Wysong Epigen Diet Support

[Deleted]

Hello All,


I'm not really in a position to move to a fully raw, fresh diet at this time, but I want to move in that direction.  I'm pricing Wysong Epigen Diet Support and I have just a quick question.   Would adding chicken wings make this diet more complete?  I can do that, but not so much the blender thing right now.  Any insights or suggestion?

Thanks folks,

Suzie

[raynebc]

The "digestive support" version of Epigen 90 is a good kibble, but even then if using kibble it's recommended to use a mix of 2-3 kibble so that if one becomes unavailable you still have something your ferret will recognize as food. Chicken wings themselves aren't a complete diet though, so it would imbalance the diet to supplement with those. Eggs are complete, you could supplement with one or two of those per ferret per week if you want. Just make sure to remove the kibble for a couple hours before and after you feed raw food like egg to avoid digestive issues.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the advice raynebc. Raw eggs I can do.

Maybe you can help me with this....

I really don't quite understand Ferrets not recognizing things as food. From what I've read in various threads I know that's it's a concern, but it strikes me in the same way as when I hear about pandas not wanting to procreate. I don't get it.

Suzie

[Deleted]

May 21, 2015 15:15:15 GMT -5 @suzie said:

Thanks for the advice raynebc. Raw eggs I can do.

Maybe you can help me with this....

I really don't quite understand Ferrets not recognizing things as food. From what I've read in various threads I know that's it's a concern, but it strikes me in the same way as when I hear about pandas not wanting to procreate. I don't get it.

Suzie

Frustrating little fellows, aren't they? They refuse perfectly good food and yet will happily find, chew and swallow bad things, like rubber bands and foam.

Different proteins will have different nutrients. For example, beef is high in iron and vitamin B.
We suggest a minimum of three proteins in a Natural Diet.
The Wysong Digestive has chicken already.
If you wanted to add another protein or two, that would be a great way to introduce some other nutrients. Wysong has added vitamins and minerals, but it never hurts to have a fall back food, as Raynebc said and get some other proteins in them.
Egg is one, as Raynebc also said.
 Gizzards are wonderful for cleaning teeth. If you have an Asian market nearby, check them out and look for duck gizzards. It's a good way to get pricey duck protein, clean their teeth and help build jaw strength.

[raynebc]

It's described as ferrets imprinting on a food instead of just being picky, although ferrets can be picky as well in addition to preferring one food over another. The older a ferret is, the more set it is in its ways. Our understanding is that they don't realize a new food is a food until they happen to eat it, or they're not willing to try it. This is where scruff and sample type of methods come into play.

[Deleted]

Thanks Poncesmom,

I do have two Asian markets just a short bike ride from my home. I don't know if they have duck gizzards there, but I'll add it to my list.

Thanks so much,

Suzie

[Deleted]

May 21, 2015 15:26:28 GMT -5 raynebc said:

It's described as ferrets imprinting on a food instead of just being picky, although ferrets can be picky as well in addition to preferring one food over another. The older a ferret is, the more set it is in its ways. Our understanding is that they don't realize a new food is a food until they happen to eat it, or they're not willing to try it. This is where scruff and sample type of methods come into play.


Thanks, they're such goofy little beasts, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Suzie

[Deleted]

Ferrets are amusing little animals Right now my ferrets are on kibble but I am working on switching them to commercial grind. I currently use a variety of different things to try and balance the proteins. Here is the mixture I leave in the cage during the day for my ferrets. I am excluding the Am and Pm commercial grind meals. I use:

Orijen Cat and kitten kibble (chicken based)
Ziwipeak Cat Beef (Beef based)
Orijen Regional red (Boar,Venison and Beef based)
Freeze dried topper of Orijen Tundra Cat treat (venison, elk, quail)

I use a lot of Orijen and I know it isn't always available If you can't find it try looking into kibbles like Nature's variety, they have a rabbit recipe and a duck and turkey recipe that looked good. Just remember when looking at kibbles the ideal is meat for the first 5-10 ingredients try and buy kibbles with very little veggie content any more then 5 veggie ingredients I don't use it. Grain free is a must for me. Also avoid kibbles with fruits at all cost i.e. blueberries, pears, apples, raisins. I also try and stay away from added salt in the ingredients. Supplementing this diet with a raw soup in the morning and evening can be good, I mix up some freeze dried raw and commercial grind for the ferrets in the morning around 8am and evening around 8pm, they usually eat very little kibble and just wait for raw soup. Currently I spend about 60$ on food monthly. For kibbles I buy the kitten in the 2.27kg size and the regional red in 640g size.

-Alison

[Deleted]

Hey I was wondering about eggs I have read so many different things on google that I'm kind of confused. Some say only egg yolk while others say both is ok just can't feed them the yolk and whites at the same time. Does it matter? What is the difference?

[Deleted]

You can feed both at the same time, just egg whites by themselves is not recommended. I don't remember what exactly the problematic part of the egg whites is, but without the yolk, it has a negative effect. So egg yolk alone is good, egg yolk with the whites is good, egg whites alone is bad. That's how I remember it, lol.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using proboards

[Deleted]

Haha k thanks!