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Post by katt on Apr 14, 2014 13:58:13 GMT -5
[/IMG] 4:30 a.m. this morning, I had two wild and crazy ferrets, Juliet and Wynstan bouncing around and wanting to play, galloping up and down the hall and determined that I should get up and join in, on all the fun. Needless to say, I wasn't amused. Sunday's meal plan was for duck hearts. I really never got anyone to eat any, that I know of. So, this morning, I pureed some more duck hearts (duck hearts only) and Wynstan and Mika finished off the plate. Here is the menu for this week. At the end of the week, I will weigh everyone and post a recap. Monday: A.M. duck hearts P.m. chicken wings Tuesday: A.M. quail P.M. beef sirloin Wednesday: A.M. cornish game hen P.M. pork Thursday: A.M. chicken wings P.M. organ soup: half pork liver/half pork kidney Friday A.M. chicken wings P.M. chicken wings Saturday A.M. organ soup: half chicken liver/half pork kidney/ and chicken hearts P.M. chicken wings Sunday A.M. quail P.M. beef puree with an egg mixed in I based this menu on your suggestions and I will be pushing the chicken wings this week, because I know they like chicken and hope to get Mika eating bone. You asked about Roamy's poops. They look normal to me. I am seeing an improvement in poops, particularly Wynstans. His poops look the best to me, small and well formed. I hope this week is a particularly good one for you. Time is flying by and it will be summer, before we know it. :thankyou:[/quote] Okay trying to do this from my phone and not miss anything lol. Menu looks good. If they eat the hearts as purée do that but mix chunks in and work on blending it less and less/ adding more chunks every time. Since it is a 1-2x week thing it will take a while but that's fine. A note on the beef purée too I just put that on bc I think it was something you had on your chart, but if they will take chunks, we want to push them towards chunks right now BUT it's good for them to remember that soupies are food too so it's always good to throw in a soup meal here and there. You can offer egg separate if they will eat it alone, mix it in soup, blend the shell right in, leave the shell out, etc etc. Definitely push the bones. Even if it means that they get only chicken all week! There is nothing wrong with a little less variety short term during the switch - at this point in time many of my mentee's ferrets won't even accept new meats yet. Some take new proteins before we get to the bone stage (I generally try to get them to eat other meats during the chunky soup stage), but some are eating chunks and working on bones but still have't accepted new proteins yet. And in the soup stage it is usually only chicken for weeks or longer until you can start adding in chunks. They are still getting more nutrition than from kibble and the variety will all balance out in the long run. Things to keep in mind when you start mentoring. If feeding only chicken all week to push Mika into eating bones is what it takes then that is fine. Try as much hand feeding of bone bits as your schedule will allow, and do NOT cave and give her non bony meats/soupies (though if a Little soup gravy on the bones helps that is fine). Miss Princess needs to get on board here! Eat your Bones miss Mika!! I just want to add too so you know - your fuzz are all doing great. It's been what a few weeks? And the only real obstacle to tackle is bones... I have done switches that take months just to get to chunks. Don't feel like Mika's resistance to bones is abnormal, it's very common. She just seems to be particularly stubborn relative to your others bc they all moved along so fast. Not saying she isn't extra stubborn, just that that is normal in ferrets. haha Question - how difficult would it be for you to offer 2 separate meals? One for Mika, and one for the others? I know you free roam so that makes it harder to control stashed goodies, but as far as hand feeding, prep time for 2 different meals, etc. I'm considering at some point soon having you push the knees forward onto bigger bones while continuing to push Mika at her own pace on the smaller pieces because often peer pressure goes a long way. Then they could progress and she can catch up in her own time OR maybe if we are lucky be peer pressured into chomping some bigger bones. Prepping any meal at the bone-crushing stage is a pain in the butt, so I know prepping 2 different meals will be an even bigger pain. But let me know if that is something that would be doable for you, because pending how Mika does over the next week or two, that's where my thoughts are headed next...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2014 14:16:43 GMT -5
It would be no problem at all, to prepare a different meal for Mika. I forgot to mention that Mika will eat chunks of gizzards, those she loves. Paul told me, that last night at midnight, he got hungry and went into the kitchen to have a steak. He cut off a good portion of it and put it into the ferret plate. It was all gone this morning, and I don't see it stashed anywhere. I'm guessing Wynstan ate it. My plan with the beef puree is to put some chunks in it and keep note of who eats the chunks. Thanks for saying that they are doing well. I was a little worried about causing you any extra difficulty and since I have been around so long, I worried that I am not progressing as fast as I should. (shy) We must be doing okay though, no FDR in quite awhile and there are no sad,little malnourished bodies laying around. It suddenly occurred to me, that I don't know what brains are (clearly there is an obvious joke in this sentence). They are an organ, but don't secrete and I'm not sure that they move enough (at least, mine don't) to be considered a muscle meat. I can't find the answer anywhere on the forum, so what are they? I just bought some more pork brains and will fit them into next weeks menu plan. :wave2:
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Post by katt on Apr 14, 2014 15:47:23 GMT -5
Hmm I am glad that you pointed that out - I will have to amend that on our organs article. Brain falls under organs. Brain is an organ. You might technically argue that it secretes a little since the pituitary gland is technically part of the brain, you could also argue that it controls all of the secretions... lol While it isn't a "secreting organ," brain does fall under the organ category and is SUPER nutritious. It's one of the most, if not THE most nutritious part. For menu purposes you would count it as a non-liver organ.
Good to know about the meals. (dance) Let's see how she does with chicken wings this week and go from there.
RE the chunks, start gradually increasing the size of their chunks every couple of meals. Need to get those chompers working!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2014 10:25:51 GMT -5
Good Morning. Mondays menu was duck hearts for breakfast. I pureed the duck hearts and added slices to the puree: They ate two plates, Mika included. This was all that was leftover, this morning. I used about 8 ounces of duck heart: Dinner was four chicken wings. Mika did eat a few bites, bone and all: This was all that was leftover, this morning: Everyones energy level was high, yesterday. It carried thru into the middle of the night, when Roamy and Mika decided that I should get up and play. I ignored them and Wynstan got up and climbed onto the bed, he also thought that I should get up and play. Around five this morning, Mika got into my armoire and started pushing shoe boxes off, onto the floor. It's a cold, grey day and I'm terribly tempted to take a nap.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2014 12:15:07 GMT -5
Good Morning. Tuesdays menu was suppose to be quail and beef sirloin. I started the morning off with beef sirloin (the quail wasn't defrosted,yet) and sliced the beef into tiny pieces and larger pieces. Everyone ate quite well and even Mika ate the large pieces. They played and napped, and there was still beef left over for dinner. So I pureed the beef and everyone enjoyed the puree. We never qot to the quail. I was cleaning out the fridge and had some gizzards and that made everyone crazy, so they all snacked on gizzards and I refroze the quail, which was still pretty frozen. Note to self: stuff stays super cold in the crisper! This morning, I had a pork chop ready and that is very popular around here. Everyone wolfed down the pork and then took a nap. Mika actually crawled up on my lap and slept for awhile. She's a Princess, but still my baby. We are defrosting a CGH for dinner, and I have high hopes that Mika will eat alot of bone in CGH. I loved your videos on FB. Kenai was doing well, standing up. He just needs some Ferret Yoga classes, to help his balance. Wouldn't that be fun? Going to Yoga with our fuzzies. :thankyou:
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Post by katt on Apr 16, 2014 23:24:34 GMT -5
Aww they are doing great! So glad Mika is starting to chew on some of the bone bits! (dance) Keep it up!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2014 9:52:05 GMT -5
Good Morning. (wave)
The Cornish Game Hen was a big hit, yesterday. I cut off a wing and thigh, chopped it up and everyone (even Mika) ate it up. Then last night, I cut up some more and Wynstan showed up and ate it all. So, I cut some more and put some upstairs and downstairs (in plates! sounds like I just tossed some around) and about 10p.m., Paul came up to tell me that Wynstan was eating again. We should just consider him graduated, he eats everything and anything. Mika was good with the CGH, little bones and all. She doesn't eat alot, which is kind of scary, but she does eat.
This afternoon will be chicken liver and pork kidney soup. (a slight variation from the menu plan).
:thankyou:
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Post by katt on Apr 17, 2014 12:58:44 GMT -5
Ferrets eat less on raw because they are actually getting nutrients from their food, and small females often don't eat much to begin with. Her weight will be the best indication for you. Based on pics though her and Wynstan are both very fat and winterized so I really wouldn't worry. She looks very healthy. That is great that she is eating the CGH bones! Try giving her more but chop it up less. As she starts to eat the chopped bones we want to gradually chop them less and less to work them all up to whole bones.
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Post by katt on Apr 17, 2014 22:27:37 GMT -5
Just checking in for the night
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2014 13:05:16 GMT -5
Good Afternoon (wave)
Yesterdays, pork kidney/chicken liver soup was a big seller on my restaurants menu. I made the soup with 4 oz of chicken livers and 4 oz of pork kidney. As soon as I put the plate down, they all came over and started sniffing. Juliet dove in and ate well. Wynstan wasn't sure, but I dabbed some on his mouth and he ate well. Mika loved the soup and Roamy ate the soup. They finished off the plate, so I put some more down and they finished that also.
Dinner was chicken wings and a little chicken thigh for additional meat. They seemed pretty full after the soup, but Wynstan found room and ate chicken. I left chicken wings out and they were gone this morning. I know that everyone ate a little, but Wynstan probably stashed the rest. Question: I saw on a new members thread (Keilmillerjr) Revising Natasha's Diet that Bitbyter suggests that bones shouldn't be too small. Am I chopping the bones up too small? I am really crushing them, but I don't want to be doing it wrong.
Good News on the apartment front! Summer is almost here and you will be moved and settled in, before you know it.
(dance)
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Post by katt on Apr 18, 2014 14:58:14 GMT -5
Not sure what that comment was in reference too, it likely has to do with where they are in the switch and trying to move them to bigger bones would be my guess. There's nothing wrong with smashing the bones. Right now, that's the stage your ferrets are at. This isn't where we want them to stay long-term though, the idea is to start small to get them used to crunching and gradually work up the size of the chunks to whole bones. How did Mika do with the chicken wings? Considering how much your crew love soupies, I would try to feed the bone-in meals for the first meal of the day so they don't fill up on soupies or boneless chunks.
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Post by katt on Apr 18, 2014 21:17:15 GMT -5
Just checking in for the night
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 10:18:05 GMT -5
Good Morning (wave)
We had chicken wings yesterday. I chopped up four and also added some chicken thigh meat, to tempt the picky non bone crowd. Naturally, Wynstan ate and stashed quite alot. Everyone ate some, but of course Mika wasn't thrilled. She did eat though.
Today, we are finally heading out to see Divergent. So, I will post tomorrow.
I'm willing to bet that we have the only forum on the web, where we are posting pictures of our pets eating the Easter Bunny. (giggle) Have a great Saturday and a Happy Easter. :thankyou:
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Post by katt on Apr 19, 2014 15:54:22 GMT -5
Good Morning (wave) We had chicken wings yesterday. I chopped up four and also added some chicken thigh meat, to tempt the picky non bone crowd. Naturally, Wynstan ate and stashed quite alot. Everyone ate some, but of course Mika wasn't thrilled. She did eat though. Today, we are finally heading out to see Divergent. So, I will post tomorrow. I'm willing to bet that we have the only forum on the web, where we are posting pictures of our pets eating the Easter Bunny. (giggle) Have a great Saturday and a Happy Easter. :thankyou: Noooo boneless meats for Mika! They won't learn to eat the bones if you give them other options. LOL Bone-in meals should be bone-in, providing other options just indulges their laziness and pickiness. How is she doing eating the bones when hand fed? You'll have to let me know how the movie is! I don't think we'll get to see it until it comes of on DVD at this point. Too many tests coming up. *sigh* Oh well, 3 more weeks and it will be summer break (kind of).... *keep on swimming keep on swimming...*
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 22:38:12 GMT -5
Understood: No more Boneless for Mika. :thumbsup:
I'll post more tomorrow. We just got home from seeing Divergent, and I wanted to pop in and say that we really liked the movie. They stayed pretty true to the book. The actress who played Tris was perfect for the role. It was fun seeing the different factions, and I really liked the actor who played Four. He's quite cute.
:wave2:
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