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Post by katt on Sept 1, 2013 18:21:20 GMT -5
Bump!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 18:59:34 GMT -5
Hey pretty sure I found the cause of the sickness, I decided to pull the tiles up in there den and found a bunch of black and green mold, they all got bathed and have been in the ferret cage outside with towels an such for the day, I scrubbed the crap out of it and spray painted the floor and kniffins wa closed so only pork and chicken chunks until I can get to the bank and there which I have a question there basically eating chunks without any soupiness to it when do I start making liver an heart a once a week thing? I'm wondering if liver is the culprit alongside the mold? I can't load pics from here but I have a few they need to be weighed too ill do that as soon as I can but this weeks gonna be h*ll I got work/school every other day ahhhh hahah ill post in ASAP
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 19:05:38 GMT -5
There poos are random, sometimes big poo puddles sometimes solid then runny then bright yellow then really dark, idk what the hells going on I'm hoping the fresh air away from that mold helps I've been ridiculously sneezy and itchy so hey never know, the ferret vite went in te trash I haven't been able to hunt down the sc stuff yet and I need pumpkin ill get some between classes tues and give it to them when I get home idk about the vets I feel bad but I'm in a bad spot At the moment and the vets is out of the question, ill get then there as soon as I can but I don't have any money towards that kind of expense it's gonna have to be holistic care until I can find and afford one
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Post by katt on Sept 2, 2013 13:03:31 GMT -5
If they are having diarrhea to the point of pooping water they really need a vet.
Will Dax eat chunks without the soup? The next step is to gradually remove the soup, but I did not want to rush him. If he is CONFIDENTLY eating chunks without soup you can remove the soup and we can work on a beginning menu while you start to work in other meats. You will need to sprinkle all of the meats with calcium powder until they are all eating bones, which is the next NEXT step.
Even if Dax still needs the soup on his chunks you can move the organs and hearts to their own days because the soup is not the main portion of the meal anymore. The key is is that Dax needs to be able to eat liver and heart chunks - will all of them eat them? If not, we need to work on that and I will explain what to do. If they will, then read the following:
They need 10% organs and 10% hearts. On a 2 meals a day schedule this means they need one and a half meals of each per week. So 1.5 meals organ (half liver, half other organs such as kidney, brain, uterus, etc), 1.5 meals heart. The best thing to do to start off with is to pick 2 days (the weekend for example) to be organ/heart days. Your feeding schedule might look like this: Day 1 Am: organs (half liver, half other) PM: hearts
Day 2 Am: half heart, half liver PM: meat with bones
Let me know if Dax will eat chunks without soup, and let me know if they will all eat liver and heart chunks and we will take it from there.
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Post by katt on Sept 2, 2013 13:05:41 GMT -5
Btw liver should NOT be causing diarrhea like you are describing. It can cause soft stools but the calcium and other ingredients in the soup should help to mitigate this. If they are getting too much they may have a lot of dark, tarry stools. Liquid poop like you described is not natural, it is a sign that something else is going on, such as a bacterial overgrowth.
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Post by katt on Sept 2, 2013 13:14:14 GMT -5
Also also please get some pics soon. At the very least some poop pictures, and their weights.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2013 12:10:56 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2013 12:12:06 GMT -5
thats dax in that pic with marcellus btw, !!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2013 12:19:52 GMT -5
there poo looks normal again, only one runny one lastnight, there back to little plops, it had to be the ferretvite they werent acting sick or seem off just dark weird poo like ferretvite only smelly and gross, marcellus idk what the h*ll would make his poo that weird color that time but he couldve eaten something he wasnt suposed to they got ahold of the cat treats, i found the container under the bureau
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Post by katt on Sept 3, 2013 20:25:24 GMT -5
Okay here are their weights from Aug 20th and yesterday. No loss other than a fraction of an ounce on Novak's part which isn't enough to be concerning. Everyone else has gained. Looking good! I am especially happy to see Dax gaining so much weight. Looks like they are all gearing up for the winter and hopefully starting to put on some muscle from the raw diet as well. 8/20Novak 3.3lb Dax 2.2lb Bubby 2.2lb Marcellus 2.25lb 9/2Novak 3.2lb Dax 2.8lb Bubby 2.8lb Marcellus >3lb As a quick note, unless they were for some reason ingesting it, the mold shouldn't cause diarrhea as far as I know. Regardless it CAN cause respiratory problems which can become serious if they have an inflamed upper respiratory tract for an extended period so I am glad that you found it and cleaned it out. As for the FerretVite, it can cause weird poops especially if too much is given. I'm glad you found the cat treats too, I would bet that had something to do with it. Not only would they digest at a different rate from raw (just like if kibble and raw are fed to close together they can have GI upset), they may have been eating a rather unhealthy amount the little piggies which would have been rich for their tummies all at once. As a side note on the treats, cats are just like ferrets - you really shouldn't give any treats. If you want to give a good treat the best things to use are small bits of their regular food hand fed (slivers of raw meat are great treats), or salmon or fish oil. Olive oil is good for them too, but Salmon or fish oil is better. You can get a little dropper bottle and use that to dispense the oil a little drop at a time for treats. Great for their fur and skin too. Just don't give too much too often or they will get diarrhea from the oil too. If putting oil in their food shoot for about 1/2-1tsp per ferret NO MORE than 3 times a week (less if that amount causes diarrhea or stool issues), as a treat you want to give that amount or less. Like I said I use the dropper bottle so even in an extended trick training session they still end up getting less than 1/2 tsp total. Hopefully the treats were indeed the culprit and the solid stools continue. Please keep monitoring though and keep me posted. Didn't think you'd be stuck on poop watch did ya? No one appreciates poop like a mom or a pet owner! Especially ferrets and reptiles. As long as their poops continue to look good you don't need to worry about the colloidal silver. It never hurts to have some on hand just in case though. If you have questions about proper use of the CS send Heather a PM or ask me here. If used for an extended period it can cause resistant strains (just like an Rx antibiotic) so you have to be careful to use it at the right dosage for the right length of time. 1) Have you tried any pork chunks yet? If so how did they all take it (Dax and Bubby in particular)? 2) Have you tried chunks without soup yet? If so, what did Dax think? IF he seemed hesitant at all, thaw a little soup and use it like a gravy. Just add a little bit at a time until you find an amount he will accept. Then gradually reduce the amount of gravy, just like you gradually increased the chunks. As soon as he is CONFIDENTLY eating chunks without soup, we will work on 3 things: increasing the chunk size more adding in more proteins (starting with pork and going from there) beginning bones Bones are a BIG step, and one of the final BIG steps in the switch. This is the next hardest step after the kibble to soup to chunks phase. Some ferrets take to bones rather quickly, others do not. They are super important though so we will take it nice and slow just like we did with chunks, letting the slowest member of your business determine the pace. Let me know how Dax is handling soup-free chunks and I will tell you where to do from there depending on his progress. 3) You said Dax was eating heart chunks? What about LIVER chunks? Are ALL of them eating heart and liver chunks without soup and without trouble? Let me know either way and I will tell you what to do accordingly. 4) Are you able to get any OTHER organs besides liver? Start looking around (Asian markets and Halal markets are a GREAT resource). Kidneys, brains, spleen, pancreas, uterus are all good organ sources. Kidney and brains are the best and usually the easiest to find of that list. Their 10% weekly organ should consist of HALF liver and HALF OTHER organs so now that they are progressing past soup you want to start scouting around for some additional organ sources.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2013 19:30:35 GMT -5
how do i upload a video? you GOTTA see these guys its dax and bubby going hard over a piece and i mean chunk of chicken!! im gonna try let me know if you get it (:
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2013 19:52:06 GMT -5
i just wrote you this HUGE thing and the darn ferrets unplugged the ethernet cable, i lost all of it (disappointed)
LOL ill have to redo this later tonight im out the door, all is good today though and ill catch you up ASAP!
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Post by katt on Sept 4, 2013 22:07:47 GMT -5
Oh I hate it when that happens. I=The video worked. That is GREAT Saleena! It is DEFINITELY time to move to the next step(s). (dance) I still want to know how the pork went, and how Dax takes to chunks without soup on them. That chunk in the video looked pretty soup free, or was there some soup on it? As we eliminate the soup, you want to make sure to sprinkle the powdered eggshell onto their food. I would like to start working them on bones soon, preferably while we work them on the new proteins. Do you have any chicken wings, cornish game hens, or other SMALL-bone source in your freezer (remember all of that meat I told you to hold on to? ). If not, try to pick up some chicken wings and/or cornish game hens soon and let me know when you do. We are going to start with SMALL pieces. What you will need to do is get a hammer or mallet and smash the bones up into nice small pieces. You may try using a meat cleaver after that (or a good knife or poultry shears) to cut the bone up into smaller bits and separate the bone-meat pulp into chunks the size of what they are currently eating. You may need to hand feed some bits of marrow (it's like nutritious candy once they realize it is food lol) to convince Dax and Bubby that it is edible. If they still need some soup on their chunks, adding a little soup "gravy" into the mix may make it more enticing as well. I'll wait for your update before I say more, but we need to do some work on hearts, organs, bones, and adding variety. How we approach each of those all depends on where they are right now. As a side note, when you go to the store next pick up some turkey as well. Any kind. Since you have been tossing in the odd turkey neck and Dax has at last been fighting over it if not eating it, it should be an easy new protein to work in before or after the pork. I definitely want to see some pork in there though so they have a non-poultry meat source. After that we will get to beef, which can be a bit trickier since it is more strongly flavored. They are making great progress Saleena, keep it up! I'll be watching for your promised update. lol I feel your pain on the computer eating it, sometimes after that you just don't have the time or energy to retype the whole darn thing.
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Post by katt on Sept 6, 2013 0:05:06 GMT -5
Bump
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Post by katt on Sept 6, 2013 17:41:50 GMT -5
Updates?
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