Raw feeding

[Karen FC]

Hi everyone,
We have a Marshall Ferret named Kicks and she is 5 months old. As of right now she is on the Marshall premium ferret food. We have a small pet supply store that carries raw food for cats and dogs and I'd like to try giving Kicks some raw - we buy it for the dogs whenever we have room in the freezer to store it, they love it - our cats didn't seem to like it very much. The store doesn't carry raw specifically for ferrets - so I was wondering if we were to try it should we give her raw for cats or dogs? Also our cats are on a grain free diet (we switch between Blue Wilderness and Core - honestly depending on what's on sale and the dogs get the Natural Balance dog food rolls (they are cooked, not raw) would either of these be ok to give Kicks as a treat?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be great as I have read that Marshall food is not a good one, but it seems to be the one Petco and Petsmart always have in stock.
Thanks
Karen and Kicks

[Sherry]

Any high grain/high carb food is definitely one of the worse ones out there. Glad you want him off it!
Raw for cats would be better. Then again, raw meaty bones would be even better And cheaper!
If you have decided to include kibble in his diet, use both the grain free varieties the cats are on. That way if the company changes the recipe, or even the shape of the food, he won't quit eating.
If you are going to feed both raw and kibble, make sure they are separated by a few hours since the two don't mix well for some and can cause upset tummies.
If you are curious about a full raw diet for him, check out the switching threads in the diet archives. The menus are near the end of each thread and will show you how to feed him from what you can get from your grocery store.

[karenfc]

Thanks for the quick response! I will try giving her some of the cat food and see if she'll eat it - by raw meaty bones do you mean from the food we eat or is it something the better pet supply stores would sell? I'll check out the threads in the archives, eventally I'd like to get the dogs, cats and Kicks on full raw diets as I know how beneficial they can be - not sure we could feed the frozen mice and such as I'm a HUGE rodent lover and I think I'd cry at each feeding even though I know it's how she would eat in the wild -lol.
Thanks again
Karen & Kicks

[Sherry]

Raw chicken, pork, beef, turkey etc. and this age would be easier to transition him than when he's older.
Don't be too surprised if he doesn't take to it right away though. Sometimes they need to be coaxed by dabbing it on the nose over and over until they actually start tasting it

[Deleted]

I have my kids on Nature's Variety Instinct Raw the medallions.

www.naturesvariety.com/InstinctRaw/cat/all

I like this product as they offer variety of meat. They are not eating the same stuff every day. They just came out with new product Bit Size Raw. The sample package runs about $5.00. It's good way to try out the product and also try out the different variety of meats. Sign up for their mailing list...they have some really good coupons. My last coupons was for 5.00 off.

Bit Size Raw package, any one that makes up their own soup and/or chops their meat up. This could be used as a healthy treat.

I hope this helps

[Deleted]

If you switch everyone, look into a small deep freezer so you can buy by the box from hare today. Great meats and much better price than what I can get natures instinct for.