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Post by sherik on Jul 24, 2015 13:10:03 GMT -5
So what exactly do normal poops look like for a raw fed ferret. I have been feeding raw for years now, but all commercial grinds. When I got my 4 youngest ones they were all started on the frankenprey type diet. I've been noticing funky looking poops from all 4. But I don't know what is normal or not. So when they eat bone in meats, their poops are pretty formed and nice looking. And I get the disgusting poops on organ and hear days. But boneless meals. Are the poops supposed to be funky looking. Like really soft, sometimes with mucus? Different colours depending what they eat. Say if they get rabbit, the poops will sometimes be pink and very soft. I know one is allergic to chicken. Bones less beef seems to yield darker soft poops. I'm just stressing because I don't know what is normal and a little while ago I had some sort of virus or bacteria go through the whole business.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2015 13:19:40 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2015 13:32:09 GMT -5
I have noticed store- bought rabbit meat gives mine lighter poops. Maybe because there is not a lot of blood in meat. The best poops are when my ferrets eat ASF rats---must be a good ratio to bone thing. The fur has nothing to do with it as I skin them---just a habit I have--- to get them started on whole prey, and have never quit yet.
Hearts and organs, gizzards and boneless---- very soft here to liquid and dark.
When mine had bacteria, stool smelled awful--like when you opened door to their room, you could smell it.
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Post by sherik on Jul 24, 2015 16:03:05 GMT -5
Thank you. It's really only one of them with really funky poop when eating boneless. But he's done a round of antibiotics and probiotics after. He actually was bitten by something and had mild anyphylactic episode 6 weeks ago. Caused bloody poop and vomiting. Hasn't really been normal since. But I was reading it can take months for the intestines to heal after anyphylactic episodes. He eats really good and feels good and plays for hours. So maybe this is his normal for now. He has even gained 2oz.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2015 16:12:59 GMT -5
Maybe you could pick up some Bonemeal Powder and dust it into his meat. He may need more bone than your others.
Look for Human grade like the NOW brand and make sure that it has no added sweeteners.
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Post by sherik on Jul 24, 2015 18:54:05 GMT -5
Ok, I will try adding bonemeal to his meats. Can I use eggs shell powder instead? Just wondering. I was thinking maybe he just needs more bone than the others. Because, he really isn't sick. He's a nice solid ferret, beautiful fur, full of energy, and just a happy guy. He's not quite 1 year old yet. I've been paranoid since I lost sunny to lymphoma, because I'm positive there was more to it than that.
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Post by sherik on Jul 26, 2015 15:23:13 GMT -5
So I did a fecal this morning on one of the ferrets. I'm getting tired of these strange mucus poops and diarrhea. I think I may have found coccidia.  It looks very similar to some of the pictures I have found online. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2015 18:16:55 GMT -5
My Didi had coccidia--have no idea how she got it. I did walk her outside around house a lot. She lost weight and vet found it. She was a kibble ferret--- my first ferret. That is when i learned not to use lysol as she said that would kill it but not to use it for it was toxic to ferrets.
Is she/he eating poultry?
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Post by sherik on Jul 26, 2015 19:01:51 GMT -5
They all eat poultry. Turkey, quail, and chicken. The diarrhea and mucus poops is sporadic. At first I thought Clyde was allergic to chicken, so I took it away. But been giving it back with good poops. Then boom gross poop for no reason with food he is normally fine with. I brought another baby into the house 3 weeks ago. It was actually his poop I checked for coccidia. He's been also having sporadic diarrhea and a prolapsed rectum. Treated him for proliferative colitis, but that did nothing. His prolapse is pretty much healed, come out some times when he poop, but only lasts a few minutes and goes back in. But that last couple days his poop is horrible, looks identical to the coccidia poop on the poop chart. But it's not all the time. He did two normal ones this morning, and just now did another gross one. I've sent my vet the microscope pictures and one off the Internet to compare it to. I'm just waiting for her to get back to me. I have the sulfa drug to treat it, but I want her opinion first. Plus I only have enough for one ferret. This is what I kept saying sunny had before he was diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma. Because his poops looked identical to coccidia poop. But we could never find it to confirm it, even through a pathologist looking at his poop. Then we also sent three more, one of Clyde, Kirby, and Billie to be checked, but all they found were some clostridium rods, which can be normal, in billies poop.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2015 20:43:48 GMT -5
Well I hope everything works out for your little one. Do let us know results.
My senior can not handle poultry of any sort too well. She also needs a lot of bone.Even if she eats a bone in poultry meal, she has a liquid stool with a little heap of bones in it.
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Post by sherik on Jul 30, 2015 10:27:41 GMT -5
With Emmett, he doesn't have coccidia. All is good, and he prolapse is healed now. It took two weeks. I should say he is fairly new to raw. Which I'm guessing why he keeps having funky poops here and there. But I think I figured out why the mucus. He's being lazy like a dog. He's swallowing some pretty big bone pieces. He had this horrible poop, that was all yellow mucus. And then half hour later he pooped out the breast bone from a quail. Not chewed or anything, he swallowed it whole. I'm guessing that has got to irritate the intestines. How do I get him to chew his bones properly. I never had this problem with anyone else with the switch. Actually anytime he eats quail, there are very large pieces of bone that passes through. I'm actually getting scared he is going to perforate his bowels with how big these bones are. Some are like 1/2" long. Should I break them up with a knife more until he chews better.
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