Bridgie's Switching Thread/ Fretki

[Heather]

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?

Before getting ferrets I was doing research online and found a youtube channel called Ferretworld, and she talked a lot about raw diet.

2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.

I'm not 100% sure what I want to do.. I know I don't want to feed live prey, but I'm okay with anything else..I kind of want to do partial, where I can still feed a kibble, but then again, I think that because its so foreign to me to switch them to 100% natural. I would like to feed whole prey just every once in a while, and feed more store bought meats.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?

I know their bodies just aren't made for all the carbs and grains that kibble has in it, and I want my ferrets to be as healthy as possible. I have also seen before and after pictures, and they are amazing! Their fur looks so soft, and they look heftier.

4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switchng your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as commited. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment?

Yes, I know I have a long road ahead of me!

5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?

I have two ferrets. Their names are Jesse and Walter, both boys, and they just turned two a few days ago. As far as I know they are both healthy, they are going to the vet this week. They definitely aren't overweight, I can feel their ribs and spine, but they have fat by their hind legs.(These are my first two ferrets, so I am not exactly sure what their weight should be like, or if you should even feel their ribs.) I Have only had my ferrets a little over a week.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup?

They only eat kibble right now, the mix the shelter gave me has 6 different kibbles, including: zupreem, 8 in 1 crunchy, Marshall's, Purina cat chow and Totally ferret. They also get a little bit of ferretone everyday.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
No, I haven't

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
Both the ferrets came from a bad home and have pretty mangy teeth, and I'm hoping that the raw will help.

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Everyday.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).

11. Have you met the requirements for this program? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
I do!

Hi and welcome to the mentoring program (wave) . In a little while your mentor (Fretki) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao

[fretki]

Hi Bridgie and welcome to the mentoring program!

My name is Yvonne, I go by fretki on this forum, if you’d like to know a bit more about me, here is my introduction:
holisticferret60.proboards.com/post/198363
If there are any questions about me and/or my ferrets, please feel free to ask!

And upfront an info: English isn’t my mother tongue, so if you don’t understand me, tell me please!

So now to you, you booked the “adventure to raw” package and I’ll gladly be your tour guide, I hope this is ok for you?

Depending on where you are in the process of switching we will agree on regular updates, we’ll start with every second day, of course you can post more often, the more info I have, the more details and the more up to date I am, the better I can help you… and further in the switch we’ll agree on another interval like posting once a week for example. If you can’t post every second day for the next few weeks, please let me know… and please notify me of planned absences, these are part of the rules of this program.

I saw you started the process of switching on your own, could you please give me an update on Jesse and Walter's switch, what are they currently eating?
I saw the post about Jesse falling over, I hope you found a ferret knowledgeable vet to take him to on Monday?

I'm looking forward to your reply!
Yvonne

[fretki]

I'm so sorry about your loss!
Feel free to write about it here, whenever you feel the need, you can do this via pm as well... I'll try to do my best to be a shoulder to cry on, even if it might not be one of my strengths, I'm often lacking words in such situations...

I'm very happy you decided to start the mentoring progam for your Jesse. Please give me an update, how he is doing, what he is currently eating and how's the current status of his insulinoma-diagnosis?

[Deleted]

Thank you for your kind words Right now Jesse is eating a the soup with chicken legs, livers, and gizzards. For Jesse I have to mix like 5 pieces of kibble in with the soup for him to even touch it. I feed him every morning and every night and during the day he will eat some kibble but not too much. I put little slivers in with his food and he seemed to eat it fine, unless it was Walter who ate them(Last time I put the slivers in walter was around and he would just eat everything) But I am doing to be trying it out again tonight.

[fretki]

You're welcome!

Ok, I'd like to start with some basics.

Could you please give me his weight and take a picture as described here:
holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/4342/type-picture-new-switches

Could you tell me as well how much soup he eats in ounces/grams per feeding/meal?
Could you as well weigh the amount of kibble you leave for him during the day and then weigh it again in the evening to see how much kibble he still eats?

Is there a reason why the soup contains gizzards and not heart?

And again the question: Do you have a current status, is his insulinoma confirmed?

Please list as well what kind of kibble and what kind of treats he gets?

Thank you!

[Deleted]

Of course my scale isn't working today

I swear nothings going right lately..It was a little old. Ill be buying a new one tomorrow.

Right now he has gizzards instead of hearts because we could not find heart, but now found that our local grocery store will order them in, so they should be here soon.

And yes, Jesse was just diagnosed with Insulinoma with a bg of 53, and is on pediapred. I've been giving him .5ML 2 times daily, about 12 hours apart.

The only treats Jesse is getting is some Ferretone and Raw Eggs twice a week. He will not eat anything else, besides the sugary treats so I'm not sure what other treats to give him.
Right now he is getting Sun Seed Sunscription Vita Prima Ferret Food..
I'm sorry I will get all of the exact measurements on tomorrow.

[fretki]

Ah, no worry, we all have those days when nothing seem to go right (wave)

May I ask, has he been diagnosed by a ferret knowledgeable vet? And how long is he on pediapred now? How did you (or the shelter you got him from) realized that there was something wrong, what were his symptoms?

Ok, I already have homework for you and Jesse:
Could you please gradually replace the Ferretone by a natural oil? You can try different ones, a light tasting extra vergin olive oil, a salmon oil or krill oil... If he doesn't take to oil instantly you can try to mix a bit with a bit of Ferretone, goal will be to replace the Ferretone completely

[Deleted]

Okay, yes! When I go to the store today I will pick up some different oil, Should i look for some that are in capsules? Or just some in the food section? He is going to the vet this Saturday to get formally diagnosed. He has been on prednisone for 2 days now.I decided to try and take him into the vet because he was spacing out a lot and he would just fall over and then hop back up like nothing happened. That was the only symptom he had.

[fretki]

no hurry! if you find something good of course I'll not keep you off buying it instantly, but usually it is worth to compare the different brands (and prices) and take your time to choose, you should look for something as pure as possible, for example a salmon oil should be pure salmon oil (no sunflower oil, no rosemary extract or whatever in it), so you have to read the labels carefully!
don't be surprised most marine oils (salmon, krill) have perservatives in it, often they use vitamin e for that purpose, that's acceptable.
For 1-2 ferrets, small bottles or capsules work fine, for example I can get krill oil only in capsules, my extra virgin olive oil is the same oil for my ferrets as for me, so it is a bigger bottle

I had a look at the kibble, the sooner we can get rid of it the better
In case I forget it during the switch:
If you go towards emtying the bag before he is on full raw and you would have to buy more, please consider to buy a different quality!

If you want to feed treats: everything 100% animal based is ok, for example freeze dried treats are ok.

Please check with your vet, for ferrets you should use prednisolone only, but I guess pediapred is prednisolone and not prednisone anyway

And one thing more I'd like to mention before we start:
We'll usually go through a soup stage to get Jesse used to raw, soup has no teeth cleaning properties (neither does kibble!), so please check his teeth regularly and if necessary brush them!

[Deleted]

I have been hesitant on brushing his teeth because I tried brushing Walters and his teeth started to bleed. I was using a baby tooth brush with just water. I think I will try it again tonight because I haven't done it in a while. I have a new scale, So when he wakes up I will be taking measures of everything

[fretki]

Yay, scale! Looking foreward

You can also post pictures of his teeth to check and please if you are anyway at the vet, ask him to check as well!




Sent from my SM-G900F using proboards

[Deleted]

Here is Jesse at the moment..He is 2.2 Lbs.

He is getting 1.5 oz of raw soup, normally 2 times a day(Sometimes three if it looks like he is looking for food..)
I gave him 1.5 oz of kibble this morning and left it available for him and he hasn't touched it all day. But ate all of his raw soup(I even put a few big slivers in today and he ate them right up!)

[fretki]

Awww, cute boy!
Feel free to post pictures whenever you want ;D

Oh, good boy! Do you still put a bit of kibble on this soup to entice him to eat?
What size of slivers has he been eating?


Could you tell me a bit about how he lives? Does he have a room or a cage? How much playtime does he get?

Could you please also tell me what your goal is regarding food, do you want to do Frankeprey or maybe a mix with whole prey and/or commercial raw?
What meat sources do you have?



Sent from my SM-G900F using proboards

[Deleted]

I do still have to put a little bit of kibble in his soup to entice him(only 5-7 pieces) or he will just not even go by it, any less than the 5 pieces he won't touch it either!

But the slivers I've been putting in have been probably half the size of my index fingernail, and I haven't been putting them in every time, because I just tried it the other day. 

Jesse does have his own room with his cage in there, so he is always able to come out into the room whenever he wants, and whenever either me or my boyfriend is home, his door is left to the rest of the apartment for him to roam. 

Getting Jesse to play has really been like pulling teeth lately..Only my boyfriend can get him to play and even dook!(which before Walter died, he would only dook when he played with Walter) and I really think its because I'm the one who give him his pred..He only really plays(dooks, wardance..etc.) about 20 mins a day total. Otherwise hes wondering the house and exploring/hiding things.

Now that Jesse most likely has insulinoma, I really just want whats best for him, so I would like your opinion! I've changed my mind, and I know whole prey is really what is the best, so I don't mind that, I just could never feed him anything that is alive!

[Deleted]

Oh, and I have a butcher that can order in anything for me, just found him so im pretty excited!