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Post by FerryDB on May 15, 2020 13:42:38 GMT -5
Hi I am Natalie and I am having trouble with my younger ferret Dolly. Dolly is 4 months old. She recently injured her elbows and she has to be constricted to a carrier for 2 weeks to heal from her injury. The main question I have is concerning her diet and tummy. Since I brought her home 3 weeks ago she had minor diarrhea, but recently it's worsened. There is no sign of parasites according to her vet and she did not seem concerned when I mentioned the diarrhea issue. She goes to the bathroom a lot!! She is on Wysong Epigen 90 DS, but it really has not improved a thing. I am concerned. I would like her to get on a raw diet but I would rather wait until I know what the outcome of her elbow injuries. Anyone with suggestions would be reallllyyyy helpful!!
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Post by PatienceTheVirtue on May 15, 2020 17:45:31 GMT -5
Wysong Epigen 90 is known to cause diarrhea due to the high protein content in kibble form, even the DS version at times. Kibble also increases the amount of times a ferret "goes". If your vet has cleared health issues, the only thing left would be diet I would think. Raw should result in healthier stools! The injury shouldn't affect her switch.
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Post by peacexlovexpets on May 23, 2020 18:23:33 GMT -5
That diet is really "rich" and can cause diarrhea (I have not personally fed it, but I have heard that it is very common).
Considering your ferret is only 4mo, I wouldn't be concerned about peeing/pooping often. Babies eat a heck of a lot and create a lot of deposits! When my kits were little I went from cleaning my large litter boxes 2x a day (with my old rescue boys) to 3-4x a day and it was still a pain to stay ahead of the soaked litter.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your ferret is really really stressed right now. She is a young ferret in a new home who hurt her elbow and then got constricted to a super tiny cage. She will have diarrhea no matter what. One thing you can do is ask the vet for either a prescription of Fortiflora (I think you need a prescription, I can't remember), or for an antidiarrheal (if you are concerned that this is causing dehydration). Fortiflora is a probiotic that helps shorten periods of diarrhea/firm up stools and normalize the gut. You can also try minute amounts of pumpkin powder (you need powder from the meat, not the seeds, so it needs to be dark orange).
I have an older boy who has IBD and if he is stressed will get mucousy/bloody poops for a day or two, and I give him some homemade pumpkin powder (I sell it in my etsy shop, but you should be able to find similar products on Amazon) and it clears yucky stools up a lot faster than just letting it run its course.
Another thing to try-maybe take all of the pans out of her regular cage so she can't climb (so just the bottom pan-assuming she isn't normally free roam all the time) so she can still be in an open space. I'm assuming your carry crate has solid plastic sides, which can be frustrating and intimidating as she can't see what is going on in the home around her.
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