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Post by Heather on Jun 16, 2011 0:39:58 GMT -5
Name: Lauren HF Forum Username: Navcot 1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? I did a cert 2 in vet nursing, I have never raised a ferret but this is something I always wanted to do with my border collie. 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. Unsure how to awnser this question. I want to learn abou the best posable natural diet for ferrets. I will feed anything I have access to here in Australia. I think I will start with raw and move on to frozen then live pray.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet? Heath reasons for my fuzzy, why should he be chewing kibble all day when there’s a whole world of food out there! Also the price of pet food here. $27 for a 1kg bag of EVO which I have to drive all the way into town to buy. ahh!
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switchng your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as commited. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment? Yes! As I said this is not only to benefit my Fuzzy, I also want to learn for myself.
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? One male albino named Chico, 2.5 years as he is my first it's hard to say if he is at his ideal weight :/ Plus because it's winter I think he may be larger? I'll include photos hopefully it will help.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Evo cat chicken and turkey, I also throw in some chicken mince, we have some raw chicken tonight!
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? Not much I can say, I have only had him for two weeks now.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer? I'm an IT student; I have a laptop stuck to my hip.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible). forum.ferret.com/upfiles/7085/044D64695A524DDAADB540391F354B1D.jpg
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (sherry) will introduce herself 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 mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor 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 Sherry on Jun 16, 2011 10:14:26 GMT -5
Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch First, a little about me. I'm 53, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 8yrs, to 18(only one would eat raw, unfortunately : . I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead(rip). I got her when she was 2. She passed at almost the age of 8, had adrenal for 3 years, treated with lupron for 2 of those. After that came my first deaf ferret, Lucrezia. A marked DEW. Then two foster ferrets, whom we fell in love with and adopted- Zeus and Athena, both two years old at that time. Also both adrenal, and on lupron. After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's becoming a sweetie . Then, Emily. 1 month younger than Willow, and those two have bonded strongly. She's the only one Willow wasn't terrified of.Suki is the last one, I swear! She was a little 8 month old darling the pet store was having a hard time selling, so were getting ready to send her back! While transitioning the first four, Boris was my hold out. EVERYTHING I gave him was poison, in his mind . Worst little drama queen I've seen yet . Twisting to get away, gagging, retching- he did all of it! Then one day- he ate it! Every single piece on the plate ! Those four haven't looked back. Although Boris would still be a kibble head if I let him. The next two for transitioning were the fosters. Until we adopted them, I could only supplement with raw. So in order not to cause unnecessary tummy upsets(mixing kibble and raw too closely can cause some problems- more about that later), I'd give them raw one day, and kibble on a different day. So, by the time we adopted, they had no problem with 100% raw diet. With Willow, I brought her home, and she flatly refused to eat the totally ferret kibble, so I went back to the pet store and got her a small bag of the crap they were feeding them there, and brought it home. I tried to give her some, but she just upset the dish. So- I tried her with some chicken breast. She ate it up! Hasn't had kibble since . Emily came to us as a raw fed ferret, so no issues there. Suki was another kibble head, but caging her in the daytime with Miss Emily showed her how to eat raw. That's me and mine in a nutshell The reason I started looking a raw feeding was something my vet said to me. I was, at the time, giving them small pieces of fruit for treats. She told me that was VERY bad for them, and in fact, some studies have started to link early feeding of sugars with insulinoma later in life. So- I started thinking. Kibbles are full of carbs. It's all those grains/veg/fruits in them. Those are converted to sugars by the body. To me then, sugar= potential insulinoma. So, I started checking out various diets. I had no idea what an obligate carnivore was at the time. I found out! Not much wonder there was soooo much poop in the box! I may as well have been tossing my money in there. They can't process anything that's not meat based! So I feed meat Their fur is softer, their energy levels are amazing- no mad rushes then crashing. Even my three year old's teeth are amazing. No plaque whatsoever Healing is faster, and if they do get ill, they have more reserves to rely on than when they were just kibble fed! And there is a LOT LESS POOP!!!! Yay! I'm looking forward to helping your little ones get on a much healthier diet, and having fun while we're at it ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 7:42:08 GMT -5
Nice to meet you Sherry! Just reading about all your experience that puts my mind a ease about switching. If I read this just two weeks ago I would have called you a mad woman for having so many ferrets. I started out with the intention to buy one have a study buddy but just after two weeks I want another! I'm so happy I found this forum it's very hard to find any useful ferret advice here in Australia. When I first set out to find a decent pet food I asked at all my local food stores and got the response "don't you just rabbit food and fruit" Other sales assistants simply sobbed me off when I asked or directed me towards Living World ferret products (Junky) and left me there. I'm not sure if it's because of my age or because ferrets are not the most common pet to see here but I was not impressed. Me refusing to feed and pay for grain in the pet food I would be feeding to my little buddy I went into town to get a bag of EVO, still not happy paying $28 for a 1kg bag of pet food that still contained ingredients he doesn't need in his diet? A little about me. I'm little ): I'm 18 and study web site development at home and work at part time at a greengrocer. I own a border collie but I don't have a fenced yard show he now lives with my parents, I see him as often as I can. I live with my partner, housemate and a cat (Jake, Undesexed, 1 year old). All though I think Jake is very fond of females. I would be home all day working on my computer and he wouldn't come in. Once my housemate came home there comes Jake. Cats. I started studying ferrets and decided I would work for me and my lifestyle and here I am - - Mk A little more about Chico. I'm still learning about him, I was given very little information when I got him. He's two and a half (So I was told) I think he's very inactive for a ferret, he's been running around the living room and trying to tackle my cup of tea for two hours now, which is rare for him! .. usually he'll put him self to bed if I'm not poking at him consistently. I haven't seen a lot of ferrets nor have I had the change to weigh him but I think he's a cubba'. My harness just arrived and it doesn't fit! GRR The chest strap is 8". He has mites which I'm treating with revolution, dirty ears (clean now ) a scab behind both ear which isn't healing fast because he's itching :/ He doesn't know what a ladder is and wont climb onto the platforms in his cage were he's bowls are. Instead he will lean up with his front legs and leave his rear on the ground level. No matter now many times I show him or place him so he can work it out. Oh well? He doesn't play, so I'm trying to find different things to stimulate him. Although he loves to dig at my carpet!! Now for food, at the moment eats kibble, but now I have started to only offer it at night. In the morning when he seems to eat more I offer mince and diced chicken breast. He ate a fair chuck of the mince! When I offered just the chicken breast this morning he loved the idea of me hand feeding him and ate maybe 4 or 5 chucks then started wanting to horde the rest. -pokes him in the butt- I've worked out if the chucks are small enough by the time he's turned away from he to run and hide it he's already eaten it and wants more. Oh any advice on getting Chico to bond with out cat? There's still hissing and hiding in my house? What's it like at your house? :/ Looking forward to hearing all about your ferrets!
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Post by Sherry on Jun 17, 2011 8:38:55 GMT -5
Bonding with a cat?? Not on your life, unless kitty has grown up with the fuzz ;D Only one of my cats actually gets along with a few of the ferrets. The rest of the cats either bop them, or run in fear when they see little Suki coming at them ;D Can't blame them, either- she's got sharp teeth! Anyway- for your Chico's switch. It's perfectly normal for ferret's to want to stash for later. Mine do it as well. What you need to do is redirect him to a feeding den, if he'll use one. It can be something as simple as a soda can box, or a wastebasket turned on it's side(hang a towel over the edge for darkness), rubbermaid tub- anything really. Here's a link to feeding dens: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=enrichment&action=display&thread=74Alright- he's eating chunks already? Wow! Maybe he was fed some raw previously. Try offering him a dish with the meat in it, you can put it in the cage, or even in a new feeding den, so he associates the two(food and den). What you want to aim for at the moment is him eating on his own, without having to be hand fed. Because believe me- if you don't have to get them used to that, you really don't want to ;D You can also try some pieces a bit larger, see how he handles them!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2011 4:01:15 GMT -5
Hah! Okay.. well unlucky cat then -shifts eyes-
So last night I gave him a bowl of just the chicken chunks he ate most of it, then I put the rest in his cage along with a bowl of kibble. All the chicken was gone by the morning. So this morning I tried slightly larger chunks I'm yet to see him eat one although he wants to stash them still. I'll try out the feeding den! Just place it in the box he usually wants to horde his food? and if he tries to take him else where move him back to the den?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2011 4:06:51 GMT -5
Also does it matter if he's diet is not spot on at the moment? I can't get him to eat any bone, so it's all muscle meat. Should I include two days or organ meals? Maybe substitute the bone with egg shell for now? Not so concerned about the roughage in his diet as he still snacks on kibble.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 18, 2011 11:54:14 GMT -5
That is fantastic that he ate the small chunks so well! If he's somewhat overwhelmed by larger pieces, try going back to the smaller ones again, and add in a couple just a wee bit bigger. Sometimes you've got to "trick" them into eating larger ones ;D Just place it in the box he usually wants to horde his food? and if he tries to take him else where move him back to the den? If he already takes his meat there to stash it, it would be an excellent spot! And yes, just keep redirecting back to the den. Also does it matter if he's diet is not spot on at the moment? No, that's fine. It takes quite a long time for nutritional deficiencies to show up Should I include two days or organ meals? Maybe substitute the bone with egg shell for now? If you do two days with organ meats, you have to divide the total amount over those two days. You don't want a toxicity to build up from them, and it can. So no more than 2 oz of liver, AND 2 oz of another organ(lung, spleen, thymus, brain, stomach, etc). Heart is a muscle meat, not an organ meat. And heart will be essential in the final menu plan. If you can't get heart reliably, pick up some taurine to supplement
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 1:54:36 GMT -5
So it would be 2oz (60g) for the whole weeks worth of organs or 2oz per meal (4 meals)?
Was shocked this morning to see that he ate all chucks I gave him! but hasn't eaten much of what I've given him this morning. How much heart should I feed and how often?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 19, 2011 12:47:02 GMT -5
2 oz EACH of liver and another organ, so 4 oz total for the week. If you can't find another organ reliably, not as big a deal. You can always up the liver by another oz for those times you can't get it. With heart, give him a full meal of it at least once a week, preferably twice, to make sure he's getting enough taurine.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 22:05:05 GMT -5
Mk, sounds like I need to get the scales. I have a few places that sell chicken liver I might start mixing up with some lamb livers too. What other organs should I be on the look out for? All I have found so far is lamb liver and those packs of giblets? although they are mainly mussel meat aren't they? Sorry for all these little questions, A whole heart meal? I can't over feed heart can I? Just guide it by how much he eats? I wish there was an good market here I don't like the organs that have been stilling in the supermarket for weeks on end.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 22:08:03 GMT -5
Oh! progress. He's eating all the meat I give him over night and his kibble bowl is left untouched. But I was bad and run out of chucks today, so we're having mince in the morning and larger chunks tonight. That or I'll take to a chicken neck with a mallet
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 6:04:33 GMT -5
I crushed a chicken neck and mixed it in with some mince to hide it, the bone causes him to throw up. ): I'll keep it in there for him tonight and see if he want's to try more.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 20, 2011 9:52:54 GMT -5
What other organs should I be on the look out for? Liver, kidney, lung, spleen, thymus, brain, pancreas, uterus, testicle, stomach, any part of the body that secretes basically. And no- I can't get hold of the majority of those either. Wish I could! I can't over feed heart can I? Just guide it by how much he eats? You can't overdose on taurine because the body simply secretes what it can't use. the bone causes him to throw up. Is it the bone itself? Or could a piece have gotten stuck, and he threw up to dislodge it?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 0:30:11 GMT -5
Oh wow, at least I know what to ask for now. Thank you I'm not 100% sure, he threw up in his litter tray of all places, I couldn't see an bone in it but there was some meat. I think it may have just got stuck. We tried the same thing again this morning, this time worked better. I'm just concerned his not eating much. :/
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 5:27:19 GMT -5
Feeding dens working a treat in my living room.
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