Such thing as eating too much?? Related to health?

[vkoslin]

Obviously, any animal can eat too much. I posted something earlier this month on "attacking over raw food...HELP!". Mickey was the one attacking and screaming, squeeling, and crying over meat. On top of that, I noticed he seemed to be eating a lot, a lot more than normal. I attributed it to winter time, as other members asked.

But, curiously, Mickey seems to be shrinking in weight. I know he's eating, and eating ALOT. Has anyone ever experienced this? I imagine when everyone told me that they have a heavier appetite in winter that they would also gain weight in the winter time.

No other factors to his weight have changed since summer time (i.e.- exercising, different foods, etc). Just the fact that recently he's been eating a lot but it seems he looks smaller. He's not underweight or bony, but definitely not the little chubs he used to be.

Let me know your thoughts?


PS- The "Attacking" phase and fighting phase started and ended within a week. I haven't heard any more cries or screams for a few weeks I think. So, at least that's stopped...but weird that it started and then stopped, no?

[luci]

Worms? Thyroid problem? I think I would take him to the vet.

[sherrylynne]

He should be starting to chunk and fluff out with winter. Especially winter appetite. The only one of mine who didn't was Athena. She ate like a piggie, but actually lost muscle mass. She's now on lupron for adrenal disease.
Is Mickey's fur thinning anywhere? Head, shoulders, tail, hips, belly? Is he sleeping more? Although wintertime also has them sleeping more, too. Any other aggressive/dominant type behaviour?

[Heather]

Just curious. Have you weighed him? Do you have a weight for him before you started raw feeding. Raw fed ferrets are more compact, they actually sometimes appear smaller (appear to have lost weight) than their kibble fed brethren but when they're weighed they weigh more. They carry less fat and much more muscle. Ghenghis, looks considerably smaller (much less pudge) than he was when I first got him but he's actually heavier. He's lean and strong. There's also a difference from ferret to ferret. Mad Max looks nothing like Napoleon but carries a good weight (in fact this winter actually looks a little on the pudgy side for him) Even though both these ferrets are the same length, Napoleon weighs in at 3.14.7 lbs while Max weighs in at 3.01.09. Max doesn't normally weigh in at the 3 lbs level. Now, Max is 9 yrs old and Napoleon is 5 so that will bear as well.
If you have any real concerns or you don't keep a log of your ferrets weight and you feel that he's consistently loosing weight, I would get him to the vet and have him checked out. I find that by keeping track of weight gains and losses of my guys, I can often pick up problems before they get too serious. My little Babushka would spend a considerable amount of time at the food bowl, giving the appearance that she was eating, but she was getting thinner and thinner. She was in multiple organ failure and her body was no longer processing the food properly. I'm definitely not telling you that this is the problem with your little one, I'm only using her as an example. She was 11 yrs old, and her old body just finally gave out.
ciao

[vkoslin]

Okay, so to answer questions:
He's acting normally. Spastic, as usual, during playtime.
He isn't sleeping any more than the others.
Fur isn't thinning anywhere.
Not aggressive at all, except for that few days over food (to me, it seemed more like he was SO hungry and he felt threatened by the others to not get enough, because when i separated him, he went straight to the food and didn't bother to look around and see where he was)

I do have weights from him from a vet visit, before raw, and that would have been around Feb, when we actually started feeding raw. That's a long time ago though, he's been on raw since then. He's definitely fully raw now, as opposed to just chicken meat and kibble before like in Feb. I think he's been fully raw since this summer.

And I'm positive that he is actually eating, not just fighting over it and pretending.

Any other thoughts? I'll keep an eye on him, if anything changes, straight to a vet I'll go. He's absolutely fine in every other way, and plays like crazy when let out.

[sherrylynne]

I completely forgotten about how they "lean out", Heather . It's quite possible that his body is simply using the food much more efficiently, and he simply looks smaller, because there's less fat to him.

[vkoslin]

I think you might be right. Like I said, he doesn't look too thin, but he lost his bowling pin shape and now is more evenly wide from top to bottom?

[sherrylynne]

That sounds about right! Here's a good overhead shot of Sinnead. She's a good weight at 2lbs.

This is my 2yr old, 3lb Vincent:

As you can see, they've both lost that bottom heavy look. They also weigh more than when they were on kibbles

[ls84]

Just to chime in, my ferret (9 months old), who has been on raw since June, got huge and fat in August/September, and then lost all the weight and got pretty thin over the course of Oct/Nov. Not bony, just more lean. He is still acting normal and eating the same as the others. My recent adoptions were just switched to raw (about 2 years old) and they are only now starting to gain the winter weight and eat everything in sight. I just think some ferrets gain the "winter weight" earlier or later than others. My 9 month old just seemed to pig out more towards the end of summer to pack on the winter pounds rather than "actual" winter.