Hi everyone, I have a 5 month old female ferret. Recently, I have noticed her stool has looked seedy, which I read was a sign of indigestion and I have even seen some green, loose stools. She has more normal stools than she does these abnormal ones, though. She has also been chewing her food pretty loud, which I thought could be grinding teeth or I could be imagining this since I tend to be a worrier. She has also been chewing her bowl in between bites, which is new. However, she is still playing and running around like her normal self and she is not loosing any weight. I took her to the vet and she checked her for ulcers and said she didn't have any. The vet then suggested that she could just have stomach upset and told me to give her pepto bismol for 2-5 days. This is the second day I have been using the pepto bismol and there has been no change. She is eating the Marshall's diet and I saw that the ingredients include corn. Could this be contributing to the indigestion? Should I switch her food? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I just want her to be healthy!

I would switch foods very gradually but start right away. This is important to do while she is young as older ferrets aren't quite so flexible. I personally feel that it is important to feed several foods. I give my ferrets four. This is important in the case that a favorite food is suddenly unavailable or the formula changes and this does happen. You can research good foods or perhaps others will have some recommendations. Tell me if I am wrong, but I don't think corn belongs anywhere in a ferret food. If she gets off of the Marshalls, her poops may become more normal.

Sorry to post again, but I forget something. Seedy poops are not the result of indigestion but rather the result of incomplete digestion. This is an important difference because this alone is not the sign of an ulcer.

Thank you so much for replying! I have read that corn should not be fed to ferrets. The vet originally said that Marshalls was a good food to feed her, but I have read reviews saying the opposite. Her food is the only thing I can think of that is causing her incomplete digestion, since I heard that they can not digest corn. She was chewing up her toys, but I have taken them away and her indigestion is still occurring. I was planning on buying her a new food and mixing it with her current to introduce it to her. I'm really hoping switching foods will help!

I agree with everything doobie dink said, with the addition that you may want to limit or avoid peas as well as corn.  There has been a growing body of evidence that peas can lead to kidney and bladder stones in ferrets.  These are links to ferret food charts listing ingredients and nutrition.  Remember, more meat-based protein and fat and less carbs.  Taurine is also important.

http://forum.ferret.com/tm.aspx?m=242115
http://ferretedu.weebly.com/ferret-food-chart.html

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