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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2015 16:29:22 GMT -5
Oh my gosh!! Look who's eating their dinner and loving it! Wisp is! : : : :
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Post by gfountain on Oct 16, 2015 16:33:53 GMT -5
Woo Hoo! Go Wisp! (dance)
What is it?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2015 17:10:25 GMT -5
It's the fdr with a teaspoon of ground turkey thoroughly mixed in. So, I guess the turkey is a hit?
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Post by gfountain on Oct 16, 2015 20:43:45 GMT -5
Yay! Finally a breakthrough! Now start increasing the amount of turkey and decreasing the amount of FDR each meal. Try increasing a teaspoon at a time and see if she'll go that fast. If she puts up a fuss, try a smaller amount. Watch her poops and if they get loose, let me know so we can compensate.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2015 20:55:23 GMT -5
Ok. Will do. She isn't eating it as quickly as she normally does, but she has eaten over half of it now, so that's alot of improvement. Before, she ate a bite or 2 and wouldn't touch any more for the rest of the night.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 16, 2015 20:58:51 GMT -5
Well, either she likes the turkey or she finally got tired of not eating.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 8:10:36 GMT -5
So, she ate every bit of her dinner last night and licked the bowl clean. And I doubled the turkey and cut back on the fdr this morning for breakfast and added 2 teaspoons of Turkey and she is eating it. So will update you later to let you know if she ate it all. And her poops were normal last night. One question though, since the meat is in the refrigerator, how do I warm it up for her because she is used to her food being warm (since I have to use warm water to rehydrate the fdr)? Maybe put it in a Ziploc and let it sit in warm water for a few mins before I feed her?
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Post by gfountain on Oct 17, 2015 10:37:15 GMT -5
She's finally on her way! Unfortunately, ground turkey is not balanced. That means she can't stay on just the turkey for very long. We're going to have to push her to accept liver and heart. Do you have either of those available?
To warm the turkey, yes, set it in warm water. But for convenience, if I were you, I would work toward getting her to eat it room temp or even cold. I can't tell you how many times I've had to serve meatsicles because either I forget to pull a meal out of the freezer or the brats convince me that they're absolutely starving between meals.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 13:15:38 GMT -5
I'm not positive on the liver or the hearts. I haven't looked for them so can't say either way. I will definitely look for them. Wow. That's going to be a tough one for me, but I'm dedicated to giving her what she needs despite my aversion to meat. But the turkey is ok with the fdr mixed right? At least for now? I can possibly get the organs Mon or so because my sister is visiting this weekend so pretty tied up until then.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 17, 2015 13:37:12 GMT -5
Turkey with the FDR is fine for now. Eventually she'll have to have more kinds of meats, lots of bony stuff, 2 kinds of organs, and heart. There's not a rush to find them yet. Deficiencies in the diet take a while to show up, so we have enough leeway to get through the switch without causing problems. Normally, though, we would be using chicken soup which IS balanced and we only have to be concerned with the transition period from soups to full frankenprey. Using only ground turkey as a transition tool concerns me just a little because it means her diet will be unbalanced until she starts accepting the organs and heart. It's not a huge worry, just something we need to be aware of.
As far as prepping, heart is not really any worse than anything else. The organs though, they're another story. The easiest thing to do is fix and freeze large quantities at a time so you don't have to do it very often. Although any kind of liver will do, chicken livers are easy to find and require almost no work at all to fix. You'll need to source another organ as well and that may require some work. Other organs and hearts can be hard to find. If you have an Asian market nearby, that is probably your best option. They carry all kinds of weird things. Asian markets are a good source for small boned meats also, such as quail, rabbit, pheasant.
Also, you need to decide what proteins you want her to have in her diet - chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish, quail, turkey, rabbit, whatever. She has to have a minimum of 3 proteins (more is better) and a LOT of small bony meat sources. Look around and see what you can find so you'll know where to go when she's ready for new things.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2015 8:50:50 GMT -5
Ok. So she ate all of her dinner (prepared the same as her breakfast) so this morning for breakfast, I halved the fdr and replaced with turkey (1/3 fdr to 2/3 turkey) and she is eating it just fine. Also, luckily there is an Asian grocery store right up the street from me so will try to check them out along with a few other stores to see which proteins are widely available before I narrow down my choices. I don't want to put myself and wisp dependant on one single store. But with that being said, there are a few other prospects within my area that are also Asian grocery stores so it's a possibility. Also searching for another butcher or farmers who will sale to the public. Slaughter houses are so few and far between in the area (unlike when I lived in Jackson and they were everywhere). Otherwise, I am sure that I can get beef, chicken, and pork easily at any grocery store. But I must admit, pork is probably my threshold as far as meat goes. Being raised in believing pork is not to be eaten is pretty tough for me to get around. On top of that, I've seen how badly those poor pigs are treated and the matter in which they are slaughtered is more than I think I can contribute to. So I think pork is definitely out (unless it is absolutely needed or she will die).
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Post by gfountain on Oct 18, 2015 16:44:26 GMT -5
Good for Wisp! I'm glad she likes the turkey. We're going to throw her a curve ball as soon as you find some hearts and organs. No, pork is not an absolute necessity if you can find enough other proteins for her.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2015 20:57:17 GMT -5
Well, I am also trying her out on her food being cold because to get the fdr correct, I had to make breakfast and dinner together so her dinner has been in the fridge all day and she is eating it pretty good. Either that or she was really hungry because her dinner is a little bit later than usual although her breakfast was later as well. I'm working on getting her on a more set schedule as far as meals go because usually breakfast is after we get up and have played for a bit (8-10 am) and dinner can be between (6-9 pm) so my goal is 9 am and pm. With a crazy life right now with 2 moves in the last few months and a child, that can be pretty crazy. So our world has been flipped and turned inside out to say the least. But she is accepting the turkey with no problems and is back to eating all of her food and still pooping normally. The only thing that I have noticed is she is sleeping alot more and instead of taking at least an hr to wind down when she gets out, she plays for a few mins and is pretty quiet for the rest of the time. But it could also be because she is getting out more since our last move. She wasn't able to get out of her cage and run and play at my sister's apartment due to the dog, so her time out of the cage was infrequent and only on her leash outside when the weather wasn't too hot. But I would take her with me every chance I got so she could get out of her cage. That's why she loves riding in the car and going to various stores with me. So she might have worn off all of the pent-up energy she had and has gotten back to her usually mellow self again.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 19, 2015 9:52:20 GMT -5
Having more time out could be cause for being calmer. I find that when my kids get plenty of time out, they'll quickly find a corner to curl up in and nap. If they have to stay caged for a long period of time, they tend to play longer and harder when they do get out. Also, the weather is getting colder. Ferrets sleep more during the winter.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2015 13:58:27 GMT -5
So I just found out that wisp will fully accept the ground turkey and in fact will get mad if you take it away. I was moving stuff around in my refrigerator and some of her ground turkey hit the floor. I promise you that she came out of nowhere and gobbled it up before I could figure out what she just ate. So, I have been stuck at home today due to the guys fixing my wall where we had a leak last week. I haven't had a chance to check on the other meats yet. I also need to work out what types of proteins that I want her to have. I was looking at the list of acceptable proteins and I might be going with the turkey, beef, and possibly venison (since she will eat it in her food and only if I can find a good source of it). I was going to ask you when I get the organs, is there any specific preparation for them? Also, how much I should get ex.. buy a weeks worth at first and such as that. I am currently noticing that she is also wanting to eat more as well. she had 9 oz. of food this morning and has been continuously begging for more. That's why she gobbled up the turkey when it fell. How much exactly should she be eating in a day? She was getting 18 oz. of food a day with the fdr, but she is getting the same but seems to be always hungry. I just want to know that she is getting the proper amount of food everyday. She looks much heavier and is defiantly putting some weight back on as she feels much more solid than she did while she was sick. I don't know for sure but if I had to guess her weight right now I would say around 2 lbs. She is my first little fuzzy and I just want to make sure that she is getting the best care possible. So is there a ratio to the amount of food such as x oz. of food/ x body weight?
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