|
Post by Sherry on Dec 30, 2013 19:47:21 GMT -5
Not too surprising she isn't taking it yet Took me six weeks to convince Boris that raw puree wasn't actually going to poison him, He was also a master at long distance spitting Persistence is the key. Remove the kibble one hour before trying her with the raw puree and just keep dabbing over and over every 5-10 m while she is out and about!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2014 17:01:14 GMT -5
Persistence! I am trying, though I'm pretty sure she is the master and I am just the grasshopper. Sigh, she hasn't given an inch. I keep finding dried puree in various places around my house, the lil stinkier. I learned the hard way not to do the dab and release on the couch (disagree) Thank goodness for scotch guard.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 2, 2014 22:13:26 GMT -5
What a monkey, ! Okay since she is just wiping it off her nose rub a tiny bit on her gums. I will link a video tomorrow of Boris and his elk!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2014 23:01:21 GMT -5
I'm not sure I even want to say anything out of fear of jinxing it, but here it goes... Frankie has started to take the soup from my finger!!! I feel as if it's a fluke or something, at the very least a small miracle. I thought it would be weeks if not months before she actually would willingly do it. She has only done it a couple of time, and I'm not sure if she even likes it cause she shakes her head the same way after I give her medicine (without FerretVite). What do we do now? Where do we go from here?
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 5, 2014 0:46:17 GMT -5
That is fantastic Just keep doing what you are doing! Remove the kibble an hour or so ahead of time, and while she's out playing and wandering around keep offering some. Get her to take as much as you can in one sitting. When she wants down, try to get her to take at least one more fingerful. Once she takes 3-4 fingerfuls then start offering from a spoon while on your lap
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 6, 2014 14:49:07 GMT -5
updates?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2014 6:26:42 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name: Frankie 2. Ferret's weight: Approx 980 grams 3. Frankie eats approx. 1/2 oz dried kibble, 1/2 oz of wet kibble, she has been eating several fingers of soup each day for the last several days (2-4 at a time, but then refuses anymore during that play time) 4. Stools on various proteins: while given chicken: stools are normal for the most part, a little more wet than would like to be, but still solid. Stopped giving metronidazole 4-5 days ago and has been doing good. 5. Activity levels: Was extra active when given the chance to play with foster dog, but has been extra tired since the sub zero temps outside hit. Still must be feeling a little better because she felt well enough to climb onto the couch (I've had this couch for 5 months and she has never done that)! 6. Weekly Menu: 1 oz Marshalls kibble daily, dabs of chicken (breast, hearts, liver) soup - daily. Taking several dabs of soup off finger, but not spoon yet.
Her neck has been extra swollen this past week. The swelling went down the day she got her salivary gland drained and lupron shot, but then swelled up extra large the next day and remained swollen the entire week. I'm not sure if its inflammation from the lupron or her salivary gland that is causing the swelling. Just keeping a close eye on it. The metacam doesn't help with the swelling (never does), but does seem to help with the pain and she does eat better after taking it. Even though I haven't noticed a huge difference in weight on the scale I have noticed it in her body. She use to carry all her weight in her lower abdomen, but just in the last week it seems like her body weight is more distributed throughout her body. Maybe it's just my wishful thinking, but could this be a good sign from the lupron shot?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2014 6:37:49 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2014 6:46:42 GMT -5
I don't know why it doesn't show up in pictures but Frankie only has about 25-50% of her coat left, and majority of that is on her head. You can kind of see that her head is more cream colored and yellowish than the rest of her body. She use to have that rich cream color all throughout her coat. Hopefully in time the lupron will help (fingers crossed).
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 7, 2014 10:24:56 GMT -5
I can see most of her undercoat is gone, yes. That cream colour? That's the oils from the adrenal disease unfortunately. My adrenal girl has the same thing. As for the amount of raw she's getting I'd like you to leave out the kibble for the entire day and JUST give her the raw soup. Try using a spoon now and see how she does. Offer it every 5-6 hours or so during the day to make sure she's getting enough. Give her the kibble back at night time.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2014 18:56:50 GMT -5
I have to be honest I was very scared when you said to take the kibble completely away! I feared Frankie would starve herself. I just didn't have the courage to do it today :-( but we have had some success today that has given me the confidence to try taking it away tomorrow. First, I switch spoons. I knew she would be silly like that. I used a different spoon and started using the spoon to dab my finger from and she finally took to it. She ate about a 1/2 to full tsp of soup this late last night, this morning, and probably the same amount this afternoon. She was doing so well with the spoon again this afternoon that I set the little dish of soup down next to her just to see if she would have any interest and she took right to it (I'm hoping this was a good thing to do). She probably ate another 1/2 to full tsp from the dish. She is fairly feisty and active today (at least for Frankie's standards). She hasn't been on metronidazole for about a week now. Her stools are still solid for the most part but darker than what they use to be (not tar like, just dark in color). Since she ate directly from the dish how long should I keep it in the fridge before throwing it out and thawing a new one from the freezer? Assuming she doesn't finish the tsp or so that is left?
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 8, 2014 19:28:12 GMT -5
With leaving the kibble out I really want her to eat about 2oz at least throughout the entire day. So that would be about 3-4 tbsp. with having the kibble removed she should be able to eat that much
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 8, 2014 19:28:38 GMT -5
Oh! And soup will be good in the fridge for a couple days
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2014 16:49:16 GMT -5
I took Frankie's kibble away first thing this morning. She has eaten about 2 tsp of soup so far. She out of her dish this morning, but we had to go back to the spoon this afternoon. I put the soup in her ceramic kibble dish today, and put that in the fridge between feedings. I think she just didn't like the dish being cold (SOOOO fussy!!!) She isn't as active today, much more her normal un-active self. She has been coughing a lot today too. The little bit of weight I was feeling her gain seems to have disappeared. Yesterday afternoon she weighed just over 1000g and this afternoon she was about 970 g. It doesn't sound like much, but I can definitely feel it when I'm holding her. She is also having diarrhea now. I worry about her becoming dehydrated. It seems to be taking a toll on her body overall taking her kibble completely away. Where do we go from here? Could she be allergic to chicken or is diarrhea expected? I was hoping switching her to raw would help with the inflammation in her lymph nodes but they are still really inflamed.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 9, 2014 20:04:41 GMT -5
Give it back to her. TBH although I do not like Marshall's food in any way shape or form I have never seen a ferret starve on it, or develop signs of malnutrition. For the interim go back to just removing it an hour or so before offering the soup. Could she have a sensitivity? Yes. But you should have noticed that right at the beginning.
|
|