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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2015 21:54:54 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - busy week! Hope you had a good holiday.
I don't think anyone really likes the finger method...but I do have good news! Sax is on meat now. Marie seems to be only eating 1/3-1/2 an ounce per meal, so her appetite has stemmed, but Jane usually cleans up for her.
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Post by Desiree on Dec 28, 2015 13:08:18 GMT -5
Haha! It's okay. Busy time of the year. No worries.
Yay for Sax! Keep an eye on Marie's weight. But as long as she is stable, we can assume she's not a big eater.
You can follow the finger to spoon method with the syringe. Just move the syringe closer and closer to the spoon and hopefully they will catch on that the food in the syringe is the same as the food in the spoon.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 21:16:34 GMT -5
Just a little update - Sax is probably eating about 1/3-1/2 of her oz at every meal, so she's getting about 1.5oz per day on her own from a bowl. She is saving room for kibble, so we're going to try pulling that up this weekend and seeing how she does. Jane has been eating a ton (she finishes her own plus Sax's plus licks Marie's bowl clean). Marie seems to be looking for a little more to eat - should I just give her extra? How much extra? I gave her Sax's leftovers this A.M.
Weigh-In:
Marley: 1lb 12.4oz <- I think this weight loss might be attributed to her moving around more, she has mostly gotten over her winter "slump". Jane: 2lb 3.3oz ^ Marie: 1lb 12.9oz ^ Sax: 1lb 10.1oz (basically stayed the same plus .1oz)
P.S. - Marley's BG 5 hours after her meal was 72. She did eat slightly less at that meal (a little over 1/8th of her ounce was refused).
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Post by Desiree on Jan 2, 2016 22:28:11 GMT -5
Keep feeding them until they stop eating. Right now, all the ferrets should be eating as much as they want. If we need to dial it down later we can.
It's looks like everyone is doing really well on the soup.
I'm in favor of removing the kibble.
72 is good but it's borderline. I would definitely keep an eye on her. If it drops any more, it might be time to get her to the vet again.
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Post by Desiree on Jan 11, 2016 20:41:17 GMT -5
Hey just checking in. I see you have two new fellows, how are they doing? Can I get a good update with everyone, weights, what they are eating and pictures?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2016 11:10:15 GMT -5
Hi Desiree, Sure! We got two newbies, Lola and Myron. Lola is having a little bit of a hard time fitting in - she's a relative baby in the older group, but she was so calm at the shelter so it was totally my bad. She'll grow out of it, but right now we're working on timeouts when she starts fights, and we've started caging her with Myron at night since they get along. Otherwise, she'll attack all the older girls in their sleep. Myron is a little love, but he can really handle her very well so I'm not worried about him being in with her (plus the cage makes her calmer). We've offered some licks of meat, but there's not a ton of interest yet - I did let these two keep their kibble for the first week, but we'll be ramping up transitioning ASAP. Marley: 1lb 11.5oz (raw soup only - last BG 93) Sax: 1lb 11.5oz Marie: 1lb 13.7oz (raw soup only) Jane: 2lb 4oz (raw soup only) Myron: 3lb 1.5oz (kibble only, did not like meat) Lola:2lb 2.2oz - she has actually gained since adoption, when she was 1lb 9oz. (kibble only, liked meat but won't eat much) Minor update on Marie & Sax – I’m still thinking they “blew” their coats for this winter due to our crazy heating, because both of them are slowly getting their fur back. The vet had advised us to wait for a des until we knew whether they were adrenal or not, and I think they might be so we'll be taking them in within the next couple weeks.
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Post by Desiree on Jan 13, 2016 13:12:15 GMT -5
Everyone looks good! I'm glad we are on all raw soup for your first ones, now to get the news ones on board.
As for des, it can be implanted as a preventative. With their age, it might be a good idea to implant both of them anyway. I know the implants can be pricey though.
For your old crew, you can start putting in teeny tiny slivers of chicken in their soup. I would start with a couple per ferret. They should be about the size of the tip of your pinkie nail to start. The idea is that we want to trick them into eating a different texture before they realize they are eating it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2016 23:24:44 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm still worried about Sax and Marie since they're little string beans, but they've been gaining (though it doesn't feel like much!).
We'll definitely get them, just trying to find a vet that won't anesthetize for it. Our normal vet is super knowledgeable and really well-regarded, but she only wants to do des when they're under due to potential pain. Marley's first one was done while she was up and she barely reacted, and with their age, I don't want to put them under for just anything.
Jane actually has totally had slivers for most of her time on raw, because we tend to give her the gristly bits that Marley refuses - she sucks them up like a little vacuum! Marie will eat them with a grimace. Marley tends to spit them out...lol. She's spoiled. We'll try it out and see what happens.
Side note....I think Jane might be ready for real pieces. If I wanted to give her something, what should I give her? Just a little cube of meat?
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Post by Desiree on Jan 13, 2016 23:34:47 GMT -5
For Sax and Marie, as long as they are trending up, there isn't any worries.
My vet won't do DES without putting them under either but they are the only vet within the hour that has them available all the time without having to order ahead of time.
If Jane is ready for real meat give it to her. Start off smaller and see how she does. Longer pieces go over better than fatter squarer pieces most of the time. I would start with thigh meat of a chicken and cut a thin but long piece of meat and see how she does.
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Post by Desiree on Jan 20, 2016 23:08:20 GMT -5
Did you start Jane on chunks yet? How is everyone else doing?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2016 9:36:14 GMT -5
Everyone is doing pretty well! We had a mild scare with Marie (I think you saw that - the little burn spot? it's healing really well), and it's been crazy. Boyfriend got a new job, and I'm looking for one now too, so I have almost no time to myself.
We offered Jane some meat plain, which she didn't even try, and tried smaller pieces, but she didn't really like that either, so we made some smallish chunks and mixed them into her soup. Those seem to have gone down without complaint, and I haven't caught her stashing.
One thing I did want to ask was about Marley - she is eating like crazy but actually lost weight since last week. She's at 1lb 10oz, and started eating 1.25-1.5oz/feed (usually 4x a day). I'm a little worried, but there's also a couple things happening here; she packed on her raw weight and her winter weight at the same time, so when she was high 1lb 12 and low 1lb 13, she was sleeping constantly and wouldn't do anything whatsoever. Now she's active, her BG is in the 80s, and she's running all over the place. All her bodily functions are normal, she seems happy, playing, etc. She has also started checking on me again in the mornings, which she was too sick, and then too sleepy, to do. Also, our latest batch of thighs came from a place that trims their meat REALLY well. So I'm thinking since she doesn't seem to be physically declining, either she's not getting enough fat, or she's losing her winter weight.
If it's winter weight, how much is okay for her to lose? And how would she lose so much while eating so much? Pickles used to shoot down 3-5 oz and scare me, but that was normal for him. She's always been petite before raw feeding.
If it's lack of fat/calories, what would be an appropriate way to boost her intake?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2016 21:36:34 GMT -5
Minor update: Marley weighed 1lb 11oz this evening after several hours without eating and after poops. I don't get her at all. I subtract her meal if I weigh right after feeding, so either she's bouncing a lot or my scale is off.
Also, we tried putting chicken skin in tonight's batch, for the extra fat & calories. It's a semi-hit - Jane likes chewing the skin chunks, and Marley ate 1.6oz, but Marie doesn't like it at all.
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Post by Desiree on Jan 23, 2016 22:20:39 GMT -5
Hmm, a good poo can be an ounce or so, so an oz or two isn't too bad between daily weights. The best thing is to weigh them at the same time everyday, before a meal.
As far as adding fat, there are a couple of ways to do that. You can add fat, like duck fat to the soup and blend it all up. Duck is incredibly fatty. Chicken skins are really good too. Pork is also high in fat and if you can get pork belly, its incredibly high in fat. all of these can be made into soups for you non chunk eaters.
Ah, Jane likes "gravy"! It's a great way to get them to start eating chunks. Prepare the chunks as you would like and then dribble some soup over them. I tend to make this soupy goopy and thick so it better sticks to the chunks. As you move forward, reduce the amount of gravy of them. Eventually she will be eating chunks all on her own.
Have you completely removed kibble from their diet? The newbies were still on it yes? Have you tried slivers yet?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2016 13:47:36 GMT -5
I'll keep an eye on Marley. I tend to fuss over her, with good reason! I wonder if I could just buy fat from my local butcher shop? They sell a crazy amount of things, so maybe. Marley is super picky about meat so far. She hates beef (to the point of puking it back up), and pork didn't go well. Duck might work, since it's another bird. Sax still occasionally nibbles at the kibble, but we feed her every time we feed Marley, so she doesn't have a chance to get hungry. I haven't seen her eating it in at least a week or two now. Yep, Lola and Myron are still on kibble. Lola is much more adventurous, and ate a bit of meat soup the other day, but refused it when offered it again. (Side note, since she's such a baby, her body type is really interesting. She's like jello wrapped in a furry tube. So bendy and squishy.) Myron has outright refused it, so we're giving him a taste every so often.
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Post by Desiree on Jan 25, 2016 21:40:39 GMT -5
If you have a butcher, definitely try there. Duck goes over very well with most ferrets. The bone pieces can be big but we won't have to worry about that yet.
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