Dookdookdook's Switching Thread/Sherry

[Heather]

Name: Kelsey
HF Forum Username: dookdookdook

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?

Before I adopted my first two ferrets, I researched everything possible online about ferret nutrition and health. I found kibble charts, this forum, and a few scientific studies about ferret diets. When I adopted them, they were being feed 8 in 1 ultra diet. I then immediately switched them to 8 in 1 Ultimate mixed with Wysong Epigen 90 Ferret. It took a very long time of slowly mixing different ratios of the old food with the new food and I found out that Dodger is a VERY picky eater.

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 first partially switch to a raw diet and then if it seems successful for all three of my ferrets switch to a full raw natural diet. I do not think I could handle feeding live prey and this may be an incorrect assumption but I think my skinny little guy Dodger really seems too passive to kill live prey. I was curious once and got a pet store feeder mouse which I put in the bathtub with my three ferrets. Dodger and Oliver actually tried to run away from the mouse and Khaleesi killed it but it was a slow (15 minute) painful death. Then, she had no interest in eating it and just left it alone once it died. I think she thought "the toy broke".

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

I absolutely want the best of everything for my ferrets. I updated their small cage to the double unit Ferret Nation, bought them the comfiest custom bedding set, and changed them from clumping cat litter to recycled newspaper litter. The next and clear step for me is switching them over to a natural and healthy diet. I feel that especially for my boy Dodger, the current diet is not working for him since he is so skinny and sluggish and that I need to try something new. I believe that kibble contains too many grains and that the heating process really removes a lot of the essential nutrients.

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 I am willing to make the commitment. From switching my ferrets diet previously, I am positive that this process will take an extremely long time and that it will require a lot of commitment.

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?

I have three ferrets- Oliver, Dodger and Khaleesi. I adopted my two boys Oliver and Dodger a year and a half ago off of Craigslist and was told that they should now be about 3.5 years old. I adopted Khaleesi off of Craigslist last summer and was told she should be about 2 now. However, the owner also thought that she was a boy so I don't know how accurate the age even is. I weighed them all yesterday and Oliver is 2 pounds 10 ounces, Dodger is 2 pounds 1 ounce, and Khaleesi is 2 pounds 4 ounces. You can feel that Oliver has a lot of muscle mass and I believe he is a good weight for her size. Khaleesi is a small girl and I also believe that her weight is healthy. When I adopted her, she was only being fed a small bowl of food a day by her previous owner. I always have food available so when I first got her she gained a lot of weight since she ate all of the time thinking the food would be taken away. However, now she seems to have calmed down and realized that the food isn't going anywheres. I believe that Dodger is underweight but when I took him to the vet a month ago she said his weight is alright. I totally disagree because you can palpate all of his ribs and his muscle tone is slightly low. The vet also said that his spleen is enlarged and that he could possibly develop lymphoma later in life but that she isn't concerned for now. Khaleesi is very high energy, Oliver is medium energy and Dodger is low energy and requires lots of coaxing to wake up and play.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)

I currently feed 8 in 1 Ultimate kibble mixed with Wysong Epigen 90 Ferret kibble. However, Dodger still only picks out the 8 in 1 Ultimate kibble pieces and avoids the smaller Wysong pieces. I also feed Dodger Ferretvite everyday in an attempt for him to gain a little weight. They also love the Yogies banana treats but I have been feeding less of those lately.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
No, but I have tried to feed them a raw egg before and they acted like I was trying to poison them when I tried the scruff and stuff technique with some on my finger. I also recently bought Wysong Beef Dream Treats and could not get them to eat them.

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

I am currently a college student and although I am fully committed to ferret health, any money saving tips during this process would be much appreciated! I also feel it may be very difficult to switch Dodger over but my hopes are still very high and I will try my best to be patient!

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?

Every day- I am currently a college student and I use my computer every day for homework assignments.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
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. Also note there may have been some changes in the application and how you should post so please review these before proceeding. If you have any questions feel free to either ask your mentor or any of the admins. 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
And not to worry about the prey Mine eat frozen/thawed whole prey, but I wouldn't have the heart to let them hunt!
Alright- let's get them going with the soup! What you'll have to do is defrost a single cube for now. Take all kibble away approximately two hours ahead of time to let them work up a bit of an appetite. Let them run and play and as they are going by scoop one up, dab a bit of the soup on the nose so they have to lick it off. Do this over and over and over again with all of them.
Don't be surprised by ANY reaction you get! They've been know to gag, retch, spit, twist, whine the whole nine yards ;D
Let me know how they do!

[Deleted]

So today I made the soup and I have a few questions about that. The hearts I bought were mixed in with chicken gizzards and I couldn't tell them apart so is it okay that I mixed those in too? Also do you refrigerate your soup, freeze it, or freeze it in ice cubes? Is any of these methods okay to pick?

Now for the tasting- I put it on my finger and rubbed it on Olivers mouth and nose and each time instead of licking it he wiped it off on my pants or the floor. When I scruffed him and put some in he looked terrified and ran away. I repeated with Khaleesi and she gave it a few licks and then ran away. Then to my suprise Dodger actually seemed to like it and kept licking it off my finger! However when I put the bowl on the floor they all smelled it but no one dared to try it. Should I just keep repeating this every day for a while?

[Sherry]

Okay, first- heart are a rounded triangular shape, and smaller than the gizzards. And gizzards do not puree well and can actually damage a blender. Think rubber
When I make soup, I portion it out into ice cube trays, freeze, then Baggie the cubes. Saves a lot if waste since you'll only thaw one at a time right now
Over all, you've had a really good start! For Dodger keep offering it from your finger for a couple if days then move to a spoon. With Khaleesi keep the finger feeding until she takes it willingly, then move to a spoon.
Oliver is going to be a Mister Priss ;D
As he's out playing grab him from time to time, plop a taste on his tongue and let him go again. You'll have to do this repeatedly until he licks it from your finger. Offer them all some in the manner they best accept it several times each time they are out.

[Deleted]

Hi Sherry,
After Olivers passing I think I need to take a break from the mentor program. I know I will want to do this in the near future but right now I feel uncertain and scared about any changes with the remaining fuzzes when they are stressed right now. I wanted to tell you so that so people who are on the list waiting for a mentor could get one instead of me taking up the spot. I will keep posting on the forum but just take a break from raw. With Oliver dying two days after the first raw attempt I keep trying to blame myself like what if the eggshell pieces werent small enough or the meat was bad. . Anyways thanks for being my mentor and hopefully I can restart the mentor program soon!

[Sherry]

Not a problem, and I fully understand. I'll move this to the vault and when you are ready just let me know.