Any tips with an overweight ferret?

Question

So today i took in my ferret to the vet to get his rabies shot and the vet said he's a little over weight. He's 2lbs and 13oz. she said he should be around 2lbs to 2lbs and 8oz. What can i do to help him lose weight? he's usually out and about playing the kitten. I used to give him kitten food and the vet said no more cuz thats hows he's probably gaining the weight, so i stopped that. And he only eats Marshalls ferret food, i dont give him treats or human food.

Any tips on helping him loose weight? Thnx.

Answer 1

I agree, I wouldn't be too concerned with his weight. As long as it's not affecting his overall health and everything else is good, then I wouldn't worry about him losing any weight. I have one now (a female) that's a little chubby, but she's in perfect health. She also gets plenty of run and play time, so my vet said not to worry too much about it. Besides, dealing with weight loss in a ferret can be a tricky matter. You don't want him to lose too much weight or lose it too fast, that would be a bigger problem.

I also agree with joniboni and Percy, Marshalls is not the best food out there for ferrets. Try sticking with grain free foods and foods high in meat based protein. Innova EVO (ferret or feline) is good. Nature's Variety Instinct, Wysong foods, Go! Natural Grain Free Dry Cat Food, and ZiwiPeak Cat Cuisines are all good, too. Check out these sites for the foods I mentioned:

http://www.stinkweasels.com

http://www.petfooddirect.com

http://www.wysong.net

Answer 2

First of all, walk him at least 30 minutes a day!!! Play with him a lot, and feed him a little less food. Even after he gets back to regular size, make sure you still work out with him and everything.

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Answer 3

I would not be concerned about a chubby ferret.  With their fast metabolism, it doesn't take them long to go down in weight.  My kids are free roam during the day and they run all over when they feel like it.  Weasels come in all different body shapes, little, big, chubby, lanky.  I don't think ferrets can be too fat.

I personally don't like the Marshalls brand of food because the third ingredient is corn. Like most cat and kitten foods, corn is the major ingredient.  Corn is a vegetable and hard to digest for most animals and ferrets do not have a body part in their intestine called the cecum so they cannot digest plant matter.  All ferrets are the same bilolgically.   Ferrets have very short digestive tracts, so they need a food that contains easily digestible meat protein.  Ferrets do not need the high carbs from the corn, they get their energy from fat and they need the meat for nutrition and digestibality. I like a higher protein food like Innova/Evo and meat protein like second stage baby food chicken or turkey.  When the food you are feeding is more useable nutrition, they eat less.  

If your little guy is getting out for several hours every day and is active, I say that is a happy ferret.  I have 2 very big chubby females who weigh close to 3 pounds and a male who is bigger in size but weighs less.  All my kids are free to roam all day and get fed chicken and Innova/ Evo, all are different weights.  Better to have a chubby one than a skinny one when they get sick!

Answer 4

Marshalls is HORRIBLE food!  You're probably feeding it because you were told by the pet store that sold it to you that it's the "best food" for ferrets.  That because most ferrets in the States come from Marshall Farms so store personnel are REQUIRED to say this as part of their contract with Marshalls.  And which kitten food were you giving him?  If it was grocery store kitten food then that's even worse than Marshalls since it's too low in protein and far too high in carbohydrates since it's made mostly of corn.  Ferret require FAR more protein than cats.  Quality ferret foods are 40% protein are more.

Switch your ferret to a better quality food with more protein and less fillers.  Totally Ferret is one.  3 in 1 Ultimate Crunch Ferret Diet is another.  An even better food to feed ferrets is Innova Evo for Cats and Kittens.  It's 50% protein and contains NO grain.  This would be an excellent food to get some of that weight off your chubby fuzzy.  They do make an Innova Evo Ferret but it's pretty hard to find unless you order it online.  It's actually best to serve your ferret a mix of foods.  This way if one of them is out of stock your ferret won't turn his nose up at other foods you give him meanwhile.  

To save some money order your food online.  Both http://www.drsfostersmith.com and http://www.ferret.com have FAR better prices than what you'll find at your local Petco or PetSmart.  Neither of them sell Evo but you should be able to find that locally at a decent price.

How much out of cage time are you giving this ferret?  And do you interact with it?  Get it to chase you, etc?  I have one ferret that's chubbed up a bit over winter and I make it a point of giving him a little extra run around time and also drag toys for him to chase.  Your ferret might also be bored.  If you can afford a second ferret it might be a good idea to get him a pal to run around with.  Ferrets are DEFINITELY more active when they have someone like them to rough and tumble with!

I'll also email you the link to my ferret forum so you can come join it.  We have over 500 ferret owners from all over the world!

Answer 5

I wouldnt be to concern over 5 oz. of weight. They do have special lite formulas available at certain pet stores. Look at the contents and compare them. But there is no real concern for 5 oz. Sounds like its getting plenty of excercise with the kitten and will burn some of it off.