Post by katt on Nov 26, 2013 1:35:58 GMT -5
It is a really good idea to have a place to keep track of your ferrets' weights and eating habits. Keeping track of their weight can give you an early heads up if something is wrong. It can also help to prevent panic over sudden weight loss by tracking normal weight fluctuations. You can look and realize "oh hey, this is just normal weight fluctuation or seasonal weight change" or "hmmm...he didn't lose this much weight last spring."
It is also good to keep a record of what foods you feed, approximate amounts, and poops. This is especially helpful when you are first starting the switch, but you would be surprised how important that record can become. Keeping a record of what you feed can help you recognize patterns that you might not otherwise notice. This is SUPER important if a food allergy or IBD every arise or are suspected.
If you track how MUCH your ferrets eat, it can help you figure out how much to feed (if you are a food weigher rather than an eyeballer like me) as well as give you an early clue if they experience a loss of appetite. [Weighing food before feeding, and weighing leftovers remaining by the next meal will give you an approximate total for their food intake].
I relied very heavily on a food and poop journal when we did a year of food trials for Koda's IBD. I tracked for EACH MEAL:
1) what he ate
2) how much
3) what supplements were given if any
4) what his poops looked like that day/after that meal
5) what his energy level was like that day/after that meal
6) if there were any notable events that might cause stress or other behavior/appetite changes e.g. "didn't get out of the cage today, slept all day and didn't eat food but then cage raged all night" or "I am super stressed, might be picking up on my stress today" or even "got a new toy" (even Positive stresses are still stress) "rearranged the cage today" etc etc
@ferretmama2 has kindly given me permission to share her awesome journal with you guys. This is just one example of how you might organize your own journal to help keep track of your ferrets' weight, eating, and poop habits. This is a great example of organization. Thanks again Ferretmama2 for allowing me to share this with everyone.
*********************************************************************************************************************
So I use a 1'' binder, and it holds all my things
I use a pencil holder. I keep my sharpie for when I do meat, a red, orange, pink, green, & blue pen, and a pencil.
Pink, red, green, orange, blue & black pens. A pencil & a sharpie for doing meat.
This is when they started the switch.
Weekly menu, color coated. Pink is bone. Red is organs. & Green is muscle.
What they've ate this week. Morning & night.
This is there weights, I've wrote when I weighed them. Green is gaining weight, red is losing weight.
Thank you for you positive feed back, it took me a while to put everything together. You can go ahead and sticky the pictures, or if you just want to me to copy and paste it to another forum, just let me know (:
*********************************************************************************************************************
Please share your own journals if you have them too!
It is also good to keep a record of what foods you feed, approximate amounts, and poops. This is especially helpful when you are first starting the switch, but you would be surprised how important that record can become. Keeping a record of what you feed can help you recognize patterns that you might not otherwise notice. This is SUPER important if a food allergy or IBD every arise or are suspected.
If you track how MUCH your ferrets eat, it can help you figure out how much to feed (if you are a food weigher rather than an eyeballer like me) as well as give you an early clue if they experience a loss of appetite. [Weighing food before feeding, and weighing leftovers remaining by the next meal will give you an approximate total for their food intake].
I relied very heavily on a food and poop journal when we did a year of food trials for Koda's IBD. I tracked for EACH MEAL:
1) what he ate
2) how much
3) what supplements were given if any
4) what his poops looked like that day/after that meal
5) what his energy level was like that day/after that meal
6) if there were any notable events that might cause stress or other behavior/appetite changes e.g. "didn't get out of the cage today, slept all day and didn't eat food but then cage raged all night" or "I am super stressed, might be picking up on my stress today" or even "got a new toy" (even Positive stresses are still stress) "rearranged the cage today" etc etc
@ferretmama2 has kindly given me permission to share her awesome journal with you guys. This is just one example of how you might organize your own journal to help keep track of your ferrets' weight, eating, and poop habits. This is a great example of organization. Thanks again Ferretmama2 for allowing me to share this with everyone.
*********************************************************************************************************************
So I use a 1'' binder, and it holds all my things
I use a pencil holder. I keep my sharpie for when I do meat, a red, orange, pink, green, & blue pen, and a pencil.
Pink, red, green, orange, blue & black pens. A pencil & a sharpie for doing meat.
This is when they started the switch.
Weekly menu, color coated. Pink is bone. Red is organs. & Green is muscle.
What they've ate this week. Morning & night.
This is there weights, I've wrote when I weighed them. Green is gaining weight, red is losing weight.
Thank you for you positive feed back, it took me a while to put everything together. You can go ahead and sticky the pictures, or if you just want to me to copy and paste it to another forum, just let me know (:
*********************************************************************************************************************
Please share your own journals if you have them too!