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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 15:28:47 GMT -5
Hi Sherry, Since the new fuzzers have moved in, both George and Esmerelda have been off their food and being generally withdrawn. The poor little things seem very put out by the new arrivals.
Food: George- M)Gizzards. T)Liver, kidney & beef. W)Chicken. Th)Chicken wings. F)Beef. S)Gizzards, Chicken wings & hearts. Su)Soup & beef.
Es- Kibble during the day, Soup in the evening.
Marvin & Cassie- f)beef. S)gizzards, Chicken Wings & Hearts. Su) Soup & Beef
Both Marvin & Cassie have been eating some of George's food and stashing some so they'll eat pretty much anything as far as I can tell!
Poops: George's have been runny since the new 2 came. I'm putting that down to stress of new fuzzies but will keep an eye on him. His appetite seems to have waned a bit too. Marvin and Cassie have light coloured firm-ish looking poops. Es is still standard kibble poos.
Weights: George - 1.1kg Es - 0.9kg Cassie - 0.9kg Marvin - 1.2kg
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Post by Sherry on Jun 3, 2014 8:35:36 GMT -5
George also needs a LOT more bone in his diet. From what you've listed there he gets two meals a week of bone(wings), and the soup with I would assume eggshell powder. Here is a basic balanced diet: 8-9 meals consumable bone 3-4 meals muscle meats(at least one of which NEEDS to be heart) 1 meal of aprox 2oz liver and 2oz other organ.(This can change over time depending on how much your ferret eats, but is a good starting point. Total should be about 10% of weekly diet) With Es you need to get her moving forward. How many slivers is she getting in her soup now? What is the consistency? I think it is time to remove her kibble now, and just give it back maybe once a day for 30 minutes IF she doesn't eat at least 2oz of meat/soup a day. Also, can you pick up another two or three proteins so we can start getting them into the weekly rotation? Cornish hen is a good one for bones, as is rabbit. Turkey or duck necks are also good.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2014 13:04:05 GMT -5
I do add bone meal to his meats, sorry I should have mentioned that, but he's so picky! He's even worse at the moment because of the new fuzzies. I've just bought some duck necks and also a duck carcass and some various other bits from natures choice to try him with, so hoping he will take to some of those. Es is being really tough, she's treating the soup like it's not even food now and just lapping at it occasionally. We had to back track on the slivers as she stopped eating the soup, so she's just on soup again. I'll take her food away like you said and if she doesn't eat it I'll give her the biscuits. I can't get cornish hen anywhere, but this week i have pork, chicken, beef and venison in the rotation. I'll see if I can get some rabbit and I'll also see if I can get some pinkies to get them on mice. Here's what I got from natures choice...
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Post by Sherry on Jun 3, 2014 20:55:04 GMT -5
Es is being a prima Donna A bit of tough love won't hurt her. Is George by any chance stealing her kibbles?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2014 1:00:59 GMT -5
I haven't seen him touch kibble since he was sick so I don't think he is. Tough love it is! Trying George on wing tips today and took es' kibble away last night.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 4, 2014 8:17:03 GMT -5
If George does indeed have a mouth or throat ulcer cold temperatures will likely bother him more than warm. Try him with some warm water to drink so he doesn't become dehydrated, see how he does. Try to keep meats offered at room temperature for now rather than cold from the fridge as well.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2014 9:41:38 GMT -5
Thanks Sherry. Vets appointment booked for early Monday as they want to give him a blood test too to check his insulinoma. Will let you know how it goes.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 4, 2014 15:09:44 GMT -5
Good luck!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2014 12:14:49 GMT -5
Soo we have taken the biscuits away from the new 2 now as they are only eating the meat, which is great news! Going to try them on lamb this weekend if I can get some and maybe some mice too. More good news, Esmerelda has also had her biscuits taken off her apart from a short time at night and in the morning and she had eaten most of her soup when I got home, then when I gave George his gizzards she started eating them too! George is still being weird because of the new ferrets, he'll eat chicken gizzards and meat with bone meal but is shunning everything else. Hope he's ok, but will see what the vet says on Monday.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 4:06:32 GMT -5
Hi Sherry, so I'm working on next weeks menu and wanted to see what you thought.
Monday: AM- Natures Choice Venison bone and offal in. PM- Natures Choice Venison bone and offal in.
Tuesday: AM- Natures Choice Venison bone and offal in. PM- Natures Choice Venison bone and offal in.
Wednesday: AM- Liver PM- Chicken Wings
Thursday: AM- Heart PM- Duck Neck
Friday: AM- Gizzards PM- Chicken pieces
Saturday: AM- Beef PM- Heart and Liver
Sunday: AM- Chicken Wings PM- Chicken Wings
I looked at the menu overview and went from that along with what I have in the freezer at the moment. I know I need to get them on other proteins so hoping they will like some of the new stuff this week!
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Post by Sherry on Jun 7, 2014 9:08:57 GMT -5
That is actually looking pretty good! The only changes I would make is to maybe switch the NC with Friday's meal, just to make sure they don't get tired of the venison and refuse to eat it. And yes- they WILL do that sometimes at two days in a row as I found out (headwall) George- you are SUCH a silly boy heart and liver are stronger flavoured so he may be objecting to those as well. It can take some coaxing, and sometimes pureeing these to get them eating properly. Es- you can remove her morning kibble now if she is eating the soups, etc!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 9:11:29 GMT -5
Thanks Sherry. The only reason I put them together is because it comes in a tub and it has to be used within 4 days. I got some pinkies and some fuzzies, Cassie has eaten them no problems at all and Marvin just tried to stash his. Just waiting for the other 2 to wake up and I'll see if they want to try some too.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 3:46:44 GMT -5
George will eat duck necks woohoo!
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Post by Sherry on Jun 8, 2014 9:46:29 GMT -5
Excellent!!! Okay, let's take restock of exactly where everyone is at so we are both on the same page. You are very close to graduation You have 4 proteins right now(more of course better where possible). Heart and liver amounts are good. 8 bone in meals, the rest muscle. With the bone in, once they are doing well with the wings, you can start substituting other parts like spines, thighs(once or twice a week smashed open), or even turkey necks chopped up if you can get them. George- For bones he eats well with duck necks, and how is he doing with the wings? Do they need to be segmented, broken up(and if so how much)), totally smashed? Have you tried pureeing the liver/heart and how does he take it that way? What size pieces is he on? Es- start trying to get her off the soup. Since she will eat the gizzards start giving her the meat in chunks form as well. Also duck necks may be the easiest to get her eating if you can't find chicken necks. Your two new ones(sorry, still on my first coffee and can't recall their names lol)- where are they at in all this now? With the pinkies, you might have to chop them up for those not willing and mix in the regular meat. As soon as you can, move them up the sizes to adult mice and you have another bone in meal!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 11:19:52 GMT -5
Yay, exciting! George was doing well but hasn't been near the duck neck since the initial feeding. I've left him in the cage with it though. He's still not great with wings. He'll eat some but more often than not he'll leave them, again I'll keep trying with him. I do cut them up for him but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I haven't tried pureeing the liver and heart as George won't eat soup type stuff, but I'll try chopping it up fine with chicken meat and see if he'll eat it that way. He'll eat big ish chunks, but not huge.
Es has been attacking the duck neck I put in the cage, eating it and shaking it about which is good. She's only getting kibble for 30 mins in the morning and in the evening. I'll start cutting down the soup. This week I'm going to feed her what I'm feeding George, I think if she's hungry she'll eat it.
Hehe that's ok, it's Marvin and Cassie. They aren't eating kibble at all now and are eating whatever I put in front of them, which is good! It's harder to tell what Marvin is eating as he stashes a lot of stuff in a neat pile in the corner of the cage, but he's definitely eating some.
I bought pinkies and fuzzies this time and they've been pretty good with them.
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