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Post by fretki on Feb 27, 2014 16:01:24 GMT -5
You really seem to have a cool mom, I don't think my mom could handle raw, even in ready to serve portions Don't worry, don't be sad and miss them, I bet they will do their best welcome back wardance. It's worth to be away just so see this, even my oldest ladies "do" something special, some just snob me in the first minutes, which is also terribly cute, showing absence was noticed and not appreciated and I also bet they will be happy to try new food, we could do a a first attempt of bone for all when you are back... have fun! I'll hang out there in the meantime :halloweencat:
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2014 11:18:20 GMT -5
I made it home finally! =) We ended up not getting home til this morning due to inclement weather at our connection flight. Sleeping in an airport is no fun =( But I am so happy to be back with my babies! There was dooking and dancing and lots of kisses. Then they all four climbed in my empty suitcase and stared at me as if to say "you cannot leave again mama!"
Well, on the diet front we have had a breakthrough! While I was gone, Fred was being difficult for my mom and didn't want to eat the bone in meat. But he did eat the muscle meats and they all really liked the liver =) So my very loving and brave mom, asked me if I thought they would like some hearts. I said yes and so she cut some up the last 2 days I was gone and now, she has them eating the hearts without any oil on them. Just plain on a plate =) She was very proud of herself!
Other than not finishing his chicken wings, they all ate every drop of food I left for them and she even cut up some extra chicken for them and they finished that too! I was so worried about them getting enough but she took good care of them. I wasn't here to observe the whole week but judging from the puppy pads in their room this morning, all poops are normal and all their energy is as high as ever!
Fred: 3lbs 6oz Clyde: 3lbs 8oz Bonnie: 2lbs 2oz Daisy: 1 lb 10 oz
all their weights seem to be right on track and I am going to go to the store today to stock up on food. I will post this weeks menu either tonight or tomorrow morning. I really wasn't expecting them to go through all their food while I was gone. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is that while we were gone our neighbor brought some deer meat to the house. Mom asked me if it was okay to give them some and I agreed and they seemed to like it well enough. Not their favorite and it was in ground meat form but they did nibble on it =)
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Post by fretki on Mar 4, 2014 2:17:45 GMT -5
Welcome back! How was your honeymoon besides an unplaned night at the airport? Glad to read your furkids are doing well I'll write you a longer reply this afternoon, I'm at the vet right now before going to work...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2014 8:37:34 GMT -5
oh no! I hope nothing serious! Praying for a good visit! Since we live on the Gulf Coast we celebrate Mardi Gras =) Which is today and we promised the kiddos that we would take them for all day parades and fun so I am going to go ahead and post the menu for this week and then I'll check back tonight to see how your vet visit went and anything else you might need to talk to me about I have cut way back on the soup for my stubborn 3. It is only every other day now and in small quantities. Also, I am using less oil than before so that they aren't getting too much and they get used to eating food without it. I did give them some pork loin last night and while not fully sure they liked it, they did at least eat some. Monday am = chicken drumstick pm = chicken drumstick Tuesday am = pork chop(with bone) pm = pork loin Wednesday am = young turkey wing pm = heart Thursday am = chicken drumstick pm = chicken drumstick Friday am = young turkey wing pm = pork loin Saturday am = chicken wing pm = hearts Sunday am = pork chop with bone pm = liver/hearts I am having a little trouble with Fred wanting to eat the bone meats whereas before he tore into them...Could he just be bored? I've checked his teeth and they seem to be fine. I really hope that my rabbit comes soon! Are there any bones out there that are easy to crunch and might be tastier than chicken?
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Post by fretki on Mar 4, 2014 13:47:59 GMT -5
sorry I'm running late, but I'm finally home from picking Shana up at the vet with all the instructions needed for the next few days. I had to leave Shana at the vet for surgery today: she got a strange calcified mass removed, it was attached to her gall bladder and a large cyst on her liver. Samples go to the lab and I hope to get the results by Friday. Prognosis is guarded, it was a major surgery, she should rest for the next few days, but she's already cage raging ...so I guess the decision to do removal was good, now it depends if everything will heal without complications and if the lab' results don't indicate aggressive cancer issues... I'll do my best to take care of the little girl and we'll wait for the lab results Cool! You'll have to tell me about Mardi Gras, I only heard of... sounds like a lot of fun (not only) for the kids? And just to come back to your previous post: Your mom rocks! Really great that she gave them hearts as well!! Are they all eating hearts and liver pieces now? If yes, you'll have to start looking for additional organ(s)! (dance) Are you going towards spring/summer or fall/winter? Does Fred refuse chicken wing in general or is he only eating it partially? If it is partially it is acceptable, he might be regulating the bone content by himself? I would try and give smashed up chicken wings for all to see what they would do with it? Besides rabbit, they might like quail and CGH? Out of my mind I'd say my ferrets like cut turkey tigh bone, they won't eat all but a bit, frogs legs, duck ribs, before Christmas I can get frozen goose breast with bone (the breast plate bone is very thin, I cut it in longish pieces, my ferrets eat it like crackers. They nibble on baby goat ribs, lamb ribs, pork ribs.
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Post by fretki on Mar 4, 2014 13:59:36 GMT -5
the menu looks good, you'll need a second organ to feed in addition to liver, and you'll have to increase the organ content in the menu a bit, best would be: 1.5 meals heart 1.5 meals half liver, half other organ for example kidney and depending if they digest this well, you can do 3 meals out of it: 1 meal heart 1 meal liver/organ (50:50) 1 meal half heart and half organ (liver, other organ 50:50) best is to feed bone in meat before and after those meals as you planed it :thumbsup: I feed a lot of bone in meat, but my ferrets rarely eat too much bone, they prefer to stash leftover bones for hard times
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2014 19:40:08 GMT -5
okay, I wasn't sure about the bone part. Does it take very little to satisfy their calcium and tartar control needs? He will eat some and I have found him stashing them so maybe he is regulating them himself. In the beginning, he was probably so excited that he ate extra? Mardi Gras is very fun. Lots of parades and they throw you all kinds of goodies =0 the kids love the stuffed animals and toys and I love all the free moon pies! YUM We are entering our spring/summer time so it is trying to warm up in between the cold bouts. Our average is around 60F. Not sure what that is in Celsius? I have some beef lung in the freezer that I was debating on introducing...they are all eating hearts and livers now. I tried feeding them kidney but they didn't seem to like it at all. They would walk way around thee plate and I tried it in the soup but they smelled it in there too. I will have you and little Shana in my thoughts. I haven't had to go through anything like that with my little ones yet but I can imagine the feelings you must be having. I lost my pup after 12 years just 2 weeks before his 13th birthday. I am so glad she seems to be feeling better. That is a blessing just by itself
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Post by fretki on Mar 5, 2014 13:50:24 GMT -5
Bone/calcium need can be very individual (and seasonal), I am happy having ferrets who self regulate a lot, I think this comes with their growing experience in eating raw... best is to watch their poop if it is too firm add more muscle meat, if it's rather loose add more bone or insist that they actually eat their bone... They should eat more than 10% bone to cover their nutritional needs, some ferrets tolerate up to 30% very well. (Depends also on the kind of bones, bird bones are less dense) they keep their teeth clean through chewing on large pieces of meat and gnawing on bone in meats. both contribute to beautiful teeth I'm curious if they eat lung! It has a very fluffy consistency... Have you tried to do soup with just a tiny bit of kidney?
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Post by fretki on Mar 5, 2014 13:59:53 GMT -5
Had to google moon pie Looks really yummie! Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts! Shana will have her first 5 min out in the appartment today, she wants to walk around... She is allowed to walk, no jumping, no climbing... It is her first big surgery, hope everything will be fine!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2014 18:47:28 GMT -5
okay, I have the beef lung thawing out and I am going to introduce it in soup form first. Since they are eating liver on a plate now, I thought I could replace the liver in the soup with the lung. Also, I checked and there was a delay on the shipping of my raw order but she assured me that it would leave the place today and be here in 2 days =) I should have, turkey liver and hearts, ground chicken with bone and organ, misc. pieces of rabbit, and since I know they like them a few duck livers! I figured if I can't get them to eat the lung then I can at least get it to them in the grounds.
I watched Daisy today while she was eating her chicken and I think she might be ready for bone soon. She tackled some chunks I had cut up for Fred like a pro! With Fred it was so easy. I smashed the chicken wing so that the bone was exposed and easier to eat and he just took it and ate it. No coaxing needed but I am not sure that will be the case with her. Any suggestions? Do you think she is really ready?
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Post by fretki on Mar 6, 2014 11:35:57 GMT -5
Yes, I would give bone in chicken a try! Maybe don't expect her to eat a whole bone in meal, just a piece (like 1/3 of a smashed chicken wing) is already a great step. If she doesn't take it, keep offering, persistence is also an important part here You can also hold the piece on one side, my ferrets love to be hand fed... sometimes it helps if you "wrestle" a bit about their food, don't give them the piece the moment they grab it, pretend you'd like to keep it, and move a bit backwards... sometimes my ferrets are even hissing like "mommy, no kidding give it to me now!" ...and be prepared: if they feel a lot of seasonal change with temperatures rising and longer daylight, they might eat less and slowly get into summer mode... my ferrets already started to skip meals, so I already reduced their meal size a bit, which is really early this year, but we had an exceptionally mild winter... and how went the lung? ^^
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2014 18:48:23 GMT -5
the lung didn't go over very well but I am going to try and add less to the next soup and maybe they'll like it a little more? I'm going to try the chicken wing tonight and see how it goes. They are getting curious now. It's so funny that I couldn't get them to try any organs and now they would rather have liver and hearts than slivers! Picky little things I totally forgot that I said I would get pics from above while they are eating! I will get right on that =)
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Post by fretki on Mar 7, 2014 8:42:37 GMT -5
Yes, I guess best will be to try new organs in very small quantities in soup... or simply liver mixed with a bit of the new organ... Pefect would be to have them eat different organs, I can only recommend to get them used to different organs... on the one hand it is best for nutritional balance, on the other you are more flexible in case you can no longer get a specific organ for a while Yeah, mine have this too: they discover a new meat they like and they want this only for a while... as long as there is balance on the long run, I don't bother. Oh great, looking foreward to the pictures! I thought I'll ask for before the next weekly report in case you forget, you had a busy time, but that's great to have them earlier without asking
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 11:57:30 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 12:15:08 GMT -5
well, I think I have figured out why Fred quit eating the chicken bones...he likes them after they have sat out for a bit. I was giving them to him straight out of the fridge and I think he likes them more room temp? Also, I decided to take another route with the lung and instead of soup, I cut a small piece and put it on a plate with some cut up kidney. One of them (couldn't tell which) ate the small piece of lung and they nibbled a few pieces of kidney. Next time, I might make a plate with chicken bits and kidney on it and let it sit so that the chicken might flavor the beef.
I tried Bonnie and Daisy on the chicken leg that I gave Fred. They both licked it and even tried to chew the meat a bit but they did not offer to attempt the bone. I am thinking I might have better luck with the rabbit? I intend on smashing the pieces with bone and let them try that. Maybe if they get a taste of the marrow they will be hooked. That's what happened with Fred. I smashed it to bit with a tenderizer and then eventually I just gave it to him for him to chomp himself =)
They did not have soup all day yesterday. I made them some more this morning but I am trying to get them off of it as much as possible. Since they are eating all the ingredients individually, I was thinking that I could go to every other day now. I will sprinkle their hearts and liver with egg shell until they start eating bone. Should I sprinkle every time and if so, how much per meal?
If for some reason they absolutely refuse to eat the kidney or any other organ, then will the liver and hearts keep them unbalanced? I have calf and chicken livers always available and I can order hearts at any time. But I will keep trying to get them to try it. They did eat some of the kidney so I might add some liver in a couple hours and see if that peaks their interest any.
Some days I feel like we are making strides and other days I still feel like we've stalled. All I know is that my vet is going to be amazed at the difference in their coats and their activity levels when she sees them again. She told me about the dangers of unbalanced feeding and that's why I didn't attempt to fully convert until I found HFF and got you as my mentor =) I found a good one that believes ferrets are carnivores and need to be fed the best diet possible!
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