SK: Unhealthy Skunk

[Andy ????]

Hi guys I'm hoping you can help me out.  I own an albino skunk named Ralph 
who is almost 4 years old.  He has been a wonderful pet and companion for 
the first years of his life.  Unfortunately, he broke his arm at the 
beginning of February.  After which we found out his calcium levels were far 
too low (low 7's).  I told my vet that his diet consisted of 70% veggies 
(mainly corn, carrots, and apples with others mixed in depending on season 
and what he was eating) and 30% dog food (which at the time was Purina).  He 
used to get cottage cheese on the top of his bowl but he grew tired of that 
and won't eat it anymore.  So he had the surgery and had the bone set with 
pins both internally and externally.  They gave me a multivitamin to give to 
him every day and a liquid calcium supplement to give twice a day (1.2 ml a 
day), and told me to switch to 70% Iams or Science Diet.  From what I've 
always read this was too much dog food but I decided to give it a try and 
see if things improved.  Everything was looking good on the x-rays and we 
were ready to get the external pins removed when they did another calcium 
test.  To my dismay his numbers were only marginally better (still low 7's). 
  So I plan to go back in this week for some kind of test to see if his 
protein is blocking the absorption of the calcium?  This of course was at my 
vets request.  But, I wanted to know if anyone had experience with this or 
atleast could share their healthy skunks diets.  I will say Ralph isn't in 
any pain but he is cage ridden with the exception of when I can closely 
watch him run around my apartment for fear of the external fixture getting 
caught on something and doing more damage.  I know he is tired of being in 
his cage (his door was never locked until this happened) and I'm anxious to 
get my boy healthy again.  Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy Svendsen

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