Stella & Chewy's

[Deleted]

Hi all,
I'm new to being a ferret mom as well as the whole 'raw feed' thing. I enjoy the convenience of kibble, but have not found any good ones that I would feel comfortable feeding. So, I started my boy on Stella & Chewy's FDR for cats. He is currently eating a half cup a day of the Duck Duck Goose.

So my first question is: is that too little? Some days he chomps it down and looks hungry so I'll give him a little more and other days he doesn't finish. He hasn't lost weight or gained any so far, but it's also only been two weeks.

My next question: Is S&C a balanced diet on its own? Does anything need to be added to it, or can I feel comfortable just feeding that? I know it is complete for cats, but I also know he is not a cat. I give him some raw chicken pieces or an egg every couple days, but again, I enjoy the convenience of having a commercial food to feed. However, I would hate to find out at the vet that he is missing something in his diet.

Finally: Should I be feeding him two different brands of FDR or just two or more flavors in case one gets discontinued? I don't really see S&C going out of business, but I could see them stopping a flavor. Also, is getting them to eat mixed flavors as difficult as it was getting him to eat FDR in the first place? And which other flavors are good for him? The pet stores here only carry Duck Duck Goose and a fish flavor, so I'm probably going to start online ordering it.

Thanks in advance,
Savanna

[Deleted]

Hi Savanna (wave) Welcome to the HFF.
I also did S&C. I wanted to follow the HFF menu plan and I used several different types of SC, so that I could make sure that mine had the minimum of three different proteins, like the forum recommends. I used the duck,duck,goose and the tummy ticklin turkey. I also used Wysong Archetypal 1, which is FDR. We also tried several of the Whole Life products like lamb, beef and rabbit.
We tried the Stella and Chewy's salmon flavor and the chicken flavor also, but mine would eat fresh chicken and preferred the Whole Life Cod to the SC salmon.
It is a good idea to use different flavors, not only to get the required minimum of three proteins, but to allow for a formula change (like you said) or a flavor being discontinued.
Stella and Chewy's has the required taurine, choline, calcium and omega's. You will also notice that his coat gets super soft and you will get Grapetail. That's when their tails start to smell like Grape Kool-aid.
I ordered from Amazon. You can price shop, and can often find coupons for online suppliers. If you go to Stella and Chewy's website, you can type in your zip code and find local suppliers. They are usually the holistic pet stores. Price wise, online was the least expensive for my area.
As for the amount, most little boys will eat about four ounces a day. How old is yours? A baby is a tummy with teeth and will eat alot more. Just like us, some days ferrets
are hungrier than others. Are you reconstituting the food with water?
It's safe to leave it out, so if you are worried, just leave a little more than usual and see how much is gone, when you get home. If your little guy is free roam, he will stash some, when he is full.
If your little guy is over a year old, he might not take as easily to a new food. Ferrets can imprint on their food, but with a little persuasion, they will take to new food. The ferrants here on the forum, will happily offer tips on persuading a finicky ferret.
Since this is your first post when you get a chance, we would love to hear all about your little guy and we love,love,love pictures.
Have fun and see you around the forum (dance)

[Deleted]

Thank you!

I would like to keep him mostly on S&C, so I'll probably just add in two more flavors, or one flavor and one other FDR. What are some other good FDR brands? Besides Wysong? I think I found a thread earlier, but I'd like to see what the more recommended brands are before I make any more changes

Should I be rehydrating the freeze dry? Or no? Or does it even matter? So far I have been adding just enough water to make it moist because he doesn't like it soupy.

He is about eight months old now, and definitely still growing. That's why I wasn't sure about the food. Haha. I add in a little more when he eats a lot and just leave it for him to munch if he doesn't. And four ounces is a half cup, right? So that's about perfect? I know the package says about 1 cup for every 6 lbs so we went with a half cup to start since he's about 3 lbs. 

His coat has changed in color and is becoming extremely fluffy! It now fluffs over his collar, which it never did before. Lol. He feels much softer already, too! Plus, his smell is basically undetectable instead of being overwhelming as soon as I walked in the house. ^.^ He also poops much less and it is becoming more solid.

One other side question, do you guys recommend bathing them often or brushing their teeth frequently (when on FDR)? I've read contradicting things on various sites and am not sure if I should be bathing or brushing his teeth frequently. So far, I only bathe him if he gets really dirty because I wasn't sure if frequent baths are bad for the oils in their furs like with dogs. Otherwise I just brush every few days.

[Deleted]

Jester is just too cute! You will love having two little ones. It's just so much fun watching them play and so sweet, when they are tucked in at night and sleeping together.

You should rehydrate the FDR. One of the downsides to kibble, is that kibble fed ferrets can be rather dehydrated. I saw that you also use a water bowl, that's considered better for ferrets also.

Most of our ferrants will not recommend bathing frequently. It can dry out their skin and strip the oils in their fur. I really only bathe someone, if they get into something, (like when Mika got into the trash and got spaghetti sauce all over herself) or if I suspect fleas.

Here is a good link to toothbrushing: www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/5936

[Deleted]

Haha, thanks! I love him We brought home the other fuzzbutt and Jester is OBSESSED. lol.

Ok, I thought that the FDR should be rehydrated. I've just heard so much conflicting stuff. I've been rehydrating it, but just enough to make it all moist and soft. Not mushy/soupy. Should I be making it more soupy? We had water bottles, but he kept breaking them and liked the dog bowl better anyway, so I just got him a bowl. He loves to put his whole face in it. Lol. The new guy seems to like to do that too, which is good, since I know he will be drinking from the bowl. 

I thought bathing frequently was bad, so I was trying not to do it unless absolutely necessary. Now that he eats better food, it really isn't needed unless he gets into something - like you said.

And thanks for that! Sorry, for asking things already in threads, there's just so many and I don't have the time to read them all! At least not today, lol