|
Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2013 10:20:44 GMT -5
Thanks! Let me just check with some other mentors and see if they have ever heard of ferrets having this problem this frequently. I will get back to you soon
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2013 12:56:17 GMT -5
Okay so the other mentors are pretty sure the problem is with the turkey necks. Because they are bigger bones a lot of ferrets can't chew them all the way through and apparently they are the perfect shape for getting stuck in back teeth.
So if you could pick up chicken necks instead of the turkey necks, that would be best.
If you have turkey necks left and don't want to waste them, you can just cut the meat off the necks and give it to them with one of their muscle meat meals.
I just wouldn't recommend continuing to feed the bones because one could get really stuck and require a vet visit to remove.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2013 14:24:28 GMT -5
Hi Steph,
thanks for finding out! yes I will just used the rest as meat because they really do like it. Turkey wings are still ok right?
Also, I bought some freeze dried beef liver as treats (it does say they are for dogs but beef liver is the only ingedient), but was wondering if that would count towards some of their beef liver each week.. or does it have to come from fresh raw beef liver? I tried giving them some but they didn't seem interested, but they were both pretty sleepy so maybe later when they wake up (the cats love them though so they must be yummy!)
BTW, I have been giving Zeus the Bachs rescue remedy directly and he likes it and I think it is making a big difference.. he actually comes out to play again! But was just wondering how long I should continue doing this.. I have been giving him a few drops directly each day but also adding a few drops to their water.
Thanks Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2013 23:38:46 GMT -5
Yes turkey wings are still okay for sure The beef liver treats are fine to give for sure, but I wouldn't reduce the amount of fresh liver you give each week. Instead the beef liver treats will just make up for any liver they don't eat in the week, because I am guessing at this point they aren't getting the full 1oz each anyways. That is great about the rescue remedy! You can keep giving it as long as he needs it. However, other members have found that it works best if you rotate it out after a couple weeks otherwise it stops working as well. So you can give it for the next couple weeks. Then stop giving it and see how he does. If he is fine, then don't bring it back. If he is worse then bring it back. Let me know if you have anymore questions Could you post me a weekly schedule for the past week with the amount of organs you got into each ferret too? Also some weights, pictures, and their activity levels and stool quality info would be great! Just wanna do a full check in
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2013 15:14:08 GMT -5
Hey Steph,
I will get all the info for you when the ferrets wake up. Also, I have finally figured out a way that seems to get both ferrets eating the kidney by themselves. I gave it yesterday and today. I saw Cyrus eat it yesterday.. she didn't today but hopefully she will later. It is kind of complicated - I had to blend chicken with the kidney (like you suggested) then add a little bit of fish oil to that, then add some heart, chicken wings and liver with that , mix it together, put some olive oil in, and... she ate a pretty good amount of it so I assume she got some liver in there. I was thinking to do something like this with every bone meal, then replace heart meal, and organ meal with bone meals. Does that sound ok?
Sunday AM: Chicken & liver Sunday PM: chicken wing
Monday AM: chicken wing Monday PM: mixture that I told you above
The ferrets will be finishing their 2 oz each of liver probably today or tomorrow and they have eaten about .75 oz total of kidney after today (assuming they eat all their mixture today).
Both ferrets have been very active for about 1 - 1.5 hours in the morning and Zeus sleeps most the rest of the day. Cyrus gets up probably 15 - 20 mins about 5 times a day. Do ferrets tend to sleep more during the winter?
Poops seem ok (medium consistancy - not solid but not liquidy).. Zeus did have a few really liquidy poops a couple days ago (maybe yesterday?) but he was eating organs at that time so it was probably due to that. I checked his butt and it wasn't red or anything.
Pictures & weights to come!
Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2013 18:11:58 GMT -5
Thanks Breanne That's great news, they will need close to about 2oz kidney each into them weekly though. The liver amount sounds perfect though. Yes ferrets are less active in winter, they get fat, fuzzy, and lazy. And yes the organs will make their poops pretty runny and icky. Medium consistency poop is actually NORMAL raw poop so that is great. And yes doing that menu plan would work as long as you get the amounts right. In a week they need: -2oz liver each -2oz kidney each -1.5 meals worth of heart each (not sure what the weight would be but you can't overdo hearts so just use a fair amount) They also need a balance between meat and bone. So since they are getting this mix with their bone meals (and thus eating less bone), adding the extra bone meal will help but you may have to play it by ear a little bit. Some ferrets need more bone than others. So watch their poops closely (too hard and white = too much bone) and too runny = not enough bone. Their nails will also start to get soft if they aren't getting enough bone but that does take a while and we don't want that to happen. ALL THAT BEING SAID... Unfortunately I am having to step down from mentoring. I am trying to complete 7 university courses (3 in school, 4 online) in order to graduate on time so that I can start working and get better health benefits...and in the mean time am working 5 nights a week in order to pay for my steep medical bills (lots of health issues). Soooo another mentor will be along shortly to finish up the switch with you. They may have more suggestions and be able to better estimate how much bone they will need with the organ mix you are feeding daily too, as they have more experience than I do. It has been a pleasure mentoring you up until this point and I wish you and your ferrets the best of luck in everything Take care! Stephanie
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2013 22:51:31 GMT -5
Ok thanks Steph I am so sad to hear that you won't be finishing out mentoring but I know school can be very time consuming ( and that's only with 5 courses) thanks so much for all your help it has been greatly appreciated and we are so glad that you could help us get so far! Zeus and Cyrus will have such a better life now . Good luck with your studies!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2013 0:40:18 GMT -5
Thanks Your new mentor should be here shortly.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 23, 2013 9:38:54 GMT -5
Hi, I'll be taking over your switch until you graduate, which Stephanie tells me shouldn't be very long Can you give me a brief run down of what they are eating now, as well as a sample menu so I can see where we need to tweak it? Use a Mon-Sun format with not necessarily what they DID eat each day, but how you think their weekly menu should be set up with the foods you have access to. That way I have a better understanding of where YOU are at with menu planning
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2013 0:31:30 GMT -5
Hi Sherry!
OK the ferrets have been on this menu for the past several weeks - right now we have a ton of chicken so I am trying to get rid of it, so you will see a lot of the meat is chicken. They also like pork belly a lot, and have had beef before and seem to eat it. We just recently found out that maybe turkey neck isn't the best thing to give them because it started getting stuck in their teeth occasionally, so now turkey neck is being replaced with turkey wings/chicken wings.
MONDAY AM turkey neck MONDAY PM chicken + chicken hearts
TUESDAY AM turkey nexk TUESDAY PM chicken
WEDNESDAY AM turkey neck + 1 oz liver WEDNESDAY PM chicken
THURSDAY AM turkey neck THURSDAY PM 2 oz liver
FRIDAY AM turkey neck + 1 oz liver FRIDAY PM chicken
SATURDAY AM turkey neck SATURDAY PM chicken
SUNDAY AM turkey neck SUNDAY PM chicken hearts
I also think the above menu is a good sample menu, except it should probably have a bit more variety with the meats as I said above. Usually I just buy them one kind of meat and feed them it until it is gone so I will finish up the chicken that we have and probably get their favourite pork belly again. Also we need to add Kidney which up until recently has been very hard to get them to eat at all. Zeus will eat it if fish oil is on it, but Cyrus doesn't like fish oil much so it has been difficult to get her to eat it - she doesn't like try it because of the smell I guess. For the past few days I have been making a mixture of chicken, kidney, liver, chicken wings and hearts. This seems to be the only way that Cyrus will eat anything with Kidney in it. If you have any other suggestions to try to get her to eat it, that would be great, but for now the mixture is working fairly well.
Thanks Breanne
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2013 0:32:44 GMT -5
also, Zeus is currently .92 kg (up from . 9 about 1 - 1.5 months ago) and Cyrus is .82 (down from .9 about 1 - 1.5 months ago)
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 24, 2013 0:49:58 GMT -5
Okay, out of curiosity how much of the chicken listed is bone in? Reason I'm asking is that if it all is, then that's way too much bone. It would give 12 meals a week ;D I can understand about feeding til it's gone, but at this time, variety over the course of the week would be a much better idea. Also, it gives them less time to get bored with a particular meat. And yes- they do ;D When that happens you will need to remove that meat for 2-4 weeks until they are willing to eat it again. It will also help up the muscle meat as compared to the bone. With the kidney, something that helps to remove the strong flavour is to slice it, cover it in milk and put in the fridge for a day. Rinse well, repeat for a day then rinse well to remove the milk. That removes most of the ureic acid which is what they are objecting to. If that doesn't work, then try mixing half and half with liver and puree. Add about 1/2 tsp heavy cream while pureeing and then hand feed for a while until they are accepting it. I actually had to do this with a stubborn, stubborn ferret for almost a year And yes, he ate it himself after that time ;D
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2013 11:16:16 GMT -5
Hi Sherry, Nope when I say chicken in the menu I mean just the meat, no bone. The only chicken with bones that I feed them is chicken wings so I will say chicken wings to specify between bone in and bone out chicken.
Steph did get us to try the heavy cream but it didn't work so I am going to try covering with milk as you suggested.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 24, 2013 13:40:04 GMT -5
Okay, thanks In that case, you need to ADD a couple more bone meals ;D
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2013 9:06:10 GMT -5
Ok how many more?
|
|