Ferret overweight and is always hungry

[arialxxyah]

Hey guys;

Recently on one my visits to the vet the vet had noticed that one of my female noodles got a little chunky (around 1.15pounds) and suggested a diet.

So far she has lost weight; but only around 0.06grams. Issue is; she is ALWAYS hungry; always trying to find a snack or stealing her brothers food. so it is challenging to feed them as she is always stealing food and he likes to nibble throughout the day.  

I was wondering; what is the amount a 7 month old male ferret should eat? I use carnivores raw grind; how many grams?  And what about a year old female ferret?

Any tips or suggestions? thanks

[abbeytheferret6]

Maybe Heather or Sherry can answer that or some of the others. They say ferrets put on weight in the winter. Is your ferret free roam can get plenty exercise. Also ur ferret is not a year old yet. Maybe that has something to do with it.
What do you think Nancyl?

[Charlie]

The 7 month old male ferret is still a kit and should be getting as much as he can eat.

The 1 year old female ferret, is she spayed? When you hold her up under her front legs and she hangs, does she look like a tube sock or does her stomach bulge out at the sides and looks like a ball? I had my sister's female ferret for a month and she is much smaller then my male ferret but she weighed around 1 pound. Is she getting 4 hours of playtime where she is running around and playing? They tend to be more active at dawn and dusk so if she can get 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night, that should help too!

Ferrets will have a bit of winter weight and slim down in the spring/summer months. It depends on if your ferret's seasons are mixed up too, apparently, depending on when they were born. Not sure if that will straighten out over time though.

[arialxxyah]

They are both free roaming ferrets who have 15 minute walks daily; perhaps it might be because I live in Canada? And it is still relatively chilly and not summer yet. Their coat also looks ALOT fuller recently and very thick, maybe still in winter coats?  Temperatures here are currently -2 - 7 degrees but I keep the room relatively room with plenty of blankets.  

The boy gets substantially more to eat then the girl but it is difficult to leave food out ONLY for him seeing how he likes to eat throughout the day while she just gorges on anything she can get.  

She and he are both spayed/neutured since it is required here. She's kind of like a tube sock when hanging; no protruding belly but I can see neck fat forming on her.

[Charlie]

Mar 12, 2020 3:23:24 GMT -5 arialxxyah said:

They are both free roaming ferrets who have 15 minute walks daily; perhaps it might be because I live in Canada? And it is still relatively chilly and not summer yet. Their coat also looks ALOT fuller recently and very thick, maybe still in winter coats?  Temperatures here are currently -2 - 7 degrees but I keep the room relatively room with plenty of blankets.  

The boy gets substantially more to eat then the girl but it is difficult to leave food out ONLY for him seeing how he likes to eat throughout the day while she just gorges on anything she can get.  

She and he are both spayed/neutured since it is required here. She's kind of like a tube sock when hanging; no protruding belly but I can see neck fat forming on her.

Ok yeah they are probably still in winter mode if their coats are thick and it's still cold there and you keep the room relatively cold too.  Since she still looks like a tube sock she is probably at a good weight then.  Their skin is also thick because they do bite each other when playing, they have tough skin.  I'm sure she will slim down some when spring comes.  I usually hold up my ferret to check to see if he is still a tube sock to make sure he isn't getting fat or too skinny either.  If their sides cave in then they are getting too thin.  I wouldn't worry too much.  If she is getting round then worry. Are you going to/have implanted your girl with a DES implant?  Are your ferrets Marshall ferrets?

[arialxxyah]

No, I haven't considered the implants before. What do they do? Aren't they only for ferrets with adrenal disease? And yes, they are both Marshall ferrets.

[unclejoe]

the suprelorin implants can be used to prevent/delay onset of adrenal disease. Some ferrants start them annually after 2 years old. I'm not sure if your numbers are just right. 1.15 lb seems ok for her age, but idk how you could measure a .06gr difference in weight, which is pretty insignificant.
Most of my girls have been between 1.5 and 2.2 lb as adults, and I have had a couple chunky white girls over 2. 5 lb. Zoe is still here at 4 years old, but Pandora didn't make it to 5 with lymphoma. Something to watch for as she gets older.

[arialxxyah]

Ill ask my vet regarding the suprelorin implants; but she might be too young to start them now as she is less then a year old currently.  How old were your ferrets when you got the implants?

[cockneyferret]

I'm about to get our two girls implanted and they're just under a year old.

Cheers

[Charlie]

The suprelorin implant (DES implant) same thing, is used for ferrets who are not spayed/neutered and are used as chemical castration and/or used for the onset of adrenal disease. Ah, in your original post you had said your female is 1 year old. Since yours are already spayed/neutered then you wouldn't be using the implant for that but more for adrenal disease prevention. I remember someone saying that it is wise to implant about 6 months or a 1 year (can't remember exactly) after they were spayed/neutered because usually after that they tend to get adrenal disease. It may be in correlation with being spayed/neutered.

[arialxxyah]

Mar 17, 2020 19:17:37 GMT -5 Charlie said:

The suprelorin implant (DES implant) same thing, is used for ferrets who are not spayed/neutered and are used as chemical castration and/or used for the onset of adrenal disease. Ah, in your original post you had said your female is 1 year old. Since yours are already spayed/neutered then you wouldn't be using the implant for that but more for adrenal disease prevention. I remember someone saying that it is wise to implant about 6 months or a 1 year (can't remember exactly) after they were spayed/neutered because usually after that they tend to get adrenal disease. It may be in correlation with being spayed/neutered.

Regarding the suprelorin implants, I'm going to get my girl and boy fitted with it soon. The girl just turned a year old a few days ago; should I do it now or wait until November like some websites say?  For my boy should I wait until he turns a year old?  How often should I get it replaced?

[abbeytheferret6]

Personally, I would wait until  one year old for the neutered and spayed ones. I am conservative on that, for I have not heard of ferrets getting adrenal disease before one year old anyway.

So info  at this site is basically when to implant for temporary ferret neutering and spaying.  www.valleyvets.net/blog/ferret-neutering-what-best
It mentions Nov. so I do not think the the month would matter to you-----but someone might know more than I. I did not go by the month, and really I waited until mine was very much older--- which I probably should not have---but was kind of scared about the whole ordeal of them having meds in them. However, at 4 or 5 my girl exhibited hair loss, was aggressive(not to humans),and smelled stronger. After implant you can see it helped. My 6.5 year old who recently passed did not have adrenal disease as I had my vet specifically check during necropsy. I do practice lights out at night for them---although this did not help with one of my first girls who had pancreatic cancer.

FERRET NEUTERING.
WHAT IS BEST – surgical or chemical?

SURGICAL NEUTERING IN FERRETS (JILL SPAY OR HOB CASTRATION) CAN POTENTIALLY INDUCE ADRENAL DISEASE LATER IN LIFE.
IF A JILL HAS BEEN IN SEASON FOR SOME TIME, PERSISTENT LEVELS OF HIGH OESTROGEN CAN CAUSE PROFOUND BONE MARROW SUPPRESSION AND FATAL ANAEMIA.
Valley Vets advise against ferret castration and spay, unless there is a medical reason for surgery (i.e. pyometra, testicular tumor, etc).
Recent research concludes that there is a high incidence of adrenal gland disease associated with surgical neutering in ferrets, especially if they are neutered pre-puberty. In most cases sexual maturity occurs at 8-9 months old.

The preferred alternative is temporary chemical neutering by introducing a subcutaneous implant under the scruff (Suprelorin 4.7mg , or 9.4mg - deslorelin acetate implant).

The implant is slightly bigger than a microchip.

THE BEST TIME TO PLACE THE IMPLANT IS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER, WHEN FERRETS ARE NATURALLY ACYCLIC (no reproductive activity at all). If placed at this time, the 4.7mg implant will usually last APPROX 2 YEARS AND THE 9.4MG IMPLANT WILL USUALLY LAST APPROX 4 YEARS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, VARIATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS.

The implant can be placed at other times of the year ***. If placed outside the acyclyic october/november period, the implant will usually last for two breeding seasons (4.7mg) or four breeding seasons (9.4mg) - this would include the current breeding season.

[abbeytheferret6]

 Before and after implant

[abbeytheferret6]

I went to two different vets for implants for my 4. One did anesthesia---the other did not. Both were exotic vets.

[caitmonster]

May 18, 2020 5:27:51 GMT -5 arialxxyah said:

Regarding the suprelorin implants, I'm going to get my girl and boy fitted with it soon. The girl just turned a year old a few days ago; should I do it now or wait until November like some websites say?  For my boy should I wait until he turns a year old?  How often should I get it replaced?

I don't know anything about implanting unspayed females, but I have an intact hob that I had implanted with a 4.7 mg deslorelin dosage at 9 months of age, roughly a month after he came into season. My thought process was that I'd wait until he had come into full rut to give him the chance to mature physically (but I gave in after a month because I had had enough of him, haha).

That was last February. This February passed--he is now 2 years old--and he didn't come into season, so I didn't renew the implant. We'll see how next year goes; if he does come into season again, I'll have him implanted again.