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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2015 0:13:02 GMT -5
well, guys i asked in shoutbox---- could bone meal cause blockage----because my little senior or maybe my other ferret passed this hard piece of fecal matter. It did crumble in water--but not real easily. I googled and found this at www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/bone-meal/......it can become a problem when consumed in large amounts as the bone meal forms a large cement-like bowling ball foreign body in the stomach – which can cause an obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract – resulting in possible surgery to remove it.
I have been using it quite a bit and decided to just trash it.
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Post by Celene on Feb 14, 2015 2:11:38 GMT -5
I did respond in the shoutbox but will here as well since it's a more permanent/searchable answer.
In larger amounts bone meal will definitely cause their poops to be hard and even crumbly - however I have never heard of a ferret developing a blockage because of it.
Ferrets do need a certain amount of bone for calcium and other nutrients/minerals. I use ground eggshell powder, and I know the "dosage" for that is 1/2 tsp per 8oz of meat - so really they don't need very much! I think powdered bone is better because it has the nutrients from the marrow as well whereas eggshell powder is mostly just calcium.
If your ferrets' poops are a kibble-poop consistency or harder you should probably ease up on the bone meal. If they are really really liquidy then they need more. If you trash it, make sure your fuzzies are eating bone and/or have another calcium source or they will not be eating a balanced diet.
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Post by crazylady on Feb 14, 2015 18:03:58 GMT -5
Hi I have used bonemeal for over 48 years and never had a problem with each meal you give them all they need is a big pinch between finger and thumb sprinkled over it is processed and passed through they don't store bonemeal in there bodies they extract the calcium and vits from it and as there stomach acid can dissolve whole bone I doubt very much that bonemeal is the problem if a ferret does not receive enough calcium that is when you see problems ( I have seen kits born with swimmer syndrome due to lack of calcium and the bones being so weak they cannot hold the body weight the kits normally die before the age of 8 weeks) this is why calcium is vital in the ferrets diet not only as a kit but through out its whole life and as ferrets age they can develop osteoporosis if they do not receive enough calcium hope this helps take care bye for now
Bev
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Post by bitbyter on Feb 14, 2015 18:46:42 GMT -5
How much bone meal were you adding? For a poop to be dry and crumbly like that you'd have to be adding a lot. Are they still on soup or were you adding it to their frankenprey diet?
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