Poppy199011's Switching Thread/Sherry

[Heather]

Name: Helen
HF Forum Username: Poppy199011

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
I volunteer for the Essex Ferret Welfare Society in the UK where they feed a whole prey diet; two of my ferret Sausage and Sophie were fostered and then very quickly adopted from the rescue. Whilst I was living alone in my flat I had considered adopting older/elderly cats and had completed various research with regards to feline health care, and the benefits of a raw diet. Considering the similar nature of a ferret and feline gut, I had a reasonable understanding prior to acquiring my lot.

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.

I would like to fully switch over to a natural diet, a combination of a processed commercial raw diet, homemade meals etc with supplements of bones. I am also interested in researched dehydrated meat ‘kibble’ with regards to one of my ferrets Sausage.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?

I have witnessed firsthand the beauty and energy of ferrets fed on a whole prey diet, the joy of cleaning out the less odious poops, and the glorious feel of their silky coats. It seems to be a obvious move in a healthier direction.

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?

At the moment life is stable, my reasons for considering a introduction of a commercial raw food option into the diet is to compensate for days when I get home from work especially late to add the easier option, without the guilt. I am looking at returning to College/University in 2013 however it is all centralised around animal well-being. With regards to committing to the arduous process of convincing ferrets to eat something new; when Sausage first came home with me I was hand feeding him a kitten cat food three times a day whilst he sat on my lap and then eventually we progressed to eating whilst sitting in the cadge and then with the door closed and me just watching [he would look up and check on occasion] He is now fully socialised and eating with the others. I believe this makes me well versed for the challenges a raw diet might present.

5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?

Samuel, Age. Questionable came home with me in June 12. Approximately 7 months. No health issues.Recently visited Welfare Society considered a good size with winter weight.Would like to improve the feel of his fur.

Toby, Age. Questionable came home with me in June 12. Approximately 7 months. No health issues. Recently visited Welfare Society considered a good size with winter weight.Would like to improve the feel of his fur.

Sausage. Age around 1 year. Adopted from the rescue late June 12 No health issues currently., there was a concern prior to his re-homing about a enlarged liver, and was painfully underweight at 750g. He currently weights around 1kg. Sausage refused to eat the whole prey diet at the rescue which resulted in the dramatic weight loss and him ending up eating high protein kitten food.

Sophie Age Unknown; health of teeth aprox 4/5years. Adopted from rescue Early December 2012.Sophie was ,malnourished upon arrival. Weighed around 400g which has improved considerable. To around 650g currently. Although she continues to have a upset stomach on a kibble diet when eating a whole prey raw diet she has considerable better digestion.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
I feed a mix of ferret kibble and high protein cat food.
Alpha Ferret [Not Popular with my lot]
Dr John Merlin Ferret Food [ Also not Popular with my lot]
James Wellbelloved
Selective Ferret
Iams Kitten Food
Iams Ocean Fish
Feline Fayre Simply Complete Dry with Trout 950g
Feline Fayre Simply Complete Dry with White Fish & Salmon (950g)
Go Cat. Chicken and Garden Greens. [Small 500g box] was what I originally encouraged sausage to eat with when he was declining everything at his lowest weight.

Feline Fayre Simply Pouch Ocean Fish in Jelly (85g)
Feline Fayre Tuna in Jelly (4x170g)
Sheba Foil Rabbit & Chicken Terrine (100g)

Treats
Dreamies Delectable Duck (60g)
Dreamies Mix with Tasty Chicken and Delectable Duck (60g)
Kitten Milk with raw egg.
And a Vit Malt Paste

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
I have supplemented their diet with raw meat, chicken wings, offal [lambs heart, chicken liver] mince. And also day old chicks however due to the objection of a family member this is not a option currently.
Toby, Samuel and Sophie have no objection to eating a natural diet.
Sausage will lick the meat especially if it is coated in a oil, and will lick the offal but not put the offending meat in his mouth. Sausage declined to bite a day old chick however if opened he will lick out the insides.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
I currently do not have my own computer however I can borrow my mums, and I do have access to a tablet computer a Acer Transformer so that’s good enough.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
I will try and get to grips with the system you use to upload photos ASAP.

Thank You Kindly,


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

[Sherry]

Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch
First, a little about me. I'm 54, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 11 yrs, to 19(only one would eat raw, unfortunately ). I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent(rip) came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead(rip). I got her when she was 4. 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(DIP) and Athena(DIP), both two years old at that time. Both were adrenal, and on lupron until they passed from adrenal related lymphomas at the age of 5.
After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's become 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.
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. And now- we've added Mr. Frodo, who essentially switched himself second day he was here
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
We have now adopted 4 more ferrets from the local rescue, bringing our numbers back up to 10 again 7m old Cody as well as a bonded trio of 2yr old males, Judge, Indie, and Odin(also adrenal).
All are also now fully raw fed
Alright, for your guys, since you are interested in commercial raw and store bought whole meats, let's start with those. When looking for a commercial raw, you need to check the percentages of meat/bone/organ/veg. matter. For that last, you want a maximum of 5%. Organ, no more than 10%, meat and bone are a bit more "malleable", since you will be including whole meat items
Prepare the soup listed here for Sausage if you also want him on raw: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=meat&action=display&thread=145
You can freeze excess in ice cube trays, and once frozen baggie the cubes Start by dabbing it on his nose over and over and over again so he has to taste it.
With the others, I gather all we need to do is get them eating a balanced diet? If they are eating raw willingly already, I'd just ditch the kibble for all except Sausage right now.

[poppy199011]

Hello Sherry [How lovely to have you have my mentor]

Okay were to start, commerical raw avalible in the uk.
I posted a thread with the commerical raw brands I have found avalible either in the uk or relatively easy to import from the Europe]
holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=guests&action=display&thread=10471

I also broke down the composision, If you'd be happy to give it a glance and see which ones look most appropriate.

As noted previously it is easier to get commercial raw for dogs, general concencous was that this okay as long as the taurine is added in [on order from amazon]

Also quick update, we are going to be staying with the rescue next week from Monday Night to Thursday Night. My boys are getting fixed thank goodness, Toby has turned into a little rutting beast it'd been going on from long enough tonight so at 3am I have put him in a large cat box with the essentials next to my bed away from poor Sam. In the morning he will go into the run on his own. Hurry on Tuesday poor sod.

So as of Monday a whole prey raw diet will be readily avalible, aside from Sausage who we are going to take the slow approach with. Do you think it would be acceptable to withdraw the kibble over the weekend, observe how they react to the whole prey diet [slight concern about Samuel who can be a bit fickle with certain whole prey] I can allways supliment with mince, chicken wings if Samuel has any real objections.

Thank you.
Ps. Sausage is very fussy about his kibbles also, he tips the bowl over and picks out the ones he likes. I know he is imprinted on mince, he will eat it just very tiny amounts, and also the insides of day old chicks. So i have made a little progress with him, it's just he weight drops dramaticaly if it isn't suplimented with kibble. The little toad just refused to eat enough meat, I sware he knows that he'll get kibble eventually if he holds out long enough. hmmm clever fur balls aren't they.

Sausage [not haveing a op] I will feed kibble seperately, and start the attempts with duck soup on monday.

[Sherry]

I'd definitely remove the kibble with the others! They KNOW raw is food, so that's not a concern. It's just developing their palates ;D
With Sausage, give him his kibble at night, but remove it in the morning and hand feed a few times during the day if possible. Make a sort of sloppy wet soup out of the mince that he'll eat, put him on your lap and spoon feed.
For the commercial raw, stick with the cat ones if at all possible. The fiber content of the dog one is too high. You want to stay with 5% or under.