Tundra's Switching Thread/Hurricanekatt

[Deleted]

Now he's home I'll watch out for them again. He's pooing less though, for sure.

He seems to be a prawn addict haha. But it's good because it's getting him to chew on things. Today he found one of his stashed dried chicken treats and started chewing on it. I was very pleased.
Going shopping for more soup supplies today, and I'll make up a bulkier /less smooth soup.

[katt]

Let me know how he does! Keep me posted on his poops, energy level, and weight too.

[katt]

Bump

[Deleted]

Sorry.
The weather has been so hot it's hard to tell what his energy levels are like...
He poops regularly, though less than he used to and they're smaller.
I'll weigh him soon.

[Deleted]

Okay! Update!

Nib's such a good boy.
Tonight I cut some (raw) meat off a chicken thigh, skin included. Gave him some small bits. Bigger than your description of a sliver, since he did so well with those prawns.
One was probably 2cms in a chunk!

I did have to hand feed the first bit to him though, because he had the 'must stash!' look in his eye. When he realised that I wasn't going to let him get down to do that, he started chewing.



Poos though... before I fed him that chicken, he had some projectile wet poop. Squirted straight out the back. Had some solid bits in it, and t wasn't hugely watery, but obviously not a good one.

I'm keeping an eye on him.

[katt]

Pooping less and smaller poops are both normal for raw diet. The projectile poop is definitely concerning though. He could have a GI upset or bug of some sort. Do you have any canned pumpoint on hand? If so I would definitely give him some. If not you can use squash or sweet potato baby food (just give more than you would give pumpkin as it is more watered down), or you can get similar results with broken down lettuce. The key with lettuce is you need to freeze it and blend it VERY well to make sure it is broken down enough. Use iceberg lettuce only.

[Deleted]

I've never seen canned pumpkin in the shops. I'll look for babyfood asap. though there is never any chicken babyfood so I'm not holding my breath.
He didn't projectile poop this morning.

He ate some massive chunks of chicken thigh this morning. And picked up the bone that still had some meat on it, but he didn't seem to know how to get the meat off it. Or couldn't be bothered...

edit: Forgot to say... half an hour before the projectile poop, he farted. Not a poof. Definitely a fart. I hadn't heard/seen/smelled him do that before.

[katt]

Strange. Blockages can cause gas buildup, so it is possible he has a hairball moving through. Keep monitoring him closely. Try chopping the bone so that it splinters (use a hammer, scissors, ulu, poultry shears, a strong knife, or any combination of the above lol). Hand fees him a piece of marrow and see how he likes it. Make sure the bone and meat are nice and mangled together so they are mixed up - he'll be more likely to try chewing on the bone bits that way. A little bone could be just what he needs to clear out his belly too...

[Deleted]

Awesome, I'll try that next!
Yesterday I tried giving him a chicken drumstick, since he'd done so well with really big chunks.

He didn't know what to do with it, so I cut into it a bit to start him off and held it for him, and he had a good time chewing on it and/or trying to rip bits off to eat! He chews it so gently.

The poo that he did on my floor last night was a perfect, though small, poo. Normal colour and consistency and shape, just small.

[katt]

;D He wanted to make sure that you saw it, that is all! Don't feel too bad. Kenai's favorite spot to poop AND pee is right in front of the bedroom door - a whole 8 inches away from the litter box. He just can't figure out the litter box thing.

As for the size of the poop, it could just be the normal smaller sized poops that come with raw diet. Any way you could get a picture, maybe with something near it to compare for size?

[katt]

I find that raw poops tend to be about 1/3 - 1/4 of the size of kibble poops.

Oh, and good job Nibbler on chewing the drumstick! That's a good start.

[Deleted]

More farting last night then a really big poo that was a bit darker than normal and runnier. On the floor, of course.
i'll try to get pictures, but usually I'm just trying to clean it up asap.

He has been more energetic lately! I often come in and he's awake and poking his head up to say hi, so I let him out.

I'm hoping that I'm feeding him right though. With enough nutrients.
The soup hasn't happened again because my stupid blender is being annoying.

[katt]

Ew, poor little furry bum. I wonder what is causing all of the yuck? Have you been able to find any kind of pumpkin or baby food? As far as balance don't worry too much about that. It is okay for them to be a little off for a period during the switch while he is in the chunk phase. It happens. We will get organs and hearts back into his diet pretty quickly here. Have you tried offering him heart or organ chunks by chance? He might take them right off the bat, or you might have to disguise them in soup for a while first and then slowly wean him off of the soup.

Remind me what you are using for calcium again? Can you sprinkle some into his meat and mix it in so it is lightly coated? Just until we get him eating real bones. Start with about 1/4 tsp and watch his poops, slowly increase it by 1/8 - 1/4 tsp a day until his poops firm up a little. You shouldn't need more than a tsp tops, but each ferret is a little different. Try 1/4 tsp tomorrow (1/4 tsp for the day, not per meal) and let me know how he does with that. If he is still having soft poops, then Friday up it to 1/2 tsp (so 1/4 tsp per meal).

[katt]

Another option we can explore if that doesn't help is allergies. It's pretty common fer ferrets to have poultry sensitivities. My Koda is allergic to beef and was sensitive to chicken (I reintroduced it recently and he seems to have built up a bit of a tolerance to it in the last year). Chicken allergies are very common. If the calcium increase doesn't help by this weekend, let's try switching his proteins. What other meats (if any) have you tried with him? We *might * have to go back a few steps to soupies if he won't take another meat. (Don't worry, sometimes it's two steps forward, one step back lol)

I would suggest first lamb, and then pork. Those tend to be pretty benign meats as far as allergies go, lamb especially. Not trying to overwhelm you with info here, just wanting to give you an idea of some of the possible routes we can still try.

[Deleted]

He has bones in his mince, which he still gets for most meals. Already ground up bones. He just won't chew on bits that are big.

I'm wondering if it's the beef. When he was eating the drumstick for a day, his poos were 'normal'. Had beef mince yesterday (not just hamburger stuff, I mean actual beef with organs in) he was all farty. I'll keep an eye on it.

I just gave him some pork from my parent's uncooked pork chops. Begged them for bits haha. He was a bit tentative but then I handed it to him and he took it. He's spending a long time on each piece because each piece is attached to some of the rind, and he doesn't like the rind. Carefully chewing all the meat off it.

So, pork... mostly a success!

I'll give him heart slivers sometime soon.

So, this teaspoon stuff, that's the eggshell is it? I'll try it, thanks.

I know I'm not doing it in the order you're recommending each time, but I'm just taking opportunities when I see them.