...I will ask the superiors about that one, maybe they are not getting enough of a certain vitamin or mineral that may cause this....either way I will get back to you on that one, I dont think its a cause for concern yet, unless there are more symptoms which then I would talk to your vet, maybe a bug, a cold you know.

My little ones only ate chicken for a while as well, they were very uneasy and didnt eat when I put out different meats, so what I did was for about 3 days I just put out beef only and so on for each different meat. If they refuse to eat then maybe try some soup on the beef, and see if this helps them to eat the chunks. Or you can even pour some of their favorite oil on the chunks to make them more appetizing...as long as they are eating the chunks of different meats thats all that matters as of right now regardless of what is on top of it to make it more appealing, b/c after we can work on cutting back the toppings so that they are eating pure chunks.

Let me know if this helps! and I will get back to you on the sleepy fuzzies syndrome haha

[ferretfreke]

Everyones hydration is fine. Just so you know, that is not the best method to check for dehydration. Ferrets have a lot of loose skin as is so it normally will take a while to go back to normal. Older ferret's skin takes even longer due to the loss of elasticity. A better method for hydration is to check their mucous membranes. If they are dry or sticky the ferret is most likely dehydrated. Both things should be considered, but it's not very reliable to just check skin tenting. Either way ferrets can be difficult to measure their hydration status unless they're deathly dehydrated (eyes sunken in) without testing their blood. This has been my experience anyways. I've worked at an exotic clinic with a very ferret knowledgeable vet for a lot of years now and frequently we've had ferrets come in that upon their physical examination appear to be mildly dehydrated then we do their blood work to find out that they are seriously dehydrated and we've had the opposite happen as well.

Anyways, they seem brighter today. I don't know what the deal was before. They had no interest in playing and I couldn't even get them all excited by tickling them or with their favorite toys like usual. None of them had any repriratory signs. Unagi still seems a little down, but is playing a bit today. He's eating and everything. If he's still concerning me, I'm going to take him to work with me to have the vet check him out.

If I fast them and only offer the other meats they wont eat, I'll have to separate them from Bezoar probably because he'd eat it all.

Thanks for your help.

[cristina]

That is very true about checking dehydration, there are better ways, although I have found (at least with my young guys) it was fairly easy for me to tell that way...but I havent had an elder ferret yet so I havent had to consider those issues yet....I worked with horses more, so I guess thats where my instincts kick in

I posted the lethargy question in the mentors and admin. thread, so I am still waiting to see what everyone says....I always feel better having more opinons, so it cant hurt! Ill let you know what comes in though!

Good luck

[cristina]

Here is what Heather has to say about the issue (in case your interested):

"My concern is that if it's with the whole business, making it appear as though it's either a virus or possibly a totally unrelated factor. Has she changed detergents, fabric softners, bought some new candles, used some EO's .... air freshners, floor cleaners. Has anything changed, amount of time allowed out, times that they're allowed out, morning vs evening. My guys aren't as active at night....they're out and able to play and they will come and join me but it's only for a little while, maybe half an hour or so. Their active time is for the 3 to 5 hrs in the am. Some days they're only up for a couple of hours other days, I'm wondering if they're ever going to settle down and go to bed"

[ferretfreke]

Thanks for doing that for me. Nothing has really changed. I don't use any of that crap (candles, air freshners, fabric softners, etc.) since it's not good for them and I don't like them either. Their most active time is at night usually and their out of cage schedule hasn't changed either. Really the only thing that has changed that I can think of is it has been about 2-3 degrees warmer in their area, but I don't think thats enough to make a difference. It's still well within the comfortable temps for ferrets at around 65 degrees farenheit. My kids prefer cooler temps. So it's just mysterious.

[ferretfreke]

K I'm getting really frustrated. I just fed the ferrets dinner which consisted of beef kidneys, one chicken liver, a couple of chunks of beef heart blended in their soup. I also gave them some whole gizzards. BillyBob ate some of the soup then started eating one of the gizzards. In the middle of eating the gizzard he started vomiting. ERGH!!! He vomited to the point of dry heaving. Why the hell is this happening so often with my group? I hope you don't mind if I post a thread on it cus I really would like as much feed back on it as possible.

[cristina]

That is very strange, that is a good idea to post a thread on it....I will also have another *veteran* mentor read our thread and see if they can put in their 2 cents, because this stumps me to be honest and I would feel much better if someone can come in and help with this that may have had to deal with this sort of thing before.

I will talk to Heather and Giuili about this and see who has some experience or opinions about the vomiting issue!

Oh and I just wanted to mention that with the slight higher temps, now that I think of it...even just a couple degrees warmer in my house makes the fur balls a bit sluggish as well, so this truely may be the cause and they should snap outa it once they assimulate to the change (even though its not much, its easier to sleep and relax when its warm...so it is understandable in a way! )

[ferretfreke]

Heather has already responded on my thread that I posted regarding the matter, just so you know. Most ppl think it's just them getting used to everything and they're probably right. I've been trying not to freak out about it and I have done pretty well, but this time with it being three days in a row practically, I got very concerned.

BillyBob was just fine an hour later. Fine enough to go eat some more gizzards and he was acting perfectly normal. That's pretty much how it's been each time. They puke and then they're fine.

Thanks again.

[ferretfreke]

Just so you know, I won't be on here again til Sunday. Have a good memorial weekend!

[cristina]

Have a good weekend as well!

I am glad you have some more opinions on the matter, from what I posted in the mentors den...one of the replies is maybe an ulcer/blockage, but I find that highly unlikely with your guys since you have a pretty good knowledge base for ferrets in general and I am sure you have gone through the "checklist" for these types of things already

I totally agree with Heather, and I find she is very creditable on pretty much any subject matter, especially since she has had ferrets for a while! So I am glad you have some piece of mind now!

[ferretfreke]

Yeah even my vet thinks that the vomiting is due to them adjusting to the raw. I feel much better now. No vomiting the entire weekend!

I offered them their first turkey neck today. So far they've licked the juices off it and the plate and Unagi has eaten part of the fat. Still waiting for my rodentpro order. It's been a week and I'm getting annoyed.

Nothing else really going on. Having not much to report really is a good thing

[cristina]

That is a good thing! Im glad we have some sort of closure to this issue....theres just so much I keep on learning everyday, ferrets really are a handful! but a blessing!!