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Post by Sherry on Jun 10, 2013 13:48:27 GMT -5
With the others start increasing the number of slivers on a daily basis until it's half and half then start increasing the size of them as well as continuing to increase the amount.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2013 14:45:33 GMT -5
I think I'd try hand feeding him(Gus) with a spoon once a day for a week, see how much he'll take. You don't need to syringe feed, but I'd use the grind blended with a bit of water to make it slightly sloppy. Approximately how much should they be eating a meal or day..... It would be nice to have some kind of gauge... I know every ferret is different... Just something to go by
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2013 22:07:49 GMT -5
Sherry.... I am a lil confused.... I was reading some posts from Facebook..... and they were saying not to give pumpkin.... to give and egg yolk 3 x a week in a meal ........ Does this mean pumpkin is bad for them? mine get 1/4 tsp every day.... amd I doing it right? I don't know if your friends with Sonny Piccirillo but it was in a post he wrote about quail eggs..... Just curious because you read a lot of stuff from people on groups and never know if you are doing the right thing because everyone is doing something different...... So sorry to be a pain... I just get so confused
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Post by Sherry on Jun 11, 2013 0:43:27 GMT -5
For an average I aim at starting with approx 1 oz per female and 2oz per male per meal. Some will eat more, some less. Pumpkin. To be honest I've always given one half tap per ferret per day. However since our 3 yr old has been diagnosed with insulinoma, and she's been raw fed since 5 months of age we are all starting to reaccess our frequent reliance on this. Obviously genetics plays a part. But now I advise a half tsp twice a week, just in case.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2013 22:57:57 GMT -5
Hi Sherry... I got Gus to eat almost a whole ounce of soupy today...... He kinda didn't want it ... I had to scruff him to get him to eat the last half ..... Is there an easier way I should be handling him with this...... I don't want him to not eat because he has bad experience when I try and feed him ..... If that makes any sense and all ...... I am not sure the girls get exactly one ounce per meal.... but I was going to ask and see if I should schedule feed them 3 times a day .... separate them and give them each there allotted amounts and see just who is eating how much...... and then at night I can let them be together and do Leave there food overnight..... which I notice they don't even touch.....what do you think?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 12, 2013 0:12:31 GMT -5
Just so you are aware- it took me almost 6 weeks to convince one of mine raw wasn't actually poison and wouldn't hurt him For right now, make sure you are putting the kibble back in with them every night so they can chow down if they choose to. As they come to accept the raw, they'll eat less and less of the kibble at night. As for the scruffing to get them to eat they get over that fairly quickly, so no worries there
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2013 10:39:50 GMT -5
I am just so excited I had to share it with you ... I hope you don't mind...... so with all the talk of egg yolks.... I decided to try it on my ferrets .... so I took 3 ounces of soup and mixed a egg yolk in it...... I gave the girls 2 ounces and got a bowl to feed Gus his ounce....... I put the plate in the cage and then proceeded to try and feed Gus..... Worried that I would go through the same process I did the night before.... But he got one smell and lick of it... and he GOBBLED the ounce up .... I offered more..... but he was done..... so I go back to the cage to put him in and the girls had cleaned there plate ....... It was AWESOME....... I didn't put there kibble back in last night as I didn't get your message till this morning...... BUT... the plate of food this morning only had about a 1/2 ounce of food left on it...... Do you want me to still put the kibble in?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 12, 2013 12:41:15 GMT -5
Not if they'll reliably eat on their own That was excellent progress!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2013 21:34:17 GMT -5
Question...... I gave them the egg yolk this morning and now Pixie has the runs and is not acting like herself ..... I am not sure if she is the one who ate the whole plate of yolk/soupy mix or what ..... I gave her a tsp of Pumpkin.... and then she squirted again..... yellowish orange..........and gelatinous ..... Is this normal? I tried to get her to play and all she wants to do is hide and sleep.... I am very concerned......
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Post by Sherry on Jun 13, 2013 0:33:01 GMT -5
While egg will give gelatinous funky stools, it should react on her like that. Is she eating and drinking? TBH, I'd be more concerned about a potential blockage. Keep pushing pumpkin alternating with Vaseline/lax on an hourly basis until you see nice big orange poops. However if she starts vomiting get her in there ASAP.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2013 0:36:10 GMT -5
While egg will give gelatinous funky stools, it should react on her like that. Is she eating and drinking? TBH, I'd be more concerned about a potential blockage. Keep pushing pumpkin alternating with Vaseline/lax on an hourly basis until you see nice big orange poops. However if she starts vomiting get her in there ASAP. I didn't know about the Vaseline.... How much should I give..... I have been giving her about a 1/2 tsp. every few hours of pumpkin.... her poop's have started to firm up and it is very smelly.... she did eat a few licks this evening..... but that was it.... I will give her some water.......
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Post by Sherry on Jun 13, 2013 8:25:27 GMT -5
If she's having the formed stools then odds are it isn't a blockage. I'd slow the pumpkin right down and try feeding normally. If she continues to have really funky stools she could well have a bacterial overload in the gut. It does happen sometimes early in a diet switch. She may or may not need an antibiotic, depending on how quickly she adapts. It was you mentioning the smell to me that indicates this is a possibility.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 13, 2013 8:27:45 GMT -5
And just to set your mind to rest- this can happen whether kibble or raw fed One of my boys who'd eaten raw for years developed it. Others I know who are strictly kibble fed also get it. It's an easy fix If you can get some kefir anywhere it will help. This is a natural living probiotic that helps good gut bacteria. You can sometimes find it in the refrigerator section of a grocery store.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2013 13:31:50 GMT -5
Sherry..... This is what I have done so far..... After she had two orange formed stools I stopped the pumpkin *....... and let her rest.... I kept an eye on her till about 4 this morning ...... then when I got up there were no runny or gelatinous poops ... I put a fresh plate of soup but she wouldn't touch it ..... that is unlike her.... she normally eats the best out of the three...... so since I am spoon feeding Gus..... I decided to back up and start spoon feeding the girls too .... Just to make sure they are getting the appropriate amount of food per meal and to try and encourage the raw eating......... I gave each one 1 ounce of food and spoon fed them all...... Gus ate all but a two baby spoonful's ..... Pixie ate it ALL ....... and Waffle ate all but 1 baby spoon full ....... How long should I continue this and how often should I try and fed them 1 ounce of food? Every 4 hours?
****UPDATE**** So no runny gelatinous poops at all today ..... After feeding them Breakfast..... I had to be gone for Lunch so I left a plate of food.... Very little gone ...... Everyone ate an ounce for dinner and then Pixie wanted to play and is now acting like her old self again .... Lil booger ...... I went to the store and all the Probiotic in the dairy dept. has dairy and a bunch of crap ands SUGAR...... the brand you suggested looked healthy and 99% lactose free.... The pharmacy area had a bunch of Probiotic stuff... but I had NO CLUE which one would be safe..... Any suggestions and how much do I give her...... Should I give the Probiotic to all of them?......Let me know what you think....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2013 23:36:23 GMT -5
Hi Sherry..... Not sure if you are getting these posts ...... Pixie is back to normal and acting like her old self ...... I am not sure what that day was all about ..... but I decided that the next time I go to give an egg yolk, I will mix it in there daily allotment and then they will get it 3 separate times that one day instead of all at once (giggle) ..... LOL.... I Gus is doing a lil better taking the food..... I have upped him to 1 1/2 ounces this evening and he did good... I think I am going to shoot for that for him for a few days for his 3 meals...... Everyone is getting an ounce of food 3 times a day spoon fed and then I leave a plate in the cage for whenever they want to munch a lil...... not a lot of pooping and they are small & black... but a lot of pee.... LOL.... I hope I am doing this right...... Please let me know if I need to change anything.....
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