Post by Heather on Aug 9, 2013 21:03:10 GMT -5
Name: Arlene Phillips
HF Forum Username: daweezels
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
I've always been really interested in holistic foods for animals in general (I used to be a pet food store manager for a few years about 3 years ago and fully supported holistic kibble foods and whole foods as treats and helped a lot of people make that switch for their pets - and I definitely supported raw but didn't know enough about it at the time to be able to advise people on that). When I got my first ferret I fed him Wellness Kitten, and from there we tried a myriad of holistic foods with as little grain as I could find including Go, Natures Variety Raw, Wellness Core, Chicken Soup, and others I can't even think of right now. The ferret foods on the shelf in my area are crap, and I knew that much from day one, and so I've been mostly limited to whats available in my area for cats/kittens. I came across the idea of a raw diet at the beginning of my research when I first became a ferret owner four years ago, but felt that I didn't find enough supporting information online to provide that as the only diet for my ferrets. Recently when my Bernie started having some health issues (soon to be diagnosed as insulinoma) I revisited what I thought I knew about ferret nutrition and my boyfriend and I found the holistic ferret forum page on facebook. I knew that my best resource at this point was the experience of others, and that I can't be the only person out there that adores these little guys as much as we do, and our time in as being ferrents is really small compared to others. Unfortunately no one I know knows anything about ferrets (except one person and I give them advice as they are in my opinion not very knowledgeable in all things ferrety), so I really really need some help here. I've been trying for almost two months to make the switch and I'm still at the soup stage. I don't know if this is because of my schedule being crazy but I try at least once a day to offer them some raw and they usually don't want it. I say usually because I have had a few times where my Diezel will eat little chunks in the soup of raw, and straight raw ground as well. Guess he was hungry at those times? Every time I make a new soup and introduce a new protein they run away
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 want the absolute best for each of them as an individual. So whatever my mentor thinks is best as I'm not really 100% sure at this point. That being said I'm pretty sure that means Bernie will be on a special diet of partial raw as he's my insulinoma ferret, and Diezel will be full raw as he's my healthy little monster. Also I work 5 days a week usually sometimes 6, and I have a schedule that always changes and I can start and end my work day anywhere between 7am and 9:30pm, so this makes it a little tough for me to have a strict feeding schedule. My boyfriend on the other hand works 12pm-6pm Monday to Friday so he can help, as he is as equally committed to this as I am.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
My first ferret I ever had, who left big footprints on my heart and made me fall madly in love with these little devils, came to us as a 3 year old rescue and after two years was diagnosed with adrenal and lymphoma and it tore my heart apart to say goodbye to him. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make in my life, and even though I realize I may have to make that decision again at some point, I want to have the piece of mind knowing that I did the absolute best by them that I could. I feel diet is a huge part of doing just that. When Bernie started to get sick, I knew I wasn't doing the best for them that I could do, and so here I am. After following HFF on facebook for a few months, I feel like I trust the experience and knowledge of the people on here to help me with their best health in mind.
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?
Absolutely. 100%!
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?
We have 2, both boys. Diezel is my baby aged 2 and a half years, who we got as a teenaged 4 month old intact male from a local breeder who has a small hobby farm. He is very healthy and has no health problems to report to date. His weight is perfect. We got him fixed at about 6-7 months. Bernie is our rescue ferret that we rescued from our local OSPCA. He was housed with his "brothers" - two other male ferrets who were not deemed healthy enough yet for adoption. They were surrendered with ear mites, and the other two had severe hair loss. Bernie has a full coat and the mites were taken care of before we adopted him. He is a Marshalls ferret, has the two tattooed dots in his one ear. We got him about a year and a half ago. From day one I knew there was something different about him and after three vets saying he was healthy, it wasn't until April when a lump appeared on his left front paw that I finally knew that there was no denying what I already suspected. I thought at first that because he was a white ferret that maybe he was blind or deaf and this made him walk a little wobblier than the other ferrets. But I proved that theory wrong more than once. Finally when the lump appeared and after a few tests my newest vet and I concluded insulinoma from a very low BG test result after fasting, and he's been on 1cc of Pediapred once a day since.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
Go turkey, chicken and duck and Natures Variety Raw Boost duck. Also I use ferretone for nail clipping only for Diezel and with Bernie I mix some in with his Pred or he wont take it willingly (and I plan on changing that if I can as I've learned that it is bad for them too. I've been making various different types of soup, raw and half cooked - some with more luck than others, and offer that once or twice a day if they will eat it. Some they like more than others and eat happily, others they run away from and back to the kibble bowl (which is always available). Other than that I dont really give treats or rewards of food but love and praise for good behavior
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
Yes. Little success so far, we are back and forth.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
None right now, I think I've wrote a small novel already
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
All the time. Other than when I'm at work.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
Will do so ASAP, need to get this is right now as I have to go out in a minute
11. Have you met the requirements for this program? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
Yes
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program (wave). In a little while your mentor (Carpetsharks37) 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
HF Forum Username: daweezels
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
I've always been really interested in holistic foods for animals in general (I used to be a pet food store manager for a few years about 3 years ago and fully supported holistic kibble foods and whole foods as treats and helped a lot of people make that switch for their pets - and I definitely supported raw but didn't know enough about it at the time to be able to advise people on that). When I got my first ferret I fed him Wellness Kitten, and from there we tried a myriad of holistic foods with as little grain as I could find including Go, Natures Variety Raw, Wellness Core, Chicken Soup, and others I can't even think of right now. The ferret foods on the shelf in my area are crap, and I knew that much from day one, and so I've been mostly limited to whats available in my area for cats/kittens. I came across the idea of a raw diet at the beginning of my research when I first became a ferret owner four years ago, but felt that I didn't find enough supporting information online to provide that as the only diet for my ferrets. Recently when my Bernie started having some health issues (soon to be diagnosed as insulinoma) I revisited what I thought I knew about ferret nutrition and my boyfriend and I found the holistic ferret forum page on facebook. I knew that my best resource at this point was the experience of others, and that I can't be the only person out there that adores these little guys as much as we do, and our time in as being ferrents is really small compared to others. Unfortunately no one I know knows anything about ferrets (except one person and I give them advice as they are in my opinion not very knowledgeable in all things ferrety), so I really really need some help here. I've been trying for almost two months to make the switch and I'm still at the soup stage. I don't know if this is because of my schedule being crazy but I try at least once a day to offer them some raw and they usually don't want it. I say usually because I have had a few times where my Diezel will eat little chunks in the soup of raw, and straight raw ground as well. Guess he was hungry at those times? Every time I make a new soup and introduce a new protein they run away
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 want the absolute best for each of them as an individual. So whatever my mentor thinks is best as I'm not really 100% sure at this point. That being said I'm pretty sure that means Bernie will be on a special diet of partial raw as he's my insulinoma ferret, and Diezel will be full raw as he's my healthy little monster. Also I work 5 days a week usually sometimes 6, and I have a schedule that always changes and I can start and end my work day anywhere between 7am and 9:30pm, so this makes it a little tough for me to have a strict feeding schedule. My boyfriend on the other hand works 12pm-6pm Monday to Friday so he can help, as he is as equally committed to this as I am.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
My first ferret I ever had, who left big footprints on my heart and made me fall madly in love with these little devils, came to us as a 3 year old rescue and after two years was diagnosed with adrenal and lymphoma and it tore my heart apart to say goodbye to him. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make in my life, and even though I realize I may have to make that decision again at some point, I want to have the piece of mind knowing that I did the absolute best by them that I could. I feel diet is a huge part of doing just that. When Bernie started to get sick, I knew I wasn't doing the best for them that I could do, and so here I am. After following HFF on facebook for a few months, I feel like I trust the experience and knowledge of the people on here to help me with their best health in mind.
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?
Absolutely. 100%!
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?
We have 2, both boys. Diezel is my baby aged 2 and a half years, who we got as a teenaged 4 month old intact male from a local breeder who has a small hobby farm. He is very healthy and has no health problems to report to date. His weight is perfect. We got him fixed at about 6-7 months. Bernie is our rescue ferret that we rescued from our local OSPCA. He was housed with his "brothers" - two other male ferrets who were not deemed healthy enough yet for adoption. They were surrendered with ear mites, and the other two had severe hair loss. Bernie has a full coat and the mites were taken care of before we adopted him. He is a Marshalls ferret, has the two tattooed dots in his one ear. We got him about a year and a half ago. From day one I knew there was something different about him and after three vets saying he was healthy, it wasn't until April when a lump appeared on his left front paw that I finally knew that there was no denying what I already suspected. I thought at first that because he was a white ferret that maybe he was blind or deaf and this made him walk a little wobblier than the other ferrets. But I proved that theory wrong more than once. Finally when the lump appeared and after a few tests my newest vet and I concluded insulinoma from a very low BG test result after fasting, and he's been on 1cc of Pediapred once a day since.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
Go turkey, chicken and duck and Natures Variety Raw Boost duck. Also I use ferretone for nail clipping only for Diezel and with Bernie I mix some in with his Pred or he wont take it willingly (and I plan on changing that if I can as I've learned that it is bad for them too. I've been making various different types of soup, raw and half cooked - some with more luck than others, and offer that once or twice a day if they will eat it. Some they like more than others and eat happily, others they run away from and back to the kibble bowl (which is always available). Other than that I dont really give treats or rewards of food but love and praise for good behavior
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
Yes. Little success so far, we are back and forth.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
None right now, I think I've wrote a small novel already
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
All the time. Other than when I'm at work.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
Will do so ASAP, need to get this is right now as I have to go out in a minute
11. Have you met the requirements for this program? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
Yes
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program (wave). In a little while your mentor (Carpetsharks37) 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
His name is Devon. 
