I have a few really random questions about senior ferrets, and some of this is just me thinking out loud. If anybody could help clear up some of my confusion/share their thoughts that would be great!
Casey is going to be six years old in January, Dameon will be five (in January). Both are Marshall ferrets, and besides Dameon coming down with a bad cold about a year ago, neither have ever had a health problem.
Here recentally, Casey as been aging. I've seen it before with my past senior animals: she's not as active, she doesn't like to play with Dameon anymore, she doesn't really play with me (something she LOVES doing), and she just sleeps most of the day. Her coat also isn't as lush as it once was (although she's always had a sort of flimsy coat). She is still eating and drinking fine, her energy is just shot.
Now, about oh, three months ago I did switch the ferret's diet. I took them off of Blue Buffalo Wilderness (because it is so expensive! ) and moved them over the Taste of the Wild, which is what I feed Apollo and it is so much easier to afford. Could this food switch have something to do with her sudden aging? Or is it just her age? It is really hard for me to pay $3.00 a pound for food, but I'll switch back to the Blue Buffalo if I need to and just suck it up elsewhere. Does anyone else have a reccomondation for food? I haven't noticed any change with Dameon.
Now, something else I'm wrestling with and I really hate to even think about. If Casey's sudden aging isn't food related, but aging...I'm assuming Dameon will be a single ferret sooner or later. How will this effect him? I read somewhere that if a ferret's "buddy" passes away that they will go into a depression and this is concerning me. Has anybody ever had that happen, or is it more rare than common?
I will hopefully have plenty of years left with both of them, but I want to be prepared in case I don't.
Also, how skinny is skinny? After I watched my coworkers ferrets for a week I was like :yikes: with how thin mine were! Granted his were balls of blubber, but mine seem too thin. I can just lightly run my hand over their sides and I can feel their ribs. They are free fed and they eat what they want, but is that too skinny? They normally do get more fat over the course of the winter, but I wanted to make sure how they are now is normal for summer.
*Sorry for any grammer/spelling mistakes...I'm tired and everything is kind of bluring together.
Casey is going to be six years old in January, Dameon will be five (in January). Both are Marshall ferrets, and besides Dameon coming down with a bad cold about a year ago, neither have ever had a health problem.
Here recentally, Casey as been aging. I've seen it before with my past senior animals: she's not as active, she doesn't like to play with Dameon anymore, she doesn't really play with me (something she LOVES doing), and she just sleeps most of the day. Her coat also isn't as lush as it once was (although she's always had a sort of flimsy coat). She is still eating and drinking fine, her energy is just shot.
Now, about oh, three months ago I did switch the ferret's diet. I took them off of Blue Buffalo Wilderness (because it is so expensive! ) and moved them over the Taste of the Wild, which is what I feed Apollo and it is so much easier to afford. Could this food switch have something to do with her sudden aging? Or is it just her age? It is really hard for me to pay $3.00 a pound for food, but I'll switch back to the Blue Buffalo if I need to and just suck it up elsewhere. Does anyone else have a reccomondation for food? I haven't noticed any change with Dameon.
Now, something else I'm wrestling with and I really hate to even think about. If Casey's sudden aging isn't food related, but aging...I'm assuming Dameon will be a single ferret sooner or later. How will this effect him? I read somewhere that if a ferret's "buddy" passes away that they will go into a depression and this is concerning me. Has anybody ever had that happen, or is it more rare than common?
I will hopefully have plenty of years left with both of them, but I want to be prepared in case I don't.
Also, how skinny is skinny? After I watched my coworkers ferrets for a week I was like :yikes: with how thin mine were! Granted his were balls of blubber, but mine seem too thin. I can just lightly run my hand over their sides and I can feel their ribs. They are free fed and they eat what they want, but is that too skinny? They normally do get more fat over the course of the winter, but I wanted to make sure how they are now is normal for summer.
*Sorry for any grammer/spelling mistakes...I'm tired and everything is kind of bluring together.