Ferret litterbox woes...

Ruben has been driving me absolutely batty lately and I can't figure out how to put an end to it!

When I had Dameon and Casey they had free run of my room all day long and I would only cage them at night. They were both 99.9% litterbox trained, so I never had a problem with it. When I adopted Rinnie and Ruben I hoped to continue with the same practice, but they were NOT litterbox trained. Rinnie goes on the puppy pads most of the time and if it were just her and Dameon I'd probably leave them loose, but Ruben is hit and miss all the time. I got sick and tired to having to clean up multiple poop messes multiple times a day, so about a month or two ago I just started caging them during the day and only letting them out for a few hours in the evening (from like 7-10 or something like that). They are all older and don't seem to be upset by the change in schedule, so I don't think it is a problem and it is much easier on me.

But, now Ruben has started crapping everywhere in the cage. It is a FN142 cage. The top half is all bedding, the bottom half is devoted to litter boxes. The bottom level has a large cat box and a large rabbit pan and the first shelf (to get up to the top level) has a small cat box on it. Dameon and Rinnie use them fine, but Ruben poops ALL over the bottom level and it is driving me BATTY. He gets it all over the sides of the boxes, the floor, the shelf, the stairs...it is gross, I hate cleaning it, and Dameon and Rinnie get disgusted and don't want to walk through it to get to the boxes so they sometimes have an accident as well.

I think Ruben has some kind of bowel issue because his poop is not formed at all. It is like uber cow patties and it has been that way since I adopted him. I've tried different foods with him and diet change made no difference. He doesn't have any parasites, but I also haven't tried him on any antibiotics to see if it is a bacterial thing. Dameon and Rinnie are both fine, so I know whatever it is it isn't contagious, nor is it deadly (as he's had the problem for almost a year now). So any thoughts on that would be helpful. I don't know if maybe he can't hold it and that plays a factor, or...?

But that aside, how can I get him to start using the boxes in the cage? It is really getting old having him crap all over the place (even through the bars of the cage onto the carpet or wall...), especially when he deliberately misses the boxes. He gets worse when the boxes are dirtier versus freshly cleaned, but he will still not poop in the boxes at times even when they are freshly cleaned. I watched him tonight and he walked halfway down the last ramp backwards and then just took a crap right at the end of it through the bars when the litterbox was literally one more step away.

It has gotten to the point that I'm considering putting them all into a smaller cage (or maybe renovating the FN cage I have now) so that I can just have a base of litter at the bottom and not even worry about having boxes. My schedule is insanely hectic this semester and I would really, really prefer to not have to take an hour out of my night each night to clean up smeared ferret crap all over the base of the cage and ramps. Lining the base of the cage with puppy pads would be very helpful, but I can't afford to go through that many puppy pads.

Help?

Use old newspaper at the bottom of the cage I did it during Rogue's last months, cause he could not hold it/could not move fast enough to the litter box.

It sounds like he has IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease). It can be caused by a number of things, and is not contagious nor deadly. It is the inflammation of the intestines, causing looser stool and/or diarrhea. Ask your vet for a prescription for Prednisone, I know it is rediculously cheap there (like, on the $4 list at Walmart or whatever), and usually it will help.

What are they being fed? Has he had any other kibbles with the same problem?

I'll see about the Prednisone, thanks!

Old newspaper sounds like a good idea - the only problem is we don't get the newspaper. :lol-sign: So I'll have to scrounge up some from somewhere. Maybe I could get a plastic sheet of some kind (or another base) and then just switch them out for cleaning...hmmmm...

When I first got him he was on a hodge podge of mixed diets. Zupreem, Total Ferret (or whatever it is called), Marshalls...basically every commercially available ferret food he was eating a mixture of. I switched them over to TOTW when I got them over the course of two weeks or so. I tried him on more of the mixture he was used to eating, 4Health ALS mixed with TOTW, and something else that I can now not remember what it was. I think I bought it from Petsmart, though. Hmmm.

I really like feeding TOTW because our cats eat that as well and I can just buy it in bulk, but I've had good luck with Blue Buffalo Wilderness and Zupreem in the past with Dameon and Casey so I wouldn't be apposed to picking up something else if you think it would help. Maybe something with an alternative protein source? Either way, I can't get too fancy or expensive because I'm on a student budget...me = broke. Cheaper is much, much better in my book.

Yah, all those foods... the main protein source, is chicken. That may be what is irritating his intestines TOTW Canyon River has no chicken, but it is fish based so it may cause stinky poops (some ferrets do fine with fish, others not so much). I feed that mixed with Acana, since Renegade has issues with so many protein sources.

Not sure about what other foods either have no chicken, or chicken is low on the list of ingredients, but maybe trying to find something like that if you can!

If food does not work, it may be helicobacter. I would actually be more inclined to think it may be this, since you have tried many different foods. It is VERY common in ferrets, and can get out of control when the ferret is put through stress (such as changing homes). Treatment for this is Amoxicillin twice daily, metronidazole once daily, and pepto-bismal once daily, for 4 to 6 weeks.

I should add for lurkers that in no way am I a veterinarian and yadda yadda yadda. I only speak from personal experience and research, if something is seriously wrong only a vet can help, yadda yadda yadda. LOL

If it were me, I'd vet.... but I'm a spaz like that lol You could try letting him lick some canned pumpkin everyday, and see if that helps his stools. If he's not feeling well, that could definitely be a reason why he's not making an effort to hit the box Other than that, I agree with Dr. Jess ( :rofl1: just kidding )

As for your litter box question:
There are mixing tubs at stores like lowes and home depot that fit into the FN cage like almost perfectlly! I was going to get one, before I got a custom litter pan that I have now (For Ferrets Only: custom commode - litter box)

But instead of using puppy pads, what about something like this? One time buy, and I saw them on the home depot website for like $20
pic:


As for the walls, I put a shower curtain liner on the back of my FN to protect my Mom's walls. It wipes easily (my crew shake their whole prey to "kill" it and sometimes it splatters LOL) and was a cheapy dollar store one lol

Brilliant ideas. Thanks! That should make my life a bit easier. That shower curtain idea is genius. Absolute genius! lol

I am going to try to get him in to the vet, or talk with a vet about my options. The vet I was taking my ferrets to just had her last day in at work (she's going back to school, sort of) and I'm not sure if anyone else at my clinic have ferret experience. I need to see how much money I'm going to have left over out of this next check and go from there.

Jess, is there a way to know if IBD or heliobacter is the cause of his poop issues? (A test they can run or something?) Or would it be better to just start with a treatment for heliobacter and then if nothing improves try the Prednisone?

I'll try the Canyon River food as well, maybe as a mix in and see if it helps make a difference. If I don't notice too many stinky poos I might just switch them all over and see how they do. Even if it was just for awhile, at least that would let me see if it is the chicken that is causing the problem.

There is not really a test, since all ferrets "have" helicobacter, it just becomes a problem when it becomes out of control. Then the helicobacter causes IBD and it is just a vicious circle

If the vet is willing to write you a script for the meds, I would treat him for helicobacter, and see if it helps any. The treatment will not hurt him if it is not a problem, but if it is a problem, and is left, it can cause ulcers and that will bring its own boatload of problems.

ETA: Also, helicobacter, in this case, would be a *good* thing. You do *not* want a ferret on Prednisone for long-term, so you try the other treatment first. Prednisone just does so many bad things to them