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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 2:53:50 GMT -5
My 7 (nearly 8) week old kit Bear is very skinny. I got him from people who we believe weren't taking great care of them and were just looking to make a bit of money (my mum actually knows the people). Bear seems very skinny. You can easily feel his back bone and ribs. I've been weighing him every day, but he just seems to be losing weight. He went from 200g, to 183g, to 176g. I have read that kits his age should be between 240g and 300g. The thing is we don't even know if he is actually 7 weeks old, but he is definitely losing weight and that's a problem. Is there anything I can give him to get his weight back up?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 3:52:18 GMT -5
If he is that small and losing weight / not eating, I would suggest you to get him oxbow carnivore care - you make a soup out of the powder and it's great for malnourished or convalescent/sick ferrets. In the meantime, try to feed him some meat soupie (you can find the recipe here somewhere), with meat+some organs and bonemeal or eggshell powder. Is he eating ? And if so, what? I think if you post a closeup of his teeth someone here can help you age him more accurately
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 9:11:07 GMT -5
Does he have nice pink paws, nose and ears? How is his energy levels and his poops.
It would help if you post a picture of him dangling.
You should be able to feel his ribs but not see them.
He should not have a waistline.
He's too young to be losing that much weight. He may not be that young. Like @absinthfairy said, post some pictures of his teeth and someone can age him.
I would take him to the Vet's. Let the doc look him over and maybe do some bloodwork.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 9:47:24 GMT -5
There is absolutely no way in heaven that I'm getting a picture of his teeth. He struggles too much and won't stay still for a second. Even when scruffed he yawns very quickly and my phone won't take a clear picture.If it helps though his teeth don't come down over his bottom lip like they do on my adult girlies. You can't see his ribs, but he is very fluffy. You can see the outline of his spine on his back through the fur though. I have weighed him again and he has gone down even more, now he is 173g. His ears, nose and paws are all pink and healthy looking. He has a TON of energy and he even has a fat little belly. I don't understand why he's losing weight. He must not have enough fat in his diet. The place we got him from was feeding him raw chicks and kibble. I have been feeding him kibble soaked in warm water and a little bit of raw chicken because I'm trying to wean him off of chicken and we can't find any frozen chicks anywhere. On tuesday I gave him a huge bowl of "carnivore stew" from the Ferrets for Dummies book and he ate it all and loved it. I don't understand what's going on. My mum said I shouldn't take him to the vets yet because he's really young and she thinks they might put him on a drip and thinks the experience will be traumatic for him. I rely on my parents for transport to the vets so ultimately it's down to them. Could he could he have worms maybe?
Edit; His poo is a bit on the runny side and really smelly. Way worse than my girls.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 10:11:02 GMT -5
He may have a bacterial infection if the smell is extremely bad. As far as I remember, moist kibble is not such a good idea as it spoils really fast - I would suggest just meat, even minced or blended, depending on what he eats, it can be any meat, duck is very rich in fat for example - and you can also add raw egg - extra calories and nutrients. Make sure he gets some calcium like bonemeal or eggshell powder.
Why do you want to wean him off chicken? Unless is related to an allergy - that would do him better than the wet kibble. Of course if you think that he is intolerant, you can give him other meats, such as lamb, goat, duck, rabbit, that may be easier for his tummy.
What's in that carnivore stew?
However - regarding taking him to the vet and putting him on a drip - this is not an issue of him being comfortable or not (or if the experience will or will not be traumatic). No matter the age, if he is in a situation as severe as needing a drip - he needs it to save his life! I think that is worth more that his comfort for that particular time. Like @poncesmom said, could you post a pic of him dangling, so we can see how he looks? If he is that small and he is indeed very skinny and keeps losing weight, he needs a vet, because his body can shut down quite fast....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 10:33:46 GMT -5
When I gave him a whole bit of raw chicken before it gave him runny poo. I thought maybe it was too rich for him so I stopped giving him so much. The carnivore stew was chicken meat, bones, fat, gristle and skin boiled for 20 minutes with half a cup of kibble thrown in to make a gravy like consistency. I completely understand. I wanted to take him to the vet the day we got him. If it wasn't for me my other two wouldn't have even had one vet visit. My parents are skeptical of the vets and I'm doing a full time college course to become and animal care manager, so I don't have a job right now. I will bring up the subject tonight and phone the vets in the morning. I definitely want him to go in tomorrow. These are the best pictures I could get of him dangling. He's a wriggler... i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr100/aloobah/11125811_10202944496573539_1260622565_n_zpsjiukhoq1.jpgi473.photobucket.com/albums/rr100/aloobah/11657458_10202944496373534_1007233212_n_zpsl7zyb0kz.jpgEdit; I have phoned the vets and we have an appointment for him tomorrow. |
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Post by FireAngel on Jun 25, 2015 12:29:08 GMT -5
He is precious. I do not see a defined waist on him so hopefully when you go to the vet tomorrow everything will check out alright. I'm sorry I have nothing to add for advice, just hope everything turns out well.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 12:42:38 GMT -5
If you're interested in feeding raw, I highly recommend signing up for the mentoring program on this forum. You'd be paired with a mentor for one-on-one guidance on proper nutrition and building a menu. Since he's a kit and eaten raw before, it'll be easy to get him transitioned.
What kind of chicken did you feed? If just muscle meat, that can make poop runny because there's no bone to help with consistency. You'll find that the frankenprey menus will follow a muscle meal with a bone-in meal to counterbalance that. Bone meal powder can also be added to muscle meat if poop is too runny.
If you've been feeding him raw and kibble, he can have a bacterial overload. Kibble and raw must be fed with several hours between them. They digest differently and at different speeds.
The last thing is that kits grow incredibly quickly and eat A LOT. Just make sure he has food available to him because my little girl right now is putting away around 9oz of food a day, and she is raw fed, so you can imagine how much food that really is.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using proboards
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 16:27:57 GMT -5
He is darling. He looks like a kit to me. He's not skinny, and has the little kit body, but a kit should not be losing weight. Just like a baby, they need to be gaining weight now. Don't worry about teeth now, he looks like an adorable baby meeper. I'm thinking like CeleneA possible bacterial overgrowth from mixing kibble and raw meat. A course of antibiotics should clear that up. If he has worms, you would see them in his poos. One small note: Ferrets digest raw food better and receive their nutrients from raw. They aren't designed to eat cooked food like humans, who digest and receive nutrients better from cooked foods. Are you removing those bones after the twenty minute boil? Twenty minutes is not long enough to boil bones and can make them dangerous. Some ferrents will make a bone broth but they bones boil for hours until they are mush. And one last note: chicks or pinkies are a treat. It's the full grown adult mouse of chick that that has nutritional value. The others are simply a nice treat. |
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Post by crazylady on Jun 25, 2015 18:19:51 GMT -5
Hi when you first start a ferret on any raw meat the poop will be runny ( kits are always like this I introduce mine to at least five types of meat in there first few weeks of eating meat from the age of three weeks ) at his age he needs four meals a day of 100-150grams per meal depending on his appetite a good meat to feed him to put weight on is lamb and fatty ground meats you need to check his teeth and see if the small top teeth have pushed through as normally they are the last to come through at around 5-5 1/2 weeks this will help you determine his age and if possible check that his teeth are not the reason he is not eating ( if his teeth are not meeting correctly he may not me able to chew properly ) soup will only imprint him on soup and he will refuse to eat solid food my kits also like scrambled egg warm ( drizzle a little olive oil on it too ) and you can also give him a little kitten replacer milk twice per week ( this tops up calcium and vits ) use egg shells washed dried and ground to dust as a calcium supplement sprinkled on his food hope this helps take care bye for now
Bev
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 19:38:41 GMT -5
You can try some chicken wing tips, too.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2015 3:39:41 GMT -5
I'm starting to think I'm just not feeding him enough. He doesn't have set meals, I give him a big bowl of food and he picks at it throughout the day. He doesn't actually eat much on his own. When he does go to eat, he has the tiniest amount. Can someone please just tell me what's the best thing to feed him. I've been giving him raw chicken muscle meat mixed with kibble and last night I gave him just raw chicken and raw egg. When we got him he was eating chicks and biscuit (the bowls were next to each other). I'm really quite confused. I should give him raw meat and it should include bones and skin etc, but I should also boil the bones to make them soft? Doesn't that just cook the meat? I am very confused as to what I should be feeding him and in what quantities? Edit; I just found worm eggs in his poo. It looks like hookworm. He has an appointment at the vets later today so hopefully we can get this all sorted out.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2015 5:46:15 GMT -5
Meat and bones should always be fed raw. But yeah, the worms would explain a lot. A kit should eat a lot, but you have to see how he improves after treatment, because the worms would make him uncomfortable, and his tummy upset - that besides all the nutrients that he loses...
Get well soon little guy!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2015 6:07:47 GMT -5
Do keep us up to date on this worm thing. 'first time I have heard of this, very interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2015 10:52:39 GMT -5
Oh! poor baby :C When you get rid of the worms I'm sure Bear will gain weight and look much better!
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