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Post by trippyferret on Jun 17, 2011 16:24:13 GMT -5
Has anyone here ever heard of or used slippery elm bark powder on their ferrets? As some of you know, my little old lady Salem has lymphoma and as a side-affect of her illness, she has horrible chronic diarrhea. It's basically like she's pooping yellow mucousy slime. I thought that when she got on prednisone, it would help. But it hasn't. We tried adding pumpkin to her food, which worked for a little while but then got worse again. So the past couple days I've been giving her kaolin pectin but it doesn't seem to be helping either. I read something somewhere that slippery elm bark powder could be used to help regulate the digestive system or something along those lines, and might be helpful to her. Any thoughts?
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Post by katt on Jun 17, 2011 17:03:41 GMT -5
I use it for Koda's IBD. It is amazing for stabilizing him during flare ups. However, it's not good to use too much or long term as it is a tummy coated and it reduces absorption. It's good to feed soupies and ground commercial raw with pumpkin with the elm because they are more easily absorbed. Also whitefish is a very easily absorbed protein.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 17:07:43 GMT -5
yes i have used it. get it at health food / natural food store. it does help with diarrhea. add a 1/8 teasp . in small custard bowl of soup. x 3 per day is what we did.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 18:58:04 GMT -5
I'm not sure about the slippery elm, I'm just starting to use it for IBD. However, with trixie's lymphoma we went to cooked meats for her as it was easier for her digest, and it helped some with the loose stools. Though at the end it was really hit and miss with what helped.
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Post by trippyferret on Jun 17, 2011 20:06:30 GMT -5
I think I read that you give it 4 out of 7 days every week? Is this correct? Do you think GNC might carry it? I don't have any health food stores around me. Also, my girl is on a raw soup diet. I never did get her fully switched, and since she got sick we just kept it easy on her and me and just feed the raw soup.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 20:32:05 GMT -5
yes that is all trixie ever made it to, then we did some cooked food, that you can puree, or baby food chicken and broth when it got real bad.
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Post by trippyferret on Jun 17, 2011 20:38:11 GMT -5
I may have to try cooking her food. Maybe that might help her out some. Do you just boil it and then puree it?
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Post by trippyferret on Jun 17, 2011 20:41:09 GMT -5
Oh, another question, if I cook her soup, do I need to add a multivit?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 21:21:58 GMT -5
I found it easier to cook first then puree, though you could do it the other way as well. I used things like chicken and boiled them so they were very tender, using the broth and puree it. Cooking definitely reduces the nutrients you get out of the food. Unfortunately when Trix came to us she was pretty advance lymphoma and we were interested in keeping her as healthy, and happy as we could, till she was ready to go. I did not look too far into adding nutrients, other then daily liver to help with her sugar swings (she also had insulinomia. ) If adding any vit do so after the cooking process. I'm not sure on the exact time line but a fuzz can stay on baby food with out negative effects for an extended amount of time. Though not recommended for a healthy fuzz, but one with something like lymphoma it can help them.I know your little one was recently diagnosed, but I'm not sure how advanced she is, and if this is where you want to go yet. Hopefully someone else who know the length of time. I just know the switch to cooked was so much easier for trix, less foul poops, more energy and it seemed to help her appetite a bit.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 21:39:02 GMT -5
I think a multivitamin is a good idea. The multivitamin I found is very palatable, and add after you cook the meat, as 3kaw had said If she is already on raw soup, you may want to leave it as it is, being more nutritious. www.entirelypets.com/ecsiznucbyve.html I ground up the tablet and dosing is 1 tablet per day. I divide it up between the meals. I started with a smaller dose, working up to the full daily dose to avoid tummy upset. I haven't researched the slippery elm, but I have read it interferes with absorption so a three day break you mentioned is probably a good idea. If you cannot find your slippery elm bark at the store, try vitaminshoppe.com. I get my people supplements from them and the prices are great.
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Post by trippyferret on Jun 17, 2011 21:50:44 GMT -5
I don't know about putting her on baby food just yet, she is pretty stable and has had a good appetite since she got subq fluids a week and a half ago and some Nutrical for her bad days. She hasn't needed any Nutrical for about a week now, which is great. Her weight isn't fluctuating either. I just thought maybe cooking her meals might be easier on her tummy than raw. And if I did that, I'd have to get a multivit (thanks for that link, btw). Maybe I should try the slippery elm first, and if that doesn't straighten it out, I'll try cooking her meals.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 22:04:38 GMT -5
That sounds like a good plan the thing I like about this multi vit is that it has digestive enzymes in it that help with absorption. Another plus is no sugar like the nutrical or ferretvite
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Post by Heather on Jun 17, 2011 22:18:20 GMT -5
If you're going to cook her meals you might try cooking a baby food soupy for her (far more nutritious than any baby food and you're able to use it longer than the 6 months that is the usual cut off point for using regular skin kid baby food). I take a fryer chicken and putting it in a pot with water. I then cook it for about 24 hrs. In doing this the bones will be come soft, you can actually grind them between a finger and thumb. The long bones (leg and thigh) may need to be discarded but all the rest can be thrown into a food processor and ground up. You take everything, bones, skin, broth and meat...I even throw in some liver and hearts and turn it into a soupy. You will have to add some taurine but you should get enough calcium and other nutrients to allow you to not have to rely heavily on supplements. Aremis ate this for most of the year after he was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma. He thrived on it, even putting on weight. I too have used SEB for my sickies who seem to have difficulty in processing and digesting food properly. I've posted the recipe a couple of times in different threads if you're interested in using it I will post it again. Slippery elm has to be mixed or disolved with a hot liquid as it becomes glutunous, (can be used as a thickening agent) and should never be just given as a supplement (it can be used as a supplement when prepared properly) ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 22:29:34 GMT -5
Heather, would a pressure cooker speed up the cooking time and make the bone soft like that?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 17, 2011 22:35:14 GMT -5
It would. The thing with cooking it on the stove top is to be absolutely certain it is fully submerged for the entire cooking process. Otherwise the bone can become brittle. But by rubbing the bone between your fingers, you can make sure that hasn't happened.
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