Grumble, grumble. Vibes, or something?

[Aleron]

Yep, he is no longer on any medication at all. He will be getting his 4-month (they suggest 6-month, but I do 4) blood tests this week when he goes to the vet, to be sure that his levels are still controling themselves, however.

That's great you can get him off of medications, although he did develop insulinoma so it sort of supports my thought that grain free is probably still too carb heavy for daily feeding.

Rascal is the only one of mine that can eat raw. Harley will not eat raw (nor will she eat soup or baby food consistancy, when I tried to switch her), and is super picky. Renegade is allergic to all the major protein sources (why no, I will not buy goat for my ferret to eat, not with the amount he eats on raw). Renegade also does not have the digestive tract for raw -- he will get e.coli and other gross diseases, which almost killed him. So yes, raw does kill ferrets, too Or maybe I just have the special cases :rofl1:

I'd say that yes, you have a special case if your ferret is truly unable to eat raw food. So for your one ferret, raw might not work for him. I've never personally known of any other ferrets where this was the case though and raw food certainly does not cause a fatal widespread health issue in most ferrets who are fed it.

If you are interested, I have a pretty fail-proof way to switch even the very most pickiest ferret to raw food. Eating kibble is just not tolerated in this house

My guys are on preventative Melatonin (the pills, not the liquid, the liquid is wayyy too sugary), fed only grain-free food (especially since it will cause seizures in Rascal), and get blood glucose checks every 4 months once they hit 3 years old. However, my guys are all rescues who were gotten the youngest at 2 1/2, so all I can really do, is fight to minimize the risks (to a reasonable extent, no, I will not ignore my ferrets and leave them in the house every day, they would be MISERABLE, especially Harley) *now*, and hope it is not too little too late, since the level of care they received before coming here may have been less than perfect. Not that they receive perfect care here by any means, :rofl1:

I haven't had a problem with insulinoma in ferrets I switched to raw food at an older age but definitely adrenal is hard to get around if you have a traditionally cared for adult pet store ferret (or altered privately bred ferret for that matter). Pretty much all of my rescued or petstore ferrets developed adrenal disease but none developed insulinoma. The petstore ferret I raised from 8 weeks didn't develop it until she was an old ferret, around 8 I think and even then only had minor symptoms. The petstore ferret I got at 6 months old who's been in the petstore until then developed it at 14 months old. The 3 year old rescue I took in developed it a few years later. Other than them, most of my more recent ferrets have been kept intact. IMO if you have a petstore ferret, the damage is already done as far as adrenal is concerned. All you can do is hope for the best