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Post by Sherry on Jul 8, 2013 19:07:52 GMT -5
TBH most ferrets on raw do quite well without it. And Jackie- if pumpkin didn't do it, then I'm left wondering about Willow? Another member on here as well has had two come down with insulinoma and they'd been raw fed from 8 weeks of age. Granted, I do believe genetics have a lot to do with it as well otherwise a good mumber of ferrets fed daily pumpkin would have insulinoma. But I'm no longer comfortable recommending it to others in the same amounts I fed, which was 1/2 tsp daily per ferret.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2013 15:34:08 GMT -5
So if eggs are used to prevent hairballs, should the entire egg be fed or just the yolk? Will the yolk alone push out hairballs or does the white part help with that?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2013 19:46:37 GMT -5
I've told you on the Skype chat already, but for the benefits of the others - the emulsifier is in the yolk, which helps unclog your ferret's system. So if you just fed yolk, that'll work... but it'd be more nutritionally balanced if you fed the whole thing. I'd almost suggest quail eggs, if they weren't ridiculously expensive per egg.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 13:38:43 GMT -5
I'm confused I thought egg whites could cause a biotin deficiency? so I never feed them... Glad to hear about the pumpkin. I have never used it but I'm happy to hear that they won't be missing anything if I leave it out of the rotation. I just always thought it was bad to feed any fruit to them so I was nervous about feeding pumpkin. I need to get some for emergencys tho with the new girls eating hammocks!
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Post by Sherry on Aug 24, 2013 16:09:07 GMT -5
If you feed JUST the egg white, then yes. The avidin in the white will bind to the biotin in the body and cause a biotin deficiency. However- the yolk has SUCH an abundance of biotin that in no way could the white bind that much, and then more yet in the body. So when feeding eggs either feed the entire thing(yolk will negate white) or just the yolks
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 20:52:24 GMT -5
Thank you! Sorry for all of the basic questions I'm still learning
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 22:30:30 GMT -5
How often can you feed eggs to prevent hairballs? I know we used to say no more than 1 egg per ferret per week (chicken egg) but is it ok to give more during shed season? What about non shedding time? Quail eggs could be given more cause they are small? Just wondering what the new recommendations are
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Post by Sherry on Aug 24, 2013 23:00:51 GMT -5
Yolk alone 2-3 times a week. Same thing with quail eggs. Although if you can find them in this city I'd appreciate hearing where!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2013 6:12:16 GMT -5
If I'm not mistaken, the reasoning for an egg limit is to avoid funky poops from the fact that it's a slimy liquid, and because a lot of people just feed the yolk so you'd unbalance the diet with too many. I'd personally feed poached eggs to avoid the funky poop/unbalanced diet problem without destroying the hairball remedy of liquid yolk. Also, the video is for human food so they've got a bit of pepper on there (avoid that with ferrets).
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Post by Thérèse on Aug 27, 2013 7:27:35 GMT -5
I always worry that cooking will diminish the value of food for my ferrets. They get egg in their soupies (which is one of their snack foods, ie if I go to the fridge and one of them appears and wants something to nibble and it is not meal time). I put the whole egg in, raw, shell and all and just mash it in. The only problem I have had (and I have been doing it for a few years now) is some ferrets sometimes forget and inhale their food and hit a crunchy bit of shell do a little gag noise, I remind them to chew the crunchy bits and they continue eating slower and crunching the crunchy bits. Course none of my current guys are inhalers, so haven't had that happen in a while (Diablo was the worst for it)
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Post by Sherry on Aug 27, 2013 8:59:39 GMT -5
Cooking does destroy the vitamins/minerals they'd get if it were raw. And to be honest, I don't know if it would still work on destroying the fat binding the hairballs together in the same way either, since it's something about the RAW yolk that does it. Have to check that one out to be certain though.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2013 11:46:49 GMT -5
I can't be sure because I haven't done specific testing with it, but the ability to dissolve fat *should* theoretically work so long as the yolk remains runny. I think it's worth trying just because it should keep the diet more balanced without the funky poos. It seems Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" has a mayonnaise recipe on a pasteurized yolk, so I can't imagine it not working.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 18:58:27 GMT -5
Wow! Talk about some good info. I don't give pumpkin to my ferts on a regular basis, but I do have it for emergencies. I have to admit that ever since our business has gone raw the poos tend to be pretty good. I would like to get them on egg though, but I would love to find a local quail eggs. I haven't had a chance to check our local farmers market, but I figured that would be a good start. Thank you for the information!
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Post by thelifeofmyferrets on Jul 30, 2014 12:48:33 GMT -5
Thank you! I thought pumpkin was okay. I only get pumpkin around November but I won't give it to the ferrets anymore. I used to use it for hairballs but I'll stick with natural sources like egg.
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Post by Sherry on Jul 31, 2014 8:52:39 GMT -5
We all used to.
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