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Post by acodlin on Mar 12, 2011 23:05:03 GMT -5
Dexter has decided he LOVES gizzards. I'm excited, none of the others will eat them... My boyfriend set him down on the counter next to me while I was making soupies (I buy the heart/gizzard packages) and he grabbed one out of the package and tried to run off, he was hissing and screeching at me when I tried to pick him up to put him on the floor.. he thought I was going to take it away from him! I gave him some plain ground pork today too and he ate that right up, the little guy is a bottomless pit I swear. I got dean to eat a couple small chunks of pork I cut off of a neckbone, and some chicken tonight. Wasnt much, maybe a teaspoons worth but its progress Tash wouldnt eat the pork unless it was the ground stuff, Vaeda ate a couple of pieces of chicken too. It's been a good night
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Post by Sherry on Mar 12, 2011 23:10:05 GMT -5
It certainly has at that! I love it when fuzzums find something they adore ;D Their reactions are SOOO funny! I think you need to get that boy on a regular menu of meat/bone/organ! Can you draft up for me what he's eating now? It can also be used for the others as they get to that point as well.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 13, 2011 0:24:54 GMT -5
Anything chicken Anything Duck ( they LOVE necks) Ground pork and pork necks, I could probably buy like pork chops or something and they might like those. Turkey Eggs
I've got some ground rabbit left but its something I have to order from hare today to get, so if I keep that in the rotation it would probably be more of a once a week thing for now. I'm not sure what else I can add in there, I could try fish .. I havent offered them any of that. They refuse beef at the moment but I'm willing to try and add in ground beef to the soupies and try to get them use to it. Walmart sells goose, thats a big chopping job but I could try that.
If I'm ordering from hare today I can get duck hearts/turkey hearts/ chicken hearts/pork hearts, they sell beef too but again, they dont really like beef at the moment. I can buy pork livers, calf livers, chicken livers, beef livers.. right now they just get chicken liver, but I did sneak 1/2 of a beef liver into their soupies before. I'm having a hard time comming up with the organ meats in general, I've been looking for dried lung but havent had any luck. Liver is the only thing I can seem to find and its not something they will eat plain.
Dexter though I think will eat just about anything I will set in front of him. He really enjoys wings and drumsticks of any kind. If its got bone in it for him to gnaw on he seems happy lol.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 13, 2011 0:32:17 GMT -5
Wow! They ARE doing well You know- you actually have 4 proteins right now If they get the rabbit weekly, that's 5. Ok, I think for those who are now eating bone in, we need to set them up a formal menu, so we can see where to tweak it. Can you set up what they'd get Mon., Tues, Wed., etc? They should have 8-9 meals bone in, 4-5 meals muscle(heart has to be at least one), an organ meal, and the other whatever you have on hand. That way, we can make sure they are getting a balanced diet, and we can also discuss how to substitute various meats/bones, and where they should go.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 20, 2011 1:09:38 GMT -5
How about this
Sunday - ground rabbit meat/bones/organs Monday- chicken wings/ chicken thigh Tuesday- Duck (whatever parts I pull out) Wednesday- heart soupies/chicken wings Thursday- Turkey drumsticks (they are pretty big) Friday- Liver soupies/ pork necks Saturday - small hen
I can add on to each day as more and more eat from the feeding den. If I come across new meats I can add those in gradually too.
I was a bad mom the other day and I was out of soupies and I sent my boyfriend to get soupie stuff but he didnt get everything so I didnt have any to give over night, so I just cut up some hearts and chicken breasts and put some EVOO over it and surprisingly enough they ate a whole chicken breast and about 5 hearts. I even caught dean eating pieces of chicken.
I do have a question though, do you know what the stools look like if someone has a food allergy? I'm wondering if Sam doesnt have a chicken allergy.. he's going to the vet tuesday to have it checked but he's having alot of weird stools, yellow, orange, light tan, somethings thin, sometimes really mucousy.. its strange. He's had some issues since I got him but I assumed it was the battle over the giardia and new foods, but nothing he's eaten recently is new.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 20, 2011 9:57:10 GMT -5
That menu looks really good! And yes- unfortunately, it does sound like a sensitivity to chicken Are they also rather seedy looking at times? As hard as it is, you are likely going to have to leave chicken off the menu for him entirely, at least for a while so his intestines have some time to calm down. Boris had that same sensitivity which has now become full blown IBD
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Post by acodlin on Mar 21, 2011 20:11:43 GMT -5
Sometimes I find seedy stools but Im not sure they are his. What I think im going to do is leave the pork out for 2 days, see if it improves, if not then I'll take the chicken out and replace it with turkey and see if that makes any difference. He goes to the vet tomarrow so I'll have an answer about the giardia or something else in his stool.
If he's allergic to chicken I don't know what I'll do! I guess I wont be able to leave the soupies out and i'll have to make him special food to keep seperate. How do you do it with your group?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 21, 2011 21:04:44 GMT -5
Boris gets hand fed his brekkies, and I simply don't put chicken in that cage. To be honest, since I now feed commercial raw in the mornings, I don't worry quite as much about bone. You can however, pick up some bone meal to add in to muscle meats. Or you can add eggshell into the meals where you'd normally have fed chicken. That way at least, they get their calcium, and can get other trace minerals from other edible bones. And leave the meats out for 3 days instead of two, just to make sure.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 22, 2011 20:03:27 GMT -5
Well I didnt give Sam any soupies last night and he had normal stools today... I dont get it, the kibble has chicken in it...so maybe its the pork.. but he really doesnt get much of that. Im making a new soupie batch tonight with chicken and turkey. Hoping that the pork is it. The vet wants me to eliminate foods from his diet till we find a trigger, meanwhile hes being tested for giardia and looking for any bacterial infections. I'll know for sure tomarrow if he found anything.He's lost 6oz since jaunary =/ poor guy.. My vet also wanted me to start feeding them natural gold but that stuff costs a fortune, $90 dollars for a 20lb bag. He seems to have mixed feelings about raw diets, but he saw how wonderful Dean looks today and even Dozer, he's not 100% raw but he's fat, has a super thick soft coat and everyone gave me nothing but compliments on how great he looks. I need to show him dexter and berry lol, dexter has put on a whole pound since I got him, it's only been a month! Berry is at 2 1/2lbs of pure muscle.. she's a big girl! and I'd bet anything its all thanks to their raw diet. I tricked dean today, I cut up turkey and chicken and made a little trail into the feeding den and then I peeled back the meat off the turkey leg and cut it almost completely off.. sure enough dean ate all the way up to the den and he tried to grab the piece that was still attached, he had to pull a little bit but he got it. He came back for one more bite before he was done but its progress for him I was going to start working with Sam next but until we resolve the belly issues I think I'll try Hannable, it seems easier trying to tackle one at a time. Hannable eats soupies pretty well but hes not a fan of chunks so he'll be a fun one to work on. I did get some goat today, I found a international food store next to my vets. It is a little over an hour drive for me but I'm going back in two weeks, so if they like goat I'll stock pile some when I go back. I'm sure Dexter will eat it, he's eating anything he can get his little paws on. He ate a strip of beef lastnight, so proud hehe my first beef eater.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 22, 2011 21:49:09 GMT -5
I know this sounds like a silly question- but what type of bulk does your soup have in it(ie: pumpkin, eggshell, bone meal)? Is it possible he didn't get the bulk he's used to in the soups, so he reacted to that? Or it could well be the canned food he had a problem with? Keep trying him on simple meats, and see what type of stool he has with them. Actually keep a physical diary, either on paper, on notepad, or even here if you like. At least that way, you'll have something reliable, rather than simply trying to remember. I was truly surprised at what was triggering Boris when I started doing that ;D
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Post by acodlin on Mar 22, 2011 22:23:23 GMT -5
I make 7lbs of soup about every 3 days
6lbs of chicken 1lb of (pork, turkey or 1/2lb of ground beef and one of the other) 1 egg with shell about 10 hearts 3 livers about 3 tablespoons of canned pumpkin 1 small scoop of taurine (i'd have to compare it to my measuring spoons to say exactly how much but its not very much at all) 4 tablespoons of EVOO a little bit of water, maybe 1/3 of a cup so my food processor doesnt blow up
I know I need to increase the hearts/livers and I'm working at that. Maybe its too much egg? I dont ever give any canned food, he gets the soupies and at night kibble. He eats about 75% soupies 25% kibble. I dont have any bone meal powder but I can order some if you think It would help.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 23, 2011 9:11:29 GMT -5
By EVOO, I'm assuming kibble? If not If so, you can leave that out. It's such a small amount, it shouldn't matter. Since you are adding taurine, I wouldn't worry about upping the heart. Liver is fine. Ferrets should only get the equivalent to a 2oz piece of liver weekly anyway, so you aren't really out by much. You could easily up the pumpkin , and/or you could add powdered eggshell. And since you'd normally use 1/2 tsp per 8 oz of meat, you'd need two tbsp of powdered eggshell. With pumpkin, I give the equivalent of 1/2 tsp per ferret. So for my 9, I give approx. 1 1/2 tbsp per day. So, you should likely be giving about 2 1/3 tbsp per day. And since that soup lasts 3 days, I'd up the pumpkin to around 7 tbsp ;D That should show a lot of difference in their poopies!
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Post by acodlin on Mar 23, 2011 9:31:39 GMT -5
EVOO is extra virgin olive oil sorry I watch rachael rays cooking show too much! lol I'll try putting more pumpkin in and see if that helps.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 23, 2011 9:39:26 GMT -5
Ok ;D I'd definitely cut back that by half. It can lubricate them a bit too well ;D I tend to only give mine about 1/2 tsp every 3rd day.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 23, 2011 17:04:02 GMT -5
Well, got the word today that fecal tests came back negative for everything. My vet wants me to feed him just straight zupreem kibble, so i'll take out the Dr foster and smith and make zupreem his only kibble and still try to eliminate the meats one by one until we find a happy balance. Went to walmart today, they were out of duck! so I guess I'm going to try a goose... they are alot bigger and it'll be harder to cut up. Are there any bones in a goose that ferrets can manage?
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