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Post by Heather on Jun 6, 2018 10:51:11 GMT -5
Name: Raven Scott HF Forum Username: Raven Please confirm that you are 18 years of age or older: August 27, 1993 1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? The Youtuber known as Ferretworld and I searched online from there 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. I would like to switch from kibble to a franken diet and I would rather not do whole prey. I want to be a fully raw diet but it would be nice to have kibble as an emergency food? But I can see how that could be counter productive so it's not a major focus for me. 3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet? I want to provide my ferrets with the happiest life possible because they are my responsibility. 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 necessary time commitment? I am ready put in the effort into switching my ferrets to a raw diet. I work from home most days so I absolutely have the time. 5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? If so, what medications are they currently on? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for? Usagi: 5 months, female, no known health issues, 925g, I have had her for about a month. Akira: 5 months, female, no known health issues, 789g, I have had her for about a month. 6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup? Main diet: Wysong Treat: Salmon oil Soup: Akira will sample, Usagi thinks it's poison. 7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened? No 8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share? Easiest way to tell them apart: Usagi has brown feet and a prominent mask, Akira has white feet and appears to have bags under her eyes more than a mask. Usagi has been less likely to try things than Akria on everything so far but will eventually. 9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer? Everyday 10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible). Akira: Usagi: 11. Do you have a scale sufficient to measure soup ingredients AND to regularly weigh your ferrets? Yes. 12. 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. 13. Do you understand that if your mentor or an admin recommends seeking veterinary care and you refuse to seek appropriate care you may be dropped from the mentoring program? Yes. 14. We occasionally have a wait for a Mentor to be available. While you wait we encourage you to get started by creating your own switching thread under Diet Transitions where all of our mentors and members can help you while you wait for your personal mentor. My Unofficial Switch Thread: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/24295/unofficial-switching?page=1&scrollTo=336596Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentors (Katt & Mermaidsirena), 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 mentor is here to help you on this journey. ciao
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Post by raven on Jun 6, 2018 22:35:05 GMT -5
Hello katt and mermaidsirena! Here's a quick catch up on where our transition to raw is currently and also just my usual daily report. Usagi(brown feet): 6 months, female, no known health issues, 933g, I have had her for about 2 months. Akira (White feet): 6 months, female, no known health issues, 779g, I have had her for about 2 months. Soup (more like mashed potatoes): 8oz raw chicken thigh 1oz raw beef liver 1oz raw chicken heart 1 tsp bone meal (i'm using "NOW Bone Meal" brand) Sliver sizes: between 1-5, Akira seems to do better with the larger bits than Usagi. Neither really interested in eating slivers without the aid of soup. Neither are really eating willingly. I don't usually have to hold them to get them to eat anymore, maybe to get them to eat the last bits or when Usagi is very determined to stash instead of eating. But it is rare for them to go eat the raw soup without me leading them in some way. We still have kibble at night, I tried to remove kibble once and left raw soup in their cage but they didn't touch it, nor were they eager to eat a new batch of the raw soup in the morning or even later that day but very willing to eat the kibble. I've also been trying to give them Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats but they haven't been interested so far. 1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 3.6oz combined raw soup (about 1.8oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu: Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup 1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 3.6oz combined raw soup (about 1.8oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu: Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup
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Post by raven on Jun 7, 2018 21:53:19 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.5oz combined raw soup (about 1.25oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup
1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.5oz combined raw soup (about 1.25oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup
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Post by raven on Jun 8, 2018 23:02:15 GMT -5
Today wasn't good, both were really fighting to not eat the raw soup all day today some was from their previous batch and some was from a brand new batch I made today so i'm not sure why they didn't want to eat it. Akira also vomited a little today, mostly clear, I wonder if it's from finding and eating the bits usagi has been stashing? But ferrets don't eat meat that has gone bad, so probably not? She has still been energetic all day.
1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 0.8oz combined raw soup (about 0.4oz per ferret), 3 Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats (between the two of them i'm not sure who ate how many) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup Friday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats
1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 0.8oz combined raw soup (about 0.4oz per ferret), 3 Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats (between the two of them i'm not sure who ate how many) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup Friday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats
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Post by raven on Jun 9, 2018 23:30:05 GMT -5
They are still fighting me on eating the raw soup for some reason. We played in blankets, we chased things, they wrestled, explored boxes, and for some reason still refusing to eat when I try to lead them, or usagi just tries to stash it without eating it ever. I've been trying to make meal time less stressful by letting them eat when they are ready but I had to hold them and make them eat today or else they just wouldn't have eaten anything. But I did get Usagi to finally eat a little by leading but most of today's food was fed by me holding them. Akira had more food over all today because usagi is less open to things and usually doesn't want any treats besides salmon oil. Akira started eating the treats today along with the one I tried to give usagi. Akira also loves egg.
1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.2oz combined raw soup (about 1.1oz per ferret), 2 Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats, about half an egg maybe a little less. 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup Friday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats Saturday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats, egg
1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.2oz combined raw soup (about 1.1oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup Friday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats Saturday: Wysong, raw soup
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Post by raven on Jun 10, 2018 22:29:53 GMT -5
Usagi has been eating by lead today Maybe because this batch is a little less chunky i'm not sure, Akira how ever i'm still having to hold or she wont eat. Akira is still super addicted to dried bits of meat she'll choose that over anything. Is that normal?
1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.7oz combined raw soup (about 1.35oz per ferret), 1 Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup Friday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats Saturday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats, egg Sunday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats
1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.7oz combined raw soup (about 1.35oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup Thursday: Wysong, raw soup Friday: Wysong, raw soup, Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites Freeze-Dried Dog Treats Saturday: Wysong, raw soup Sunday: Wysong, raw soup
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Post by katt on Jun 11, 2018 23:18:31 GMT -5
Wahoo! Hi, so happy to be working with you guys! I’ll be back later with a better intro, but I wanted to pop on and say hi. ravenmermaidsirena
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Post by mermaidsirena on Jun 12, 2018 5:47:38 GMT -5
Hello there! I am so glad to be working together. It is a pleasure to meet you, Raven. I will pop on again later and write more when I am fully awake (6 am here). Here’s to great sucress with the switch!
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Post by raven on Jun 12, 2018 13:41:43 GMT -5
I forgot to post their info and updated pictures yesterday so I will post some tonight. Usagi has been eating by lead again so far Akira is still needed to be held to eat.
06/11/2018 1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.8oz combined raw soup (about 1.4oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup
1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.8oz combined raw soup (about 1.4oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup
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Post by mermaidsirena on Jun 12, 2018 21:42:07 GMT -5
My guess with Akira and the dried meat is that it is easier to eat. The raw soup batches - are you making a large batch and freezing to use for a few weeks, making a batch to use for a few days, or making a batch every day? I did the first, a large batch, and they did seem to notice if I varied the meat or changed the consistency slightly (not really on purpose).
Now a little about me. My very first ferret was while I was in college. He was my best friend and little soulmate. Unknown to me at the time, I fed and cared for him as best I could and he lived six years. I continued to then adopt ferrets in pairs until, ten years later, the military moved us to California and we could no longer have ferrets. Fast forward ten or so years and I have longingly looked at ferrets again. My husband and teenage boys decided to surprise me with a trip and the adoption of a new little baby ferret this past August (days before Hurricane Irma hit!). I researched and decided raw feeding was for me. I watched many of my former babies suffer from way too many possibly preventable illness. I found this forum and switch my Ghost and my quickly "adopted brother," Branch, to an all natural diet. I feed fresh bone-in meat and butchered meat as well as bone grind mixtures to make sure I have meat variety. I am now learning to assist others in switching as I was so grateful for all the help I received I feel it is best to continue to process. I will try to answer your questions as best I can and support you on your journey to healthy little girls!
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Post by katt on Jun 12, 2018 22:32:48 GMT -5
Intro time for real now! Haha You get two for the price of one. Mermaidsirena will be rocking your switch, and I will be hanging out in the backseat and popping in as needed. I'm excited to work with you guys! Rather than copy the whole Meet your Mentor spiel...a little about me - I'm currently in my medical residency (for people lol) and we recently welcomed a tiny skin-kid into the family so life is crazy, but I am always available if something comes up - Mermaidsirena knows exactly where to find me. I'm from Alaska but in Washington right now for my residency. I had 2 adorable boys named Koda and Kenai who started my journey into raw. Currently I have two rotten little brats I mean adorable and perfect angels named Juuzou and Zero aka The Ghouls; they are both intact (now chemically castrated with Des implants) males from Misty Mountain Ferretry (our very own admin Heather). I utterly adore them and they definitely keep me on my toes ( and keep me defending my toes...)! haha As I said above, I will be taking a back seat on the switch and Mermaidsirena will be running the show (you are in incredible hands with her!!) but I will be checking in periodically. If you need to tag me ever use @ hurricanekatt (remove the space) - that's my full username. Katt is just my display name so @ katt won't work to tag me. Welcome to an incredible journey!!
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Post by katt on Jun 12, 2018 22:37:08 GMT -5
We have your Transitions thread that we can always refer back to, but for keeping track and to get everyone on the same page I always like to start with a check in on what you are doing right now for feedings. How are you making the soup (in big batches and freezing, smaller batches)? What are you doing to entice them to eat it each time? And any other big successes, roadblocks, or questions that you have at this point?
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Post by raven on Jun 12, 2018 23:56:37 GMT -5
Nice to officially meet you mermaidsirena, I hope you all managed through those hurricanes without too much damage. And you too Katt, your boys sound like a handful indeed lol, I'm very much looking forward to learning from you both.
A little about us, i'm a first time ferret owner. Akira is my "lovingly naughty girl" because she likes to bite (it's getting better though) She's very adventurous, enjoys cage climbing, attempted sofa destroying, generally likes to try new things, eggs, old dried raw meat, and long walks down the hall with a plastic water bottle. Usagi is my "Soggy bear" super sweet and kinda laid back but also picky, will gladly join the attempted destroying of the sofa, looks like a dear caught in headlights, salmon oil, loves a good stash session, pro napper, will never turn down a waving blanket dance party.
I am making a big batch and freezing it to use for a week or two I started very soupy but now we're at a mashed potato texture with slivers. Usagi seems to like batch thinner but she will eat bigger slivers if she must, Akira is generally okay with bigger slivers. To entice them I place them in front of the food dish and see if they will eat on their own if not I take a spoon and give them a quick dab to taste it and sometimes that will get them started, other times i have to keep dabbing them and slowly lower the spoon down to the dish and then they will eat. And as they eat i'm usually cheering on in the background. Also I try to play with them a lot before we try to eat but I don't do that every single time i'm not sure if it really has been making a difference between the two. Big successes I would say they have both gone to the food dish and ate by themselves but this has only happened once for each, the don't seem to care that I swapped the chicken liver with beef liver. Roadblocks would be they are starting to slide back on eating by being lead, the past few days i've been having to hold them both to get her to eat and I just got Usagi back to eating by being lead. I tried to take away their kibble once and replaced it with raw soup over night but they didn't touch it. It doesn't seem like they are eating much maybe 1.3 oz of raw a day if i'm lucky and the rest is kibble at night, seems like they should be eating much more, they are 6 months almost 7 on the 18th. When I give them their kibble at night the rush for it, which makes me wonder if they aren't eating as much because they know at some point they will get kibble.
1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight:777g 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.6oz combined raw soup (about 1.3oz per ferret, finger tip of salmon oil 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu: Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup, Salmon Oil 1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight:926g 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 2.6oz combined raw soup (about 1.3oz per ferret), finger tip of salmon oil 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu: Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup, Salmon Oil
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Post by mermaidsirena on Jun 13, 2018 9:23:38 GMT -5
It is exciting to hear that your young ladies have taken to soup and are willing to eat it, even if you have to coax them to do so. My suggestion would be to water the soup down a bit more and try an evening without kibble and only the looser soup instead of the 'mashed potato' soup. Getting them completely on raw is the idea, even if it is more soupy for a bit. They definitely could be holding out for the kibble so lets see if you can convince them that soup in any form is the best stuff for them.
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Post by raven on Jun 14, 2018 0:06:18 GMT -5
Thinning the soup seemed to do the trick, they ate more today and both ate pretty willingly a few times on their own. Tonight I'll be taking out their kibble and replacing with the soup so I'll post how that goes tomorrow.
1. Ferret's name: Akira 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 4.6oz combined raw soup (about 2.3oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup, Salmon Oil Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup
1. Ferret's name: Usagi 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret's Daily Medications: None 4. Ferret has eaten Kibble available at night, 4.6oz combined raw soup (about 2.3oz per ferret) 5. Stools are slightly wet 6. Activity levels: normal play day 7. Weekly menu:
Monday: Wysong, raw soup Tuesday: Wysong, raw soup, Salmon Oil Wednesday: Wysong, raw soup
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