Post by Heather on Jul 19, 2016 15:00:32 GMT -5
Name: Kathryn
HF Forum Username: jawjahpeach
Please confirm that you are 18 years of age or older: Yes
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
Vet explained to me several years ago that ferrets are supercarnivores. I was unable to find any useful information so I cooked and pureed chicken breasts and fed my ferrets every 3 hours for a year. I have tried numerous times to make contact with someone who could advise me. I made appointments for phone consults with vets who said they did phone consults but not one ever called me. I did internet research. Recently I found this forum.
2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.
At this time, I am not interested in whole prey, primarily because I have serious doubts about being able to get them to accept it. I believe I would like to fully switch to a natural diet but am open to ideas. At this point I do not fully understand how it would work to partially switch.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
I believe that anything that is done the way nature intended is best. I would like to provide my babies with the best possible quality of life and to keep them with me as long as I can.
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It requires a commitment of several months at minimum. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. The switch takes time and effort every single day. It can also be extremely frustrating at times. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc), or limited time due to work, then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing and realistically able to make the neccessary time commitment?
Absolutely!
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?
2 7 year old jills: Suga, Honey Bun. I’ve had them 5.5 years. Suga is in good general health and normal weight. About 15 months ago, Honey Bun had some episodes of spacing out and laying over on her side. She had a mildly low BG. Based on that one BG, the vet diagnosed insulinoma and started pred. She refused to do any additional labs and said that if it wasn’t insulinoma it was a brain tumor. Within a few weeks, her BG more than doubled. The vet did not want me to monitor BGs at home and did not want to repeat BG in the office for at least 3 months. She began having heavy blood in her stools. The vet just doubled her Carafate. When that didn’t help, I took her in. They put her on Metro and said that if it didn’t stop in 5 days, she had a tumor. It didn’t. I had been traveling 2 hours to a “holistic exotic vet” out of state. I changed to a local vet. He asked if we had proved insulinoma. Labs showed a normal insulin but a glucose of 732. We stopped pred and started insulin. She required high doses of insulin and we still couldn’t get her BGs lower than 500s. Many days it was too high to read. I changed vials of insulin and her BG dropped 300 points in 12 hours. I transitioned her from Marshall’s to Natural Gold over a period of 3 weeks. BGs gradually declined, but still were higher than normal. Then I found Zero Carb. 2 days after I put her on it, she no longer required insulin. In December, bloody stools again became a constant. I was concerned about food allergy and took her off kibble. I fed her baby food turkey with salmon oil, taurine and Nupro while I desperately searched for answers about what I needed to give her a complete, healthy diet. Her BGs bottomed out so we went back on kibble. Insulin was again normal. I contacted a vet school. After a lot of double talk, they recommended that I select a cat food. Fancy Feast had been previously recommended so I tried that. After a short while, her BGs bottomed out again so we’re back on Natural Gold, baby food turkey and Carnivore Care every 4 hours around the clock supplemented with Nupro and FortiFlora. She recently had a respiratory infection and was pretty ill. She’s currently doing well with stable BGs in the normal range. She has very limited vision and IBD. She almost doubled her weight within the first few weeks on pred last year. She’s still about 8-9 oz. above her baseline.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup?
Suga is free fed Natural Gold dry supplemented with Nupro. Without the Nupro, her stools are very loose. Honey Bun eats crushed Natural Gold mixed with baby food turkey and Carnivore Care and supplemented with Nupro and FortiFlora. She has fewer bloody stools with Nupro.
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
Yes. Several years ago I had 3 ferrets. One had insulinoma and adrenal disease. The only thing I knew about a natural diet at the time was mice on ice. At the time I could not afford it so I cooked and pureed chicken breast and fed them every 3 hours around the clock for over a year. The ferret with the insulinoma and adrenal disease developed a stomach ulcer from the pred and bled out. Another ferret got a GI infection and had multiple abscesses in her liver. For several days I tried to convince vets that she had an infection. By the time they checked it out, it was too late. She didn’t make it. They chastised me for not feeding her kibble. I was so overcome with guilt that I had done something to hurt my baby that I put the third one back on kibble. My current vet has the most experience with ferrets in the area. When I talk to him about nutrition, he says that I’m talking above his pay grade. Other vets that I’ve been to and even the vet schools that I’ve contacted all recommend that I keep them on kibble.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
They are my heart. We live in a rural area with limited consistent, reliable resources. It has taken me 6 weeks just to get the meats, hearts, livers that I need just to get started. It has been a nightmare. Suga and Honey Bun have their own room but have free run of the house. I have a very high anxiety level about the switch because of the previous experience with the GI infection and Honey Bun’s dangerously low BGs when I’ve tried on my own to change their diet to something I thought was less unhealthy than kibble. At the same time, I'm definitely not happy with their current diet.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Daily
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
11. Have you met the requirements for this program? Are you at least 18 years of age? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
Yes to all
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program . In a little while your mentors (Hurricanekatt & Machan), will introduce themselves and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentors) so that your mentors can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentors and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentors are here to help you on this journey.
ciao
HF Forum Username: jawjahpeach
Please confirm that you are 18 years of age or older: Yes
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
Vet explained to me several years ago that ferrets are supercarnivores. I was unable to find any useful information so I cooked and pureed chicken breasts and fed my ferrets every 3 hours for a year. I have tried numerous times to make contact with someone who could advise me. I made appointments for phone consults with vets who said they did phone consults but not one ever called me. I did internet research. Recently I found this forum.
2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.
At this time, I am not interested in whole prey, primarily because I have serious doubts about being able to get them to accept it. I believe I would like to fully switch to a natural diet but am open to ideas. At this point I do not fully understand how it would work to partially switch.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
I believe that anything that is done the way nature intended is best. I would like to provide my babies with the best possible quality of life and to keep them with me as long as I can.
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It requires a commitment of several months at minimum. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. The switch takes time and effort every single day. It can also be extremely frustrating at times. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc), or limited time due to work, then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing and realistically able to make the neccessary time commitment?
Absolutely!
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?
2 7 year old jills: Suga, Honey Bun. I’ve had them 5.5 years. Suga is in good general health and normal weight. About 15 months ago, Honey Bun had some episodes of spacing out and laying over on her side. She had a mildly low BG. Based on that one BG, the vet diagnosed insulinoma and started pred. She refused to do any additional labs and said that if it wasn’t insulinoma it was a brain tumor. Within a few weeks, her BG more than doubled. The vet did not want me to monitor BGs at home and did not want to repeat BG in the office for at least 3 months. She began having heavy blood in her stools. The vet just doubled her Carafate. When that didn’t help, I took her in. They put her on Metro and said that if it didn’t stop in 5 days, she had a tumor. It didn’t. I had been traveling 2 hours to a “holistic exotic vet” out of state. I changed to a local vet. He asked if we had proved insulinoma. Labs showed a normal insulin but a glucose of 732. We stopped pred and started insulin. She required high doses of insulin and we still couldn’t get her BGs lower than 500s. Many days it was too high to read. I changed vials of insulin and her BG dropped 300 points in 12 hours. I transitioned her from Marshall’s to Natural Gold over a period of 3 weeks. BGs gradually declined, but still were higher than normal. Then I found Zero Carb. 2 days after I put her on it, she no longer required insulin. In December, bloody stools again became a constant. I was concerned about food allergy and took her off kibble. I fed her baby food turkey with salmon oil, taurine and Nupro while I desperately searched for answers about what I needed to give her a complete, healthy diet. Her BGs bottomed out so we went back on kibble. Insulin was again normal. I contacted a vet school. After a lot of double talk, they recommended that I select a cat food. Fancy Feast had been previously recommended so I tried that. After a short while, her BGs bottomed out again so we’re back on Natural Gold, baby food turkey and Carnivore Care every 4 hours around the clock supplemented with Nupro and FortiFlora. She recently had a respiratory infection and was pretty ill. She’s currently doing well with stable BGs in the normal range. She has very limited vision and IBD. She almost doubled her weight within the first few weeks on pred last year. She’s still about 8-9 oz. above her baseline.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup?
Suga is free fed Natural Gold dry supplemented with Nupro. Without the Nupro, her stools are very loose. Honey Bun eats crushed Natural Gold mixed with baby food turkey and Carnivore Care and supplemented with Nupro and FortiFlora. She has fewer bloody stools with Nupro.
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
Yes. Several years ago I had 3 ferrets. One had insulinoma and adrenal disease. The only thing I knew about a natural diet at the time was mice on ice. At the time I could not afford it so I cooked and pureed chicken breast and fed them every 3 hours around the clock for over a year. The ferret with the insulinoma and adrenal disease developed a stomach ulcer from the pred and bled out. Another ferret got a GI infection and had multiple abscesses in her liver. For several days I tried to convince vets that she had an infection. By the time they checked it out, it was too late. She didn’t make it. They chastised me for not feeding her kibble. I was so overcome with guilt that I had done something to hurt my baby that I put the third one back on kibble. My current vet has the most experience with ferrets in the area. When I talk to him about nutrition, he says that I’m talking above his pay grade. Other vets that I’ve been to and even the vet schools that I’ve contacted all recommend that I keep them on kibble.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
They are my heart. We live in a rural area with limited consistent, reliable resources. It has taken me 6 weeks just to get the meats, hearts, livers that I need just to get started. It has been a nightmare. Suga and Honey Bun have their own room but have free run of the house. I have a very high anxiety level about the switch because of the previous experience with the GI infection and Honey Bun’s dangerously low BGs when I’ve tried on my own to change their diet to something I thought was less unhealthy than kibble. At the same time, I'm definitely not happy with their current diet.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Daily
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
11. Have you met the requirements for this program? Are you at least 18 years of age? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
Yes to all
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program . In a little while your mentors (Hurricanekatt & Machan), will introduce themselves and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentors) so that your mentors can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentors and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentors are here to help you on this journey.
ciao