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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2014 19:03:15 GMT -5
I started writing about this in my introductory thread, but this will be a better place to document the stuff more thoroughly.
Kibble Zupreem, Orijen Cat & Kitten, Wysong Epigen 90
Chicken Mush 5 skinless boneless thighs 1.5 liver 2 hearts one whole egg 0.5 tsp egg shell powder 2 tsp half FerreTone half vegetable oil 0.3 cups water
Ferret weight Miri - 800 grams
Honey - 830 grams
Zack - 1290 grams
(all rounded because of the squirming issues)
March 14 - Morning: kibble - Afternoon: 2 oz of chicken soup among the three - Evening: Zack 2oz, Miri 1.5oz, Honey 1.5 oz
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Post by Heather on Mar 15, 2014 1:07:18 GMT -5
That's a good start :thumbsup: ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2014 9:29:58 GMT -5
Saturday 15 -Morning: Chicken mush Zack 75grams, Honey 45grams, Miri 45 grams -Evening: Chicken mush Honey 40grams, Miri 30g, Zack 30g I measured in grams because it's easier for me, but if the American measurements are more accepted here I can convert them without a problem Agree During the night they ate some of the kibble. This morning they got more of yesterday's chicken mush. I warmed it up yesterday, but this morning they ate it cold without any problem, so I'll be keeping to going with the cold mush for them. I fed them off of a spoon, because they eat it off there better than just off a plate. It usually takes two tries for them to finish the food, about halfway through they get tired and are released to run around some. Zack is my best student so far he was actually actively seeking the soupie to eat as I was weighing the amount to give him. I did not scruff Zack at all for this. Honey seems to have problems concentrating on the food, because she kept getting distracted by the noises of the other two playing. I had to get her attention back to the food. Miri is not trusting this food much If I scruff her and hold the spoon with the food up to her she will lick it, but she tries to get away more often than the other two.
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Post by Heather on Mar 15, 2014 16:05:14 GMT -5
One of the things I found about ferrets or switching ferret was that if they were used to eating kibbles (grab a bite here and there whenever) it took them time to learn to sit still and eat. Some were better at it than others. Ferrets who are used to having food at their disposal 24/7 graze rather than eat. Teaching them to eat "meals" rather than snack all the time is part of the switching process ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2014 7:49:38 GMT -5
March 16 -Morning: Chicken mush - Miri 35g, Honey 45g, Zack 50g -Evening:Chicken Mush - Zack 75g, Miri 60g, Honey 55g
So this night I left them both chicken mush and kibble in their cage and it looked like nothing at all was eaten of either.
Morning With this batch of mush I added less Ferretone (everything else is the same) and Zack was not very happy with this development. He was behaving worse during the feedings than the two girls.
Miri is improving very well. She found a piece of unblended meat in her mush and ate it right up.
Honey is still doing good. A bit distracted, but we are working on it.
Both the girls experimented with eating the mush right out of the container instead of the spoon. I was just a little bit though.
Evening Everyone was hungry and ate very well. Still mainly from the spoon occasionally switching to the bowl.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2014 13:48:51 GMT -5
Though the eating is going well, I've been noticing some seedy, watery poops. I know that poops can get funky when switching over, but I don't want them to get any stomach problems.
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Post by fretki on Mar 18, 2014 2:04:35 GMT -5
We have the same metric system here, so reading grams is ok with me They already eat nice amounts of the chicken mush, if you have watery poops they might not be used to that much fluid intake with food? I would mix a probiotic in the chicken mush and see if this changes the poops. Are they used to eat eggs? Oh and if Miri already ate a little piece of meat why not giving her more (very small) pieces?
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Post by Heather on Mar 18, 2014 12:47:05 GMT -5
You might also try upping your egg shell too. Not much, just a bit. Some ferrets require more than others ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2014 22:55:33 GMT -5
Hello sorry for the drop in the updates the last couple of days. My boyfriend had a shoulder dislocation so we were busy dealing with doctors and pain and things. I wasn't carefully measuring the amount that the fuzzies ate, but in two days we have half a litre of chicken mush gone among the three. So it adds up to about the usual amounts maybe a tiny bit less.
Thanks for the poops advice. I'll up the eggshell a bit.
They are not very used to eating eggs. I gave them a couple before starting on the chicken mix mush. But they don't eat them normally. I have been adding it to the meat soupie.
I don't know where to get ferret probiotics and their stools have been getting better today. So it could have been just the added water in their diet.
The chicken mush that I make with my blender ends up being the consistency of mediocre mashed potatoes (so tiny half mashed meat bits) or maybe better described as a meat smoothie? Some meat always ends up being not very blended. I was also thinking of adding tiny chicken thigh pieces to the mix.
I've been putting less ferretone in it too and Zack was very unhappy with this development.
Also all the ferrets tummies feel really full, less squishy. I figured it was because we have reduced the "grazing" that they were doing and replaced it with meals (and only kibble backup in the cage).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2014 8:02:28 GMT -5
March 19 All the kibble in their cage seems uneaten. And I've added some bits into the blend. Honey eats them alright. Miri attempts it, but she is really not used to these things. When Zack finds a bit of chicken, he becomes rather discouraged. I was also wondering about how I should place them while I feed them. So far I had them on my lap and have been mainly spoon feeding. I made them a box today, where they could eat. I am thinking of moving this eating process over to the floor, but we have a tendency of grabbing a mouthful and running away under the couch, and leaving half of what we took to rot there. MorningChicken mush with bits - Zack 70g, Honey 50g, Miri 40g (with occasional stealing from one another ) They are eating the bits of meat fine but whenever we find a slightly larger one we run away very fast with it! I did up the amount of ferretone and veg. oil in this batch to about 1.5 tbs for 800 grams of food, just to encourage Zack. And this does help a lot with him eating. It seems the lesser of two evils compared to having a stressful time switching off the kibble. Evening Miri - 50g, Honey 40g, Zack 15g
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2014 10:50:46 GMT -5
I was also wondering about the amount of time on average it takes to get a mentor? Please don't misunderstand this. I am very thankful for all the answers and help and advice I get from the community. I know everyone is very busy with life. This is just a curiosity issue I have only been doing this for 5 days now, but the progress is making me very happy I might just be a bit too eager for them to get used to these things
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Post by Heather on Mar 19, 2014 13:25:19 GMT -5
It depends when the mentors finish up their assignments. You could get picked up tomorrow, next week.....unfortunately there is no timeline. We help them for as long as they need assistance and they move along as fast as the ferrets allow. You and your crew are doing well. Unfortunately, stashing is what ferrets do. Do they still run off and hide if you feed them in a box? I've got one wee girlie who if she's being hand fed insists on taking her food out of the bowl and eating it on the table. I told her, her table manners were that of a troll instead of a wee she-fert. She just looked up at me with her mouth dribbling food and put it back on the table :face:. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2014 13:54:35 GMT -5
Haha yuck! Mine drip it all over the place too Thanks for the info And yes we run and take it out of the box to hide somewhere else
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2014 19:50:23 GMT -5
Hello Today we had breakthrough with Miri when she ate a piece of cartrilidge instead of just leaving it. She left the other three or four licked clean but uneaten. One is better than zero Honey eats it well but she gets hungry soon after and she doesn't want to eat the meat mush if it has been left out for more than an hour and searches for kibble instead. I wonder what I should do to have them eat the chicken without my supervision? Zack is still the most reluctant. He eats a couple of bites and then tries to leave. And then I catch him again in a couple of minutes and he still only eats a couple of bites and leaves. I don't want to force him with scruffing, I also don't want to keep enticing him with ferretone to it, and I can't leave him hungry becausr of his insulinoma. I have seen him eat it well and when there is some ferretone he eats it well, but otherwise it is a struggle to get him to eat 30 g let alone any more.
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Post by fretki on Mar 25, 2014 6:23:11 GMT -5
Please don't use Ferretone on an insulinoma-ferret, it will just contribute to a roller coaster blood glucose Try to find something else as a treat or to entice: oils, egg, freeze dried... Vary the soup recipe, or do a muscle meat only mush to see if he prefers a light version as a start? If he takes to this you can slowly and gradually add the other ingredients... Is it also a struggle, when you sighlty warm the soup?
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