|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 9, 2014 21:31:03 GMT -5
okay. i would take his kibble away and then just leave extra bowl of raw mush for during the night in case he gets hungry. for now just increase size of slivers then once we get him eating the chunks of muscle meat we will introduce the wings again. he has to build up jaw strength by gnawing on muscle meat first. then you can prob try chicken wings bashed up bones and cut up into pieces.
if you cannot find kidneys, other organs you can use are spleen, pancreas. but i am sure you will find kidneys before you find those. lol.
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 9, 2014 21:31:32 GMT -5
i will pm you my cell phone number because sometimes i have issues logging onto the forum from my cell phone !
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 10, 2014 9:41:42 GMT -5
Weekend update: Friday night he dove into his mush with gusto & licked the bowl clean, slivers and all. I took his kibble away completely on Saturday. I gave him raw Saturday morning (which is new-he's only had it at night before) but he didn't want it. He did eat half of his egg yolk, but then he just wanted to play play play. Saturday night, he ate almost 2 oz of mush. Sunday morning, he was begging for food.. I gave him the mush, but he didn't want it. He would play for a while, then come beg for food, so I offered the mush every time, but he didn't eat anything until about 7:30 last night, and then only a little less than an ounce. By 10:30, he was asleep but still hadn't eaten anything else, so I put his kibble back in the cage. As soon as he heard the rattle, he popped up and dove into the kibble bowl..
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 10, 2014 13:13:48 GMT -5
he is holding out and being manipulative. sometimes they take a few steps back. this is normal, do not be discouraged. I do not want him to go without eating or skipping meals either so just kind of play it by ear. hold him on your lap & hold the plate up to his face or feed him his raw with a spoon until he gets at least 1.5 ounce per meal.
maybe the meat turned or something? are you just thawing out what you need for the next day?
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 10, 2014 13:47:52 GMT -5
Yeah, I was starting to get worried. His activity level stayed good all day, but I hated to see him beg for food. The funny thing is he was begging at the refrigerator, which is where his raw food comes from, but then he wouldn't eat it. He never once begged for the kibble which is in an airtight ferret-proof (so far) container right beside his cage. This is a fresh batch of soup, made Sunday morning, so it shouldn't be bad. I've been trying to think if anything is different than the last batch & I don't think so. On the bright side, in the soup he did eat, he didn't seem to notice the slivers & chewed them right up
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 11, 2014 10:10:34 GMT -5
Well, he didn't want to eat his raw again last night I scruffed & stuffed, and got maybe an ounce down him, but he sure wasn't happy about it. I'm thinking I might try mixing in some baby food again, but with slivers since he doesn't seem to mind them.
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 11, 2014 23:35:02 GMT -5
okay trying for the FIFTH time today to post. hope it goes through this time.
sure go ahead and try adding some baby food again. maybe we are going too fast for him. does he like linatone or ferretone? try adding a squirt of that on top to entice him.
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 11, 2014 23:36:11 GMT -5
sometimes my ferret only eats like 2 ounces a day. it depends on the day. but usually he eats at least 4 ounces a day. he is a big ferret though. my ferret weighs almost 4 pounds.
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 11, 2014 23:37:43 GMT -5
if he is not eating his full portion of raw (at least 3 oz a day) then continue to put the kibble back into his cage a few hours after he has had the raw mush.
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 12, 2014 9:10:27 GMT -5
The whole point of the soup stage is to get him to eat chunks, right? So does it REALLY matter what is in his soup? I mixed half & half baby food/raw last night with a bunch of slivers & he went through 2 1/2 oz in about a minute and a half and wanted more. If I can get him to eat the chunks in the baby food mix, do I really need to fight to get him to eat the 100% raw soup?
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 12, 2014 22:14:29 GMT -5
well the whole point of the soupie phase is just to get them to LIKE the taste. once they get to like the taste (and get past the point of where they act like you are trying to poison them) then we start adding slivers/chunks then bone.
i would still push for the 100% raw soup (and you will get there it just takes time) otherwise that is a huge pain in the butt for you. you can't be making soupies all the time and mixing in baby food! you want to get to the point where you can throw in a few chicken wings, some necks, hearts, livers, different proteins like lamb, beef, pork, venison, duck, etc. and just leave him to it.
be patient. i just think we moved a bit too fast for him.
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 13, 2014 13:03:02 GMT -5
I think he likes the taste. I'm thinking it may be the texture of the raw mush that he doesn't like. As long as it's thin enough that he can lick it up, he likes it fine, and he's fine with the slivers I've been putting in - he chews those right up. He also likes the chunks of skin. He actually picked out the slivers last night and ate those and left most of the mush in the bowl. It seems to be the thick consistency of the blended meat that he dislikes. The baby food is much smoother even straight out of the jar, so he eats that fine.
What about ground chicken? I wonder if he would like that texture better. I can buy it ground, or someone at my church has a meat grinder. If I can remember who it is, I can ask to borrow it.
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 15, 2014 9:38:44 GMT -5
this is normal for them to be resistant to new texture. that is why it is important to do it slowly. you can grind up the chicken yourself as long as you continue to balance it out with the bone meal or eggshell and add the hearts and organs to it.
some ferrets take longer to transition than others. for now just take it slow and then slowly add in slivers to the soupy raw mush.
|
|
|
Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 17, 2014 10:10:24 GMT -5
i forgot to ask you, how are poops looking? well formed? slowly increase the size of the slivers and if he acts reluctant add some of the baby food if that gets him going.
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 17, 2014 12:27:43 GMT -5
I took his kibble out completely again on Saturday, just left the soup out for him. He only ate about 2 oz all day, so I put some kibble back in at bedtime and it was gone Sunday morning. I gave him some soup, which he wasn't too happy about and only half-heartedly licked at. He acted hungry all day, but didn't want the soup until evening when he devoured it. It seems that he thinks he's only supposed to eat soups in the evenings...
I've gone back to thinner soup, but with slivers and a couple of small chunks. He ate it all... left the chunks for last, but then decided to eat them too. I tried the chicken wing again. He gave it a couple of licks, but wasn't too impressed.
His poops have been weird ever since starting the switch. Sometimes they're formed, sometimes loose, a few times very runny, often seedy. The only thing consistent is that they're usually more greenish than brown. And they're not hitting the box NEARLY as often as they were before I started pushing the raw. He was 95-98% accurate both in and out of the cage, and now he's 50/50. It's frustrating!
|
|