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Post by BuffyJo on Dec 2, 2014 15:36:13 GMT -5
We have had our guy for less than a week now. We were worried at first but things are getting along a little better.
He is pretty thin. His previous family(s) had him on meow mix. We are transitioning to ferret kibble now. It's been hard to get him to eat anything not mixed with the cat food. Right now he's having about equal amounts of cat/ferret food mixed with duck soup, baby food chicken and water. He's not a fan of the ferret kibble or duck soup alone. We have to hold him and start out with it on our fingers to get himeating every time but eventually he'll continue to eat if we sit him down. He will also eat little bits of egg and freeze dried chicken.
We have another ferret too. He's 8 months. We want to eventually have them both on a more natural diet, or a combination of meats and kibble.
We were going to wait until our first boy is a year old to start switching (my better half thinks he needs to have Marshalls food until the warranty is up *eyeroll*)
I guess my question is..would it be better for our rescue to go straight to meat diet and leave the marshalls out of the transition? My biggest worry is that switching is going to cause loose stools. He can't really afford to lose any weight. Should we plump him up and get both boys eating the same thing so they can switch to meat at the same time??
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Post by Desiree on Dec 2, 2014 16:16:12 GMT -5
Okay, lemme see if I can answer your questions.
I would try to switch him(rescue) straight over to raw. This was the advice given to me when I adopted my fuzzbutts. Instead of getting them to eat a new food, you might as well transition straight over to raw. No point in changing foods more than once is you want him on a raw diet.
As for weight, while they will lose fat, they will gain muscle. The loose poop is more from them not having bad stuff in there diet. It doesn't cause dehydration like diarrhea does.
But I just want to say that the longer you wait to switch over to raw, the harder it will be. They imprint on their food and if you start early enough the transition will be much easier on both of you. Also, the longer they remain on kibble, the more that kibble will be doing it's damaged. My little girl was just diagnosed with insulinoma and I can tell you giving a ferret meds twice a day it's not fun for either or us. Not to mention that her lifespan may be cut shorter because of this disease. We are going to try and manage it to the best of our abilities.
I don't know how Marshall warranties work but I would switch him(your MF) over as soon as possible.
I'm pretty new at this too so hopefully a senior member can give you more information.
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Post by RedSky on Dec 2, 2014 17:50:37 GMT -5
Just wanted to add, the Marshalls food is rubbish, contains lots of things ferrets cannot digest and will make them poorly in the long term. Even feeding them it for a year then switching to raw might end up with an illness down the line from the bad early start. Get them both switched ASAP. Edit to say, I didn't mean this to come across harsh or mean, so I'm really sorry if anyone read it this way and now reading it back I can see that it does sound bad. I just meant that the advice above is really good but wanted to add to it that Marshalls food is one of the worse foods out there, there are much better kibbles to feed if you want to go down that route, but even the best kibble doesn't compare to feeding raw. I know you want the best for your fuzzies otherwise you wouldn't be here and asking. I will blame my lack of ability to express myself appropriately on the painkillers I am taking for a slipped disc in my back, but again I apologise for sounding so blunt and harsh. I will go back to rambling in future
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 18:26:58 GMT -5
RedSky That's true and nobody would disagree with you, but maybe hold off on the tough love for now. They're doing the best they can for the fuzzbutts they only just got. It's a lot of work switching, we all know that.
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Post by BuffyJo on Dec 2, 2014 18:40:38 GMT -5
We've heard so many things about Marshall's food that make us want to switch.
At first we were thinking of going to a mixture of higher quality kibble so that they wouldn't be eating just one kind..in the event the store is out of our food when when we run out.
We thought about freeze dried. But we want to make sure they are still getting everything they need.
I am ready to switch them over to a raw diet..but my SO is not quite sure yet. Mostly because he's afraid of waste, spoilage and messes..he's also a little squeemish about feeding whole prey.
I caught our new guy in our cats' bedroom this evening eating their kibble. It is a higher quality with a higher protein content then the meow mix. I was kind of torn. This means he might not be as imprinted on the meow mix, but it's still cat food (however probably better than the Marshall's) Our other guy hasn't ever paid much attention to the cat's food and it's going to be very hard to keep them out of the cats room(fun cat trees). The ferrets roam the house and are pretty much litter trained to the pans in their cages but they do have their own litter box in the cat room because they were going in there and using a corner. The cats room has a cat door on it to keep the dogs out but ferret proofing it will be impossible so they will have access to the catfood.
What would be the best way to start transitioning to raw for us at this point? Continue with the mush we're making now and gradually adding meat? Which meats would be best to start with?
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Post by Desiree on Dec 2, 2014 21:02:52 GMT -5
Cat food isn't a bad choice as long as you are aware of your options. There is a wonderful pinned post on here called holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/125/kibble-fed (I linked it for ya) and it links you to a source that will help you pick out a good food. A lot of the good ones are kitten foods. I used Wellness Core Kitten Food before I switched to raw, for like two days. A good way to convince your SO is two things. One is awesome and the other watch with caution. (These are the two that helped my sister and SO to help with the switch. I was gonna do it anyway.) holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/871/before-after-raw-diet - This an awesome way to see the changes a raw diet affects the health and look of your ferrets. This alone convinced my sister to be on board with the raw feeding. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13902/screaming-seizure - If you can't watch it, I understand, it was really hard for me to watch but with Rebel just diagnosed with insulinoma I need to know what to expect. To me, there is nothing more convincing than this video to convince someone to switch. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2702/insulinoma-overview - And just so know what insulinoma is and why it affects our furry friends. As for how to switch, I'm not sure what mush you are talking about but you can use a raw soup recipe found on this site. 8oz chicken meat 1-2 chicken hearts (1oz or so) 1/2 chicken liver (1oz) 1/2 tsp powdered eggshell Enough water, or homemade chicken broth(straight chicken, no spices, veg, etc) to make a soupy texture Puree all of the above together, freeze in ice cube trays, baggie cubes after frozen. To make it easier to get the cubes out you can put a little bit of oil in first. It may be hard to get them to try it at first. Just give them a taste, try and dab it on their noses so they have to try it. Eventually, you will reduce the water and add slivers and then chunks and then bam! Raw fed! It does take a while and I'm not quite up to speed with the process just yet. holisticferret60.proboards.com/board/57/mentoring-program - Also read through some of the switching threads, you can't post on them but you learn a whole lot by watching other people learning to switch their ferrets. Wow that's a lot of info. Oh and my guys won't even touch kibble after just a few days on raw. I always have in their cage because of my little girl but they don't bother. Some I know will go back but that hasn't been the case with my two.
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Post by BuffyJo on Dec 2, 2014 21:34:00 GMT -5
I don't know if I could watch the seizures!!! But it might help him change his mind. I have seizures and his parents' rescued a dog with seizures so he knows the cost.
How many cubes would they typically eat in one sitting?
I have a friend who raises rabbits for food. If I use rabbit would it be the same amount or should I mix it with chicken?
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Post by Heather on Dec 2, 2014 21:59:19 GMT -5
You have to use a minimum of 3 different types of proteins. If you use chicken for your one protein, you can use rabbit or any other unadulterated meat. My guys are eating rabbit, chicken, pheasant and rat this week. Rabbit is a common meat in this household, the thing to remember when you're feeding rabbit, it's low in taurine. ciao
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Post by BuffyJo on Dec 2, 2014 22:12:14 GMT -5
Yeah....I decided to watch it...I think I'm going to show my kiddos first, then if he's still unsure we can have a family vote.
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Post by BuffyJo on Dec 2, 2014 22:17:42 GMT -5
Do they eat fish?
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Post by Desiree on Dec 2, 2014 22:47:43 GMT -5
I think, if I'm remembering correctly, that they can have fish, whole is better, once a week. I think fish causes some super stinky poos though. I'm not sure what kinds of fish they can have, if anything is restricted or not.
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Post by BuffyJo on Dec 2, 2014 23:11:04 GMT -5
Stinkier poo! I'd probably be put on full time ferret box duty! We have rotations now..if the ferret poop gets worse the family might protest and make me do it all the time..or worse put me in the cat box rotation!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 7:45:00 GMT -5
RedSky is correct (which you know!) but I do hope you don't think she was being mean/rude because she is very nice I can't help with raw food questions as mine aren't switched yet, but in addition to eating fish they also really enjoy salmon oil. Coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil are frequently used here as well. I give mine the coconut and they love it. Instead of using ferretone as a treat/for nail clipping, those are healthy alternatives. IIRC the amount to give is 1/2 tsp every 3 days.
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Post by RedSky on Dec 3, 2014 8:46:04 GMT -5
I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to sound so blunt. I just wanted to add in a bit of information but didn't think through how it sounded. I have edited my above post to add in an apology and hope that you can all forgive my harshness. Thank you elenners for linking me back so I could see my mistake and for coming to my defence. I really appreciate it.
If you can't or don't want to feed fresh raw meat and you can afford freeze dried raw (FDR) there are some great foods out there designed for cats that are great for ferrets and would be a great start to feeding raw. I think one of the brands I've heard good stuff about is stella and chewies but I'm not in your neck of the woods so not sure. If you want to stick to kibble, and it is your decision, then I'd advise feeding the best you can find/afford and make sure they drink plenty and have a look at how to brush their teeth.
Again, my apologies for being so sharp earlier, I hope you won't think I'm normally like that.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 9:08:08 GMT -5
Have you tried offering a chicken wing tip------some ferrets go straight to raw. my one year old went very quickly to raw meat---5 year old went thru soupie stage easily except first 2 or 3 days. after that she was hooked on soupies. mine never lost weight and has gained. Senior was sooo skinny on Wysong epigen 90 and itched like crazy. If you decide to go with soupie----i found this important----for mine anyway, hold them in your lap and daub their mouth with soupie mix from your finger. They will want to get down and run, which i let them do. In a little while, daub their mouth again. Do this routine several times a day. They will start licking it off your finger, then spoon or saucer. They like warm.
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