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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2014 18:59:29 GMT -5
Frankie is eating about 1 tsp a day maybe a little more. I usually have to start out with the spoon, but she usually takes to the dish right away. Thursday when we did just the soup Frankie was coughing quite a bit. It was kind of scary to listen to, but Friday morning I noticed the swelling in her neck had gone away which means the mucus was draining from her neck and that's what she was coughing on. Scary to listen to but a relief to see. Her lymph nodes are still swollen though. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or if some how eating only the soup helped. Her neck has swelled again, but not as much. This is so hard with so many things going on with her.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 13, 2014 9:30:11 GMT -5
It is. And while getting her eating the raw certainly will help give her many resources she'd not have had otherwise, medical intervention is often required with these little ones I'll help you get her as far as she's willing to go
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Post by Sherry on Jan 13, 2014 9:31:38 GMT -5
Almost a bit off topic here- has she had any xrays done? Her coughing concerns me.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2014 15:30:39 GMT -5
Frankie had x rays taken at the beginning of this past December the same time of her fine needle asprite for her lymph nodes. She also had an ultra sound. The vet didn't find anything to be concerned with. Between the 3 procedures all her vet came up with was inflammation in her lymph nodes and spleen, but that her spleen was much less inflamed than what she was expecting. Her cough has been coming and going since August of 2013. I have tried several antibiotics, none of which have touched it. However, one almost killed her. 2 of her vets suspect the cough is connected having a ruptured salivary gland which means an excessive amount of thick saliva is either getting clogged in her throat or face (causing swelling) or draining down her throat causing a cough. Surgery is needed to fix it. I want Frankie to be on raw before I put her through surgery though. As scary as it was listening to her cough I think it was a good thing because it meant it was all draining out of her throat which I know has to be a relief of discomfort for her. Whether it drained cause of her the raw diet or coincidence I don't know.
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 is consistantly taking soup from a spoon and from the spoon will usually eat from her dish. Aprox 1-2 tsp a day of soup 4. Stools on various proteins: chicken - diarrhea 5. Activity levels: She doesn't necessarily play for longer periods, but seems to be more active during the times she is out. She is scampering/hopping more. For the most part I notice the more soup she eat the more active she is the next day with the exception of Thursday and Friday. Thursday was her first full day of raw and it seemed to take a toll on her body, Friday she got out but didn't play, just found my bed and curled up in it. Saturday I let her rest again, and by Sunday she was back to normal activity. 6. Weekly Menu: 1 oz Marshalls kibble daily, removing an hour before feeding soup. She eats aprox 1-2 tsp of soup a day. Thursday: NO kibble, soup only, aprox 2 maybe 3 tsp.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 13, 2014 19:26:38 GMT -5
What we need to do is find a way to increase her intake of the raw puree. How often is she getting it per day right now?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2014 23:36:08 GMT -5
I offer her soup in the morning (before she's had any kibble) while she is out playing. She eats the most first thing, 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. I'll offer it a couple more times while she is out playing, but she usually turns me down. Depending on my day I try to offer her the soup again in the afternoon once or twice when she wakes up from a nap. If she eats in the afternoon she usually won't take much more in the evening or vice versa, 1/2-3/4 tsp throughout the rest of the day. I tried taking away her kibble just in the afternoon, and it seems whenever I remove the kibble from her cage she shuts down and doesn't want the soup either. Before I was never physically removing the kibble an hour before hand. I've been timing her soup feedings so that I feed her when she wakes up from a long nap.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 15, 2014 9:36:59 GMT -5
Okay. She's being a stubborn wee mite She's decided if she doesn't have access to her kibble she refuses anything! And yes- that is what she's doing Next. Instead of when she first wakes up from a long nap, try bringing her out to run a bit without allowing her the kibble. Does she toddle around and explore for 30 minutes or so? If she does offer the soup AFTER this. That will let her work up a bit of an appetite. If she tends instead to wander back off to bed just keep doing what you have been and try to fill her up enough that she doesn't touch the kibble.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 22:50:22 GMT -5
She was very stubborn this morning and barely ate a tsp. of soup. Probably closer to maybe a 1/2 tsp. I made several attempts before putting her back in her cage but she refused. After she was done playing and I put her back in her cage she went straight for her kibble and filled up on that... lil brat! I felt very defeated all day today because we seemed to be back sliding BUT late tonight I caught her eating some kibble and thought I'd give it one last shot in hopes to at least get another spoon full in her. She left her kibble for the soup and ate like a champ, even started eating out of the dish (which she absolutely refused to do this morning). She probably ate a tsp and a half or more. I feel like we have to play ferret psychologist or better yet Frankie psychologist. Maybe the kibble is more of a safety blanket for her. Without it she freaks out and shuts down. It was awesome to see her leave her kibble for the soup. I think tomorrow I might try feeding her the soup next to her kibble in hopes to get the same reaction as tonight. I'll be home most of the day so I'll keep a close eye on her and try offering it whenever she goes for the kibble. Maybe just knowing her kibble is there is all the comfort she needs to eat more soup. If that doesn't work I'll go back to removing it and trying to get her to play more before feeding her.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 16, 2014 1:17:22 GMT -5
Hey- it's worth a shot! Just keep a close eye out for her eating them at the same time. Mixing dry food and wet food is the issue. Some it doesn't bother, others it triggers bacterial overloads and they need antibiotics to clear it up. Something else you *might* have some success with is making a soup from the kibble. I think it's 1c boiling water to 1c kibble, soak 30 m and puree. Some take very well to that and if she did you could also use that to intro raw. Just start mixing about 1/4 raw soup to 3/4 kibble soup and slowly increase raw ratio. You would do that in addition to the plain raw puree. Having more than one approach with the stubborn ones can help
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2014 1:02:08 GMT -5
Sigh. She does eat a small amount of kibble with her raw. I didn't notice much of a change yesterday in her stool than compared to when she ate her kibble separately. We got off track a little today because I was out of town all day, but I'm home all weekend and will try the soup with wet kibble mixed in. Keep your fingers crossed, I'm hoping she will eat 2 ice cubes worth of soup in one day. Thursday she ate an entire one by the evening. Had I had another one thawed she might have had just a little bit more.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 18, 2014 1:05:41 GMT -5
Keep trying to fill her up on raw I stead of kibble. Once she is basically ignoring the kibble we can progress from there
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Post by Sherry on Jan 18, 2014 1:06:34 GMT -5
I know this is a redundant question- but what were her BG levels again with her last test and when was it?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2014 22:05:09 GMT -5
I made a fresh batch of soup last night. I have been diligently offering her soup every time she stops at her food bowl and today she has chosen the soup every time over her kibble (she chose not to even eat any kibble today). Her stools were normal yesterday and this morning, but tonight (8:30pm) I noticed they have turned to green diarrhea (the picture might look black and tarry but it's not, it's definitely dark green and loose). I don't think it's the mix of kibble and raw because her stool was fine yesterday when eating both. She would have a few bites of kibble before I'd have a chance to offer her soup, then she'd take to the soup. But today being only on the soup her stools turned. I get the difficulty in her mentally changing her diet. But why is her body having such a hard time adjusting to what should be a natural diet for her? She has kibble in her cage for over night, but what is the best way to proceed from here? She is fully willing to eat just the raw soup... as long as she can look at her kibble (SO WEIRD).
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Post by Sherry on Jan 20, 2014 0:35:45 GMT -5
That stool actually looks fairly good for a ferret in mid transition. As for why she needs to see the kibble? Who knows? We had one who HAD to have two pieces of kibble sat on top of the soup for the longest time He never ate them but they had to be there or he would touch NOTHING! I figure whatever works! And that is FANTASTIC she's choosing raw over kibble Okay! Time for the next step. Cut 5-6 slivers of meat the size of the crescent on your pinkie nail. Mix those in with the soup. You don't want them large enough to bother her even though she will likely eat around them the first few times. Once she accepts them start slowly increasing the number
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2014 15:00:09 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name: Frankie 2. Ferret's weight: Approx 980 grams 3. Took away wet kibble. Offer 1 oz dry kibble per day. Offer soup as often as possible. Currently eating soup during the day, and kibble at night. 4. Stools on various proteins: chicken - green diarrhea. Only has about two or three stools during the day while eating the soup. 5. Activity levels: She plays for about an hour throughout the day. Some days it's 15 minutes at a time. Most days she plays for about 30 minutes at a time. 6. Weekly Menu: Approx 1/3 cup soup during the day, and approx 1/2 oz of dry kibble at night.
How long can the soup sit out? I start a couple college classes this week and won't be home as much to offer Frankie soup every time she wakes up.
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