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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2015 18:00:31 GMT -5
Quick update, since I didn't record yesterday.
Fri, 2/27
Leela LOVED her breakfast. She ate 0.9 oz. gravy + 4 FDR chunks. (I don't know if you are familiar with how big Stella & Chewy's FDR chunks are, but I didn't weigh this "icing on top.") I didn't have to baby her. I left a plate of this in the kitchen, and I saw her starting to eat it, and I left. It was all gone when I got home from work. For dinner, I gave her the same thing, except one fewer FDR chunk, and she ended up eating 0.7 oz. + 3 pieces of FDR icing.
Flexie didn't want to cooperate today. She ate 0.4 oz. of kibble soup in the afternoon. She doesn't eat much per meal, it looks like. I still don't have a good idea of how much she normally eats, but this might be the norm for her.
Mitch barely ate anything in his cage. 0.3 oz. of his chunky soup in this morning. For dinner, I gave him shaved chicken thigh slivers (0.4 oz.) and gravy. Wow, was he excited. He ate in the kitcken WITHOUT my assistance, 2.2 oz. of that. My lazy boy likes "fast food." If he doesn't have to chew much, he'll eat more. Momma is catching on... hmmm....
Mango had finished the 3 pieces of chicken wings that I gave him for nighttime snack. He ate 1.4 oz. of chicken wing in the morning, and 1.8 oz. of organ for dinner (chicken liver + pork kidney puree). His poop is dark, small, and runny. He is very playful, so he's probably not sick. I'm still not sure why this is happening. But as you suggested, I will watch his poop and I might have to focus on giving him more bone-in to firm up his poop.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 28, 2015 19:43:14 GMT -5
Are you not giving Leela any slivers? I am not familiar with the FDR size, but keep reducing the amount each meal.
Flexie still has access to dry kibble so she won't eat much of that kibble soup at a time. You HAVE to leave her the dry kibble at this point though. That's why I'd like to get her off the kibble completely soon. Have you started adding raw soup to the kibble soup yet? Let's get her moving in that direction if not.
Keep working on getting Mitch to eat in the cage and increase the size of his slivers for his next meal. You can still shave them, just put a little more pressure on the peeler. Increase the size and amount of slivers decrease the amount of gravy.
Mango's organ meal explains this poop. Organs will always create looser, dark, tarry looking poops. I usually 'salt' organ meals with eggshell to counteract that.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 13:46:57 GMT -5
Are you not giving Leela any slivers? I am not familiar with the FDR size, but keep reducing the amount each meal. I didn't the first day of gravy training, but I am now. I used about half & half of shaved chicken and gravy. She loves it!
Flexie still has access to dry kibble so she won't eat much of that kibble soup at a time. You HAVE to leave her the dry kibble at this point though. That's why I'd like to get her off the kibble completely soon. Have you started adding raw soup to the kibble soup yet? Let's get her moving in that direction if not. I'm leaving kibble out for her, and if I see her eating, I quickly switch it with kibble paste. Since I'm not supposed to leave the paste out, she only gets the paste while I'm home. She's starting to like the paste. I have not added any gravy to it yet.
Keep working on getting Mitch to eat in the cage and increase the size of his slivers for his next meal. You can still shave them, just put a little more pressure on the peeler. Increase the size and amount of slivers decrease the amount of gravy. I had a hard time shaving the chicken. I think it's easier to shave when it starts thawing a little bit. Is it safe to put back the chicken in the freezer and shave it again later? Maybe I should cut them up in smaller chunks before freezing them, so the same big chunk of meat won't go through freezing and thawing over and over again.
Mango's organ meal explains this poop. Organs will always create looser, dark, tarry looking poops. I usually 'salt' organ meals with eggshell to counteract that. Yeah, I suspected that. I made him eat the entire breakfast before I gave him fresh food for dinner, just to make sure that he eats him bone-in to firm up his poop. Dusting the organ meal with bone-meal powder is a great idea. I will try that for his next organ meal.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 14:05:19 GMT -5
Update for Saturday, 2/28 Leela ate A LOT! She doesn't eat more than 1.0 oz. per meal, but I had to feed her 3 times today. She ate: - 0.8 oz. gravy + 3 chunks FDR
- 0.9 oz. gravy + 2 chunks FDR
- 0.4 oz. gravy + 0.4 oz. sliver + 2 chunks FDR
Maybe I should leave this meal for her to eat at night too. She likes this over her kibble. I don't have to worry about her eating Flexie's kibble as long as she has this on her plate. How long does gravy stay good at room temp.? Flexie ate kibble paste twice. She doesn't eat much more than 0.5 oz. but she's starting to like it. She seems more willing. Mitch is doing better in his cage, although he does not eat nearly as much as he would in my lap. He ate 1.6 oz. in the morning, and 1.8 oz. in the evening. I will give him thicker shaved meat + gravy on Sunday. Mango did not finish his breakfast, so I made him eat all of it before I gave him dinner. He ate total of 1.7 oz. CGH and 1.0 oz. chicken gizzards. Because I didn't give him dinner until 11:00PM, I only gave him 1.0oz. of gizzards, but he had eaten it all the next morning. I could have given him a bit more, looking back. His normal amount per meal is 1.7 - 2.0 oz.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 20:25:15 GMT -5
Weekly weigh-in time!! Leela -1 lb. 12 oz. Flexie 1 lb. 15 oz. Mitch 4 lbs. 3 oz. Mango 3 lbs. 10 oz.
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Post by gfountain on Mar 2, 2015 20:22:47 GMT -5
Yayyyy! Pictures! How adorable! Leela's weight looks good. Flexie is saying HELLLLPPPPPPP! She still has a kibble belly. Mitch is a panda bear! 4-3...WOW! But his shape is good, a little pudgy around the middle but it just looks like winter weight. And Mango, lol! RAWRRRR! He looks perfect, nice straight tube with a bulge for his spleen.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 21:01:51 GMT -5
Yayyyy! Pictures! How adorable! Leela's weight looks good. Flexie is saying HELLLLPPPPPPP! She still has a kibble belly. Mitch is a panda bear! 4-3...WOW! But his shape is good, a little pudgy around the middle but it just looks like winter weight. And Mango, lol! RAWRRRR! He looks perfect, nice straight tube with a bulge for his spleen. Hi Gina! Happy Monday! It's almost like Monday comes around every week... *annoyed* * So, what exactly is kibble belly? Yes, she is still on kibble and occasional kibble soup, but is there a difference in appearance between kibble fed babes and raw fed babes? Also, what does that mean to have a bulge for a spleen? You don't mean like a lump, do you? I take it that it's a good thing, but I just don't understand... Help!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 21:20:08 GMT -5
<<Food update>> Sunday, 3/1Leela - 0.5 oz. sliver + 0.6 oz. gravy + 2 chunks FDR
- 0.5 oz. sliver + 0.6 oz. gravy + 2 chunks FDR
Flexie - kibble throughout the day
- kibble soup twice, less than 1.0 oz all day
Mitch - whole beaten egg (less than half- Mitch and Mango shared on the same plate)
- 2.0 oz. chunky soup
Mango - whole beaten egg (Mango ate more than half of it.)
- 1.7 oz. quail (Since he didn't finish this in the morning, I left it until it was gone and skipped dinner.)
Monday, 3/2Leela - 0.4 oz. sliver + 0.7 oz. gravy + 2 FDR chunks
- 0.5 oz. sliver + 0.6 oz. grazy + 2 FDR chunks (She eats it with enthusiasm.... She really makes me happy!)
Flexie - kibble all day. I did not get a chance to give her kibble soup.
Mitch - 1.8 oz. chunky soup
- 1.8 oz. chunky soup (He ate in his cage, on his own! Woot! I will not change anything for the next few meals. I'm just so thrilled that he ate without me there cheering on.)
Mango - 1.0 oz. chicken wings (He is keeping the rest of 1.2 oz. until tomorrow morning. Hopefully he'll eat some more tonight.)
- 1.0 oz. chicken liver + 0.7 oz. chicken hearts
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Post by gfountain on Mar 2, 2015 21:29:13 GMT -5
Kibble fed ferrets have a different shape than raw fed ferrets. They're more bottom heavy, more pear shaped when dangling. A healthy raw fed ferret will be tube shaped with a bulge on the side where the spleen is. That is perfectly normal. Winter weight will make them a little more rounded all around but not noticeably in one area. If you compare Flexie's picture to Mango's, you can see the difference in kibble and raw fed. Even though Flexie is obviously smaller, her shape is more like a pear where Mango is a tube.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 21:32:03 GMT -5
Oh, gfountain, I forgot to mention.... I went to an Asian market to look for frog legs. They said they should have some, but I didn't see it... I will try again this Friday. If I still can't find it, do you have other suggestions on where else to go? I broke my potato peeler trying to shave a chicken-burg! But! I have to say, it worked to my advantage. I went and bought a new one, and I didn't realize how much better new potato peelers would cut. The blade must be much sharper. It was so much easier to shave! I managed to make thicker and bigger piece in no time. Things happen for a reason... The old one must have broken to make things easier for me. (giggle)
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Post by gfountain on Mar 2, 2015 21:34:07 GMT -5
For Leela's next meal, give her about 2/3 slivers, 1/3 gravy and only one FDR. Will Flexie eat the kibble soup on her own or does she need you to feed her? Go Mitch! When you feel like he is ready, add more chunks, less gravy. Mango... Remember seasonal appetite change. If he's active and poops are fine, don't worry about him.
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Post by gfountain on Mar 2, 2015 21:36:06 GMT -5
I wondered about your potato peeler since you were having trouble slicing slivers. I can sliver a big solid chunk in a couple of minutes!
I get frog legs at the local grocery store in the freezer.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 22:04:16 GMT -5
For Leela's next meal, give her about 2/3 slivers, 1/3 gravy and only one FDR. Will Flexie eat the kibble soup on her own or does she need you to feed her? Go Mitch! When you feel like he is ready, add more chunks, less gravy. Mango... Remember seasonal appetite change. If he's active and poops are fine, don't worry about him. Got it! So, that would be roughly 0.7 oz. slivers and 0.4 oz. gravy plus one chunk FDR (note to self). I will do this tomorrow for breakfast. Flexie needs some encouragement at the beginning. I put some soup on her nose, and after she licks it off, I wave the spoon to let her know there's more. Then I lower the spoon into the bowl, and she'll start licking on her own. But she runs away before eating as much as I want her to eat. How does the seasonal appetite change work? They eat more in the summer? I have noticed that their testicles have been shrinking as the Deslorelin implants are gradually bringing them out of season. Their activity level seem higher than before. They don't chase and harass the girls in attempt to rape them anymore, and they have become more like typical playful Mill ferrets. It seems like they should be eating more if they are more physically active.
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Post by gfountain on Mar 2, 2015 22:16:24 GMT -5
It does seem that they would eat more in the summer, but typically they eat less beginning about now. They can lose up to 40% of their body weight in the spring also. And they become more active. I've found that mine eat less in the spring then gradually build up again through the summer, eat a lot in the fall, decrease a little mid-winter, then decrease again in the spring. It seems backwards because their activity level fluctuates exactly opposite. They also lose their gorgeous winter coats. My light colored boys are just beginning their shed. My house is going to look like a snowstorm hit inside. My little girl has her seasons backwards so she's been thin and sleek all winter; now she's getting ready to put on some chub and grow her winter coat. I can't tell what my other male is doing. He's just all messed up I think, lol. His fur is longer like for winter but he's losing his undercoat like for summer.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 23:10:35 GMT -5
It does seem that they would eat more in the summer, but typically they eat less beginning about now. They can lose up to 40% of their body weight in the spring also. And they become more active. I've found that mine eat less in the spring then gradually build up again through the summer, eat a lot in the fall, decrease a little mid-winter, then decrease again in the spring. It seems backwards because their activity level fluctuates exactly opposite. They also lose their gorgeous winter coats. My light colored boys are just beginning their shed. My house is going to look like a snowstorm hit inside. My little girl has her seasons backwards so she's been thin and sleek all winter; now she's getting ready to put on some chub and grow her winter coat. I can't tell what my other male is doing. He's just all messed up I think, lol. His fur is longer like for winter but he's losing his undercoat like for summer. Interesting! I would have thought that they eat more in the summer, because... hey, it's summer! We all like to unwind after a long freezing winter. I had always fed my ferrets kibble, so I never really noticed how much they were eating. You pay more attention when you raw feed. That's another advantage of raw feeding, I think. Maybe your girl has the season backwards because you have heat on? I'm not sure if it's the temperature or the length of daylight that does it though. Ferrets have their own strange thought process!! It's March, silly. (giggle)
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