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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2011 23:17:54 GMT -5
Speaking of switching diets, how quickly do the ferrets feel the difference? Is it possible after only 1 day for them to have more energy?
I'm just curious, maybe it's a coincidence, but I switched my 2 ferrets to raw meat and bones yesterday afternoon, and tonight during playtime, they ran around faster and were more rowdy than I have ever seen them before! It's like someone gave them coffee or something.
Coincidence? Is it even possible for them to be more energetic after only 1 day? They aren't even used to the food yet, their poop is all loose and stuff. But they sure were crazy tonight!
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Post by taratee on Apr 19, 2011 23:23:00 GMT -5
my guys seemed to feel it automatically  |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 19, 2011 23:49:18 GMT -5
Most do ;D Don't forget- their metabolism is really fast, and they make use of all that nutrition almost immediately. You should start to notice a difference in their coats in about a week or two as well  One other thing that makes it seem to happen so quickly. Think how tired and dragged out you feel when you are dehydrated, even somewhat. That disappears pretty quickly once you put back a good bit of water. That's what kibble does to your ferret, cat, AND dog. Keeps them borderline dehydrated. Especially cats and ferrets. Now, all of a sudden- they are getting all this extra moisture, and their bodies respond to it almost immediately  Don't be surprised by how much they start voiding either. They still have to adapt to the increase in fluid. |
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Post by katt on Apr 20, 2011 0:13:38 GMT -5
The evidence he sees once your's are on an appropriate diet should help a lot I hope so!  |
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Post by katt on Apr 20, 2011 0:18:39 GMT -5
Oh yeah...they poop less...but pee more. lol |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 0:34:31 GMT -5
Hey guys good news  I was talking to my nephew today and telling him how my ferrets were super hyper today and seemed more energetic after being on a raw diet for just 24 hours. He likes his ferret to be as rowdy as possible so that got his interest! He said "man I gotta get in on this meat thing..." We may convince him yet... Another piece of good news: I found out my nephew didn't actually intentionally choose to buy the Fiesta food that everyone hates so much. It turns out the food came with the cage he bought. And... It was a very small bag, and he just ran out, and will not be buying it again ;D We're making progress... He probably won't switch to raw right away but for now at least I think I convinced him to at least feed 8 in 1 Ultimate instead of Fiesta... |
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Post by katt on Apr 20, 2011 0:49:26 GMT -5
Yaaaay! That is GREAT news!  Might want to let him in on the fact that it is SUPER easy to witch diets NOW while his ferret is a kit than later after he has already imprinted on kibble. It can be more than difficult after they have imprinted. |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 20, 2011 3:41:30 GMT -5
And for some- MUCH more difficult |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 4:12:02 GMT -5
Update on my nephew! Kinda funny... So he ran out of Fiesta, and I suggested he try 8 in 1 Ultimate, supplemented with raw food, and he seemed willing to try that. Well, I guess we had a misunderstanding, because he went to Walmart to get some towels for his cage (his ferret was in wood chip bedding like mine) and while he was there he saw some food called 8 in 1 Wild Harvest. I guess he remembered I said 8 in 1 but forgot the Ultimate part and he didn't know about reading the GA and stuff. Long story short, I think he may have actually managed to buy some even worse food than the Fiesta LOL... Good news is he also got some raw chicken to offer his ferret, and I think I convinced him to return the Wild Harvest and not waste his money on it. It only has 30% protein and 15% fat. That's lower than I have seen on other foods. Anyway, he offered raw chicken to his ferret, and couldn't get him to try it. I suggested he try what worked on my female, crushing up some of the kibble he's used to into powder and rubbing it on the chicken. That worked, and last I heard from him, his ferret was going to town on the chicken! |
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Post by angelfish on Apr 20, 2011 8:27:57 GMT -5
About the wood chips, ferrets don't actually need bedding like hamsters and rabbits. In fact, cedar chips are bad for their respiratory system. Comfy cloth, cuddle cups, hammocks are best for them. The only place they need litter is in the litter box. Most people here would recommend World's Best or a paper pellet product like Yesterday's News. Marshall's makes a paper pellet litter but everywhere I've seen it, it is much more expensive that the cat versions of the same litter. Ha! I just noticed you said "was". So much for careful reading. |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 20, 2011 9:15:41 GMT -5
That is fantastic!!! Now- if we can only get him to balance it right! Do you think that he'll be willing to work the correct ratios? There needs to be a correct ratio of meat/bone/organ, otherwise, a raw diet is more dangerous than kibble.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 12:15:10 GMT -5
I think he can be persuaded...
As for the wood chips, yeah he no longer uses them and neither do I. We're both using towels for now in the bottom of the cage. His guy didn't have a litterbox before so he had to get set up with a litterbox first hehe...
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Post by taratee on Apr 20, 2011 12:53:24 GMT -5
when you buy chicken you gotta watch out for added sodium. i found out the hard way that the chicken i was feeding wasnt really good because it was soaked in a sodium solution and injected with it
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2011 23:57:26 GMT -5
Yeah, they sneak that little info in, so just be careful!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2011 3:36:19 GMT -5
By the way, we are in Mesa, AZ
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