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Post by katt on May 19, 2014 3:56:31 GMT -5
Hey there. Lonnnng weekend! I will have a menu and weights for you tomorrow. Nothing else really new and exciting... Sometimes that's a plus! Hope your weekend was marvelous, talk soon! No worries! How are poops doing?
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2014 15:51:19 GMT -5
Ok, gonna to whip out a response will everything between pts here. It's allergy season, so things are crazy! (I do allergy testing and Immunothereapy... so you can imagine!) Good news and bad news... The bad news is I didn't get to go by anywhere to get the f/t mice AND hubby discovered the hare-today order and of course it was right after the Asian market finds, so he has put a hault on my ferret meat spending for a bit. But, my freezer is pretty full! Especially with the organs he got me and the fun stuff coming from Hare-today, I am set for a while. Good news! I found some quail at the Asian market and they are the perfect size, I didn't even have to cut them up. I think they might be a good experiment to see what they do with a 'whole' animal. The only bad thing is I will be feeding it on a day I'm going to be gone (will get to that in more detail) so I can't even supervise... Oh well. Have you considered ordering from RodentPro? If you have the freezer space you could do a big order from them. It's a lot for shipping but still ends up being a lot less expensive than pet store costs per animal.I have not looked at RodentPro, will add that to my list when I am aloud to spend more money on the furr babes... No worries! How are poops doing? Poops have been better, still the random loose dark stool, but it is always after a organ/heart meal. So I think it's normal, but maybe I just need to up the BI... or heck maybe even lower the organ/heart meals! So here is this weeks menu... Mon AM: BI Duck (9.1 oz) PM: SAME; We are not going to be home till late, hence large AM meal Tue AM: Pork Liver (2.2 oz) & Beef Kidney (4.1 oz) PM: BI Duck (4.2 oz) Wed AM: Chicken Gizzards (5.7 oz) PM: BI Duck (4.0 oz) Thur AM: Beef Heart (4.8 oz) PM: BI Duck (4.2) Fri AM: Beef Bone In (8.4 oz) PM: SAME; We are not going to be home till late, hence large AM meal Sat AM: Beef Heart (4.0 oz) & Pork Uteri (3.0) PM: BI Whole Quail (5.0) Sun AM: None PM: Bone In Duck (5.3 z) Here is another link to my doc file as well... Also note that I made a tab for cost, figured it might be interesting and I have been keeping track hence far anyhow... docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiXMUs5LYCDddEo4M2xvVWhWR0tjV3lUelYwX18yVEE&usp=sharingWeights where ok, less gain, some loss... Pepe: 3 lbs 5.2 oz (- 0.8 oz) Oliver: 2 lbs 4 oz (+ .5 oz) Ruby: 1 lb 8.7 oz (+ 0.4 oz) I didn't get pics this week, figured I'd stick to an every other week schedule there unless I or you was concerned about something. If that's ok of course... So, a slight explanation on why they are getting big meals randomly. First off, we had a lot of waste this last week. I think the heat is contributing to them not eating as much. Poops, activity, etc have been ok. All but Pepe gained at least a bit of weight and let's face it, he can stand to loose some. He didn't loose much, so I'm not too concerned. Looking back at least week they ate on average 8 oz, so it was my goal to do a daily total of about 8 oz. There are a few days next week where I know we will be home late so instead of making them wait, I figured I would just give a big meal in AM and add more in PM if needed. And of course more Bone In if poops said it was needed. Also, we are going camping Saturday night, so I decided to do the whole quail that day. I will be leaving around noon, so I can feed the hrt/organ in AM and then throw in the Quail (and more if I feel like they ate the AM meal and need more) before I go and hope that they will be ok until I get back at about 2-3pm the next day. I also plan on adding another water bowl and the crappy lisket one just in case. This is the first time I am leaving them and am kinda nervous about it. I hope this seems like a good plan. I have another 2-3 day long vacation in June and I am going to get a pet sitter than time. Just too long to swing not having someone come by. Anyhow, another reason I am feeding this way is because I had the bags preped in these randon sizes. I still haven't gotten down how big to make the baggies while processing meals. But I did the math and if I remember correctly it adds up to about 60% BI, 10 % MM, 15% heart, 13 % organ. A little high on the organ, I know, but I will likely have a day or two that I add in a BI because they kill off am AM meal, so it will even out. I hope you had a great weekend!
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Post by katt on May 20, 2014 2:01:52 GMT -5
Ok, gonna to whip out a response will everything between pts here. It's allergy season, so things are crazy! (I do allergy testing and Immunothereapy... so you can imagine!)Oh I don't need to imagine! Alaska is #1 for Birch Pollen.... Good news and bad news... The bad news is I didn't get to go by anywhere to get the f/t mice AND hubby discovered the hare-today order and of course it was right after the Asian market finds, so he has put a hault on my ferret meat spending for a bit. But, my freezer is pretty full! Especially with the organs he got me and the fun stuff coming from Hare-today, I am set for a while.
Good news! I found some quail at the Asian market and they are the perfect size, I didn't even have to cut them up. I think they might be a good experiment to see what they do with a 'whole' animal. The only bad thing is I will be feeding it on a day I'm going to be gone (will get to that in more detail) so I can't even supervise... Oh well. RE the bad news - aw poop! RE the good news - yay! (dance) For the whole quail how big is it? If it is big enough to quarter and feed a quarter as a meal (I quarter CGH...) try that. If you want to feed the whole thing, try cutting it open @ the belly to expose some of the meat. I have not looked at RodentPro, will add that to my list when I am aloud to spend more money on the furr babes...I recommend them. Poops have been better, still the random loose dark stool, but it is always after a organ/heart meal. So I think it's normal, but maybe I just need to up the BI... or heck maybe even lower the organ/heart meals!
Dark poops after a heart or organ meal are totally normal, they are Expected. I would be far, far more concerned if their poops were NOT dark after a heart or liver meal! Organ poops, esp liver, will tend to be dark and tarry due to the high blood content of the organs. Heart will be similar, but typically not quite as loose. Mon AM: BI Duck (9.1 oz) PM: SAME; We are not going to be home till late, hence large AM meal
Tue AM: Pork Liver (2.2 oz) & Beef Kidney (4.1 oz) PM: BI Duck (4.2 oz)
Wed AM: Chicken Gizzards (5.7 oz) PM: BI Duck (4.0 oz)
Thur AM: Beef Heart (4.8 oz) PM: BI Duck (4.2)
Fri AM: Beef Bone In (8.4 oz) PM: SAME; We are not going to be home till late, hence large AM meal
Sat AM: Beef Heart (4.0 oz) & Pork Uteri (3.0) PM: BI Whole Quail (5.0)
Sun AM: None PM: Bone In Duck (5.3 z)I count 1.5 meals heart, 1.5 meals organ and 6 bone meals. Unless the beef is a commercial grind with bones included, you cannot count it as a bone-in meal. "Bone-in meals" refers only to meals containing significant amounts of Edible bone. Beef bones and most pork bones are far too large for ferrets to eat. Some ferrets can handle pork rib-tips or oxtail, but not all. As far as organ and heart %'s go you are just fine - the whole quail will put it a tiny over, but not too much. And there's really no such thing as too much heart as long as their poops don't get too soft and their balance isn't disturbed. A few notes on variety... I don't generally count variety in the organs as menu variety. Don't get me wrong - variety in hearts and organs is important (esp in the chance that you have a ferret that has or develops a protein allergy), but the 3 proteins minimum needs to be in the muscle meat. You DO have great variety - you have beef, chicken, quail and duck. Your week is just a tad duck heavy. Which is FINE, esp because I know that you are mixing it up other weeks etc. Most people end up very chicken heavy because that's the easiest to find source of edible bone. But it's something to keep in mind if/when you have access to a wider variety. Like this week could be duck heavy, the next week might be chicken heavy, then the next week you might have more rabbit and pork. Ideally you want as much variety as possible within each single week vs week to week, but of course that has to be managed within the parameters of providing enough bone and organs etc. For example though you could save a few of your duck meals for the next 2-3 weeks, and replace them with a few chicken and/or turkey meals to spice up the week. Just some things to brainstorm and keep in mind is all. These are more...advanced notes I guess you could say. Your menu looks fantastic! I know sometimes my boys end up on a rotating schedule when I have restricted meat access and restricted freezer space. Like Black Friday I usually try to get a leftover turkey for sale (super cheap meat! last year I even got a whole duck for $12!). A turkey takes up a LOT of freezer space though even if I only buy a half turkey. While I still make sure that they get their 3-proteins they tend to eat a lot of turkey until more freezer space opens up. lol Here is another link to my doc file as well... Also note that I made a tab for cost, figured it might be interesting and I have been keeping track hence far anyhow... docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiXMUs5LYCDddEo4M2xvVWhWR0tjV3lUelYwX18yVEE&usp=sharingOkay having some technical issues on my end but looks good from what I can see. Who is Rico? Weights where ok, less gain, some loss...
Pepe: 3 lbs 5.2 oz (- 0.8 oz) Oliver: 2 lbs 4 oz (+ .5 oz) Ruby: 1 lb 8.7 oz (+ 0.4 oz)Looks good, nothing concerning. As they get older, lose their kit chub, lose their winter chub, and adjust to the raw diet, they will probably drop some weigh. As long as you can't see ribs, hollowed out hips, or a noteable "waistline" when you dangle them (sides should be roughly parallel) then they are probably fine. Of course super sudden weight change, or sudden weight change in addition to behavioral changes may be cause for concern. Definitely as the weather heats up you'll see them eating less. Ferrets gain/lose up to 40% of their body weight with their seasonal changes. And of course they are always fattest their first winter bc they have winter flub AND kit flub (*ahem* Pepe) so enjoy the chubs while you can and don't be too shocked when they slim down for summer. I didn't get pics this week, figured I'd stick to an every other week schedule there unless I or you was concerned about something. If that's ok of course...Yep, totally fine as long as there'y no concerns. So, a slight explanation on why they are getting big meals randomly. First off, we had a lot of waste this last week. I think the heat is contributing to them not eating as much. Poops, activity, etc have been ok. All but Pepe gained at least a bit of weight and let's face it, he can stand to loose some. He didn't loose much, so I'm not too concerned. Looking back at least week they ate on average 8 oz, so it was my goal to do a daily total of about 8 oz. There are a few days next week where I know we will be home late so instead of making them wait, I figured I would just give a big meal in AM and add more in PM if needed. And of course more Bone In if poops said it was needed. Also, we are going camping Saturday night, so I decided to do the whole quail that day. I will be leaving around noon, so I can feed the hrt/organ in AM and then throw in the Quail (and more if I feel like they ate the AM meal and need more) before I go and hope that they will be ok until I get back at about 2-3pm the next day. I also plan on adding another water bowl and the crappy lisket one just in case. This is the first time I am leaving them and am kinda nervous about it. I hope this seems like a good plan. I have another 2-3 day long vacation in June and I am going to get a pet sitter than time. Just too long to swing not having someone come by. Anyhow, another reason I am feeding this way is because I had the bags preped in these randon sizes. I still haven't gotten down how big to make the baggies while processing meals. A note on the skipping meals that I don't often get to share anymore... Your ferrets are being raw fed from kithood, so this applies to them well - but it does NOT apply to ferrets who have been fed kibble for a while (the longer the kibble, the higher the risk of insu), of unknown age, and/or of unknown health history simply because you often just can't predict when you will unmask some insulinoma that has been developing and hovering under the surface... BUT with raw fed ferrets, who have been fed raw since kithood, the risk of insulinoma is next to zero (NOT impossible, but very, very low). SO...with that in mind... it is actually thought to be GOOD for raw fed ferrets to skip a meal here and there. Bob Church explained it well at some convention, unfortunately I don't have the document/link anymore. Anyways, think of ferrets in the wild - there is no guarantee that they will catch a meal tonight. They do scavenge and eat carrion when they can - IF they can. It is theorized that it is healthy for ferrets to skip the OCCASIONAL meal to more accurately imitate their eating patterns in the wild. I have seen stuff in the past RE humans and research indicating that occasional fasting is good for health, but it has been a LONG time since I've looked any of that up so I'm not sure where current research stands on that theory. Don't see why a reset every now and then wouldn't do some good though barring any metabolic diseases... Anyways, that's the theory. So basically don't stress if they skip breakfast on Sunday as long as they get lunch/dinner. Also this is NEVER recommended for ferrets that have not been fed raw diet from a very young age due to the risk of insulinoma. Which is why we rarely, if EVER recommend it on the forum anymore. Also, never skip more than one meal. But I did the math and if I remember correctly it adds up to about 60% BI, 10 % MM, 15% heart, 13 % organ. A little high on the organ, I know, but I will likely have a day or two that I add in a BI because they kill off am AM meal, so it will even out. Yep yep see above, all looks good on the balance front. One final note though that I forgot to add - you have about 2/3 other organ and 1/3 liver. If you do that just try to balance it out by doing 2/3 liver and 1/3 other next week. Organs generally should be at least half liver. I hope you had a great weekend!Thanks! Had a rather busy weekend, and a busy Monday but it was fun. Shane (my significant other) and I are out of town right now doing clinical work in family practice offices for a month. We get to do some clinical stuff during the school year but we are mostly buried to our eyeballs in science-based courses and anatomy lab! LOL Over the summer everyone either has to do research or a clinical "rotation" or sorts (not a true rotation). Forget research (Nooooo thanks!!) and gimme the clinical fun stuff! It is SUPER refreshing to finally be getting our hands dirty and actually getting to work with patients instead of looking at text books, flash cards, and cadavers. I miss my boys though. Shane's sister is pet sitting them while we do clinicals out of town during the weeks, but she is meeting us at the summer beach cabin (I use the word "beach" lightly lol it is an Alaskan beach - meaning cold and rocks, but I LOVE it) on the weekends since it's an hour away. So at least I still get weekends with my boys. I feel like I'm in a custody battle when I say that though.... rofl With that in mind, my internet will be spotty on the weekends and if I reply it won't be as long or as organized since it will have to be from my phone (no Wi-Fi). I'll still check in though.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2014 14:40:00 GMT -5
RE the bad news - aw poop!
Give it a week or two and he will come around and I will get some ordered from that Rodent Pro likely... RE the good news - yay! (dance) For the whole quail how big is it? If it is big enough to quarter and feed a quarter as a meal (I quarter CGH...) try that. If you want to feed the whole thing, try cutting it open @ the belly to expose some of the meat. Ok, my bad, I just realized describing them as whole means something different that it did in my mind... There are plucked, DE-headed, DE-innard things. I was saying whole because it was the whole body vs just the legs or thighs. The duck I got was similar to this, no innards, but he did have a head and feet, which I totally plan on feeding one day. I have two saved up! Heads I mean, the feet they have gotten and love. The quails are tiny, about 1/2 the size of the CGH, they weigh anywhere from 3-6 oz, so I wasn't planning on quartering them, unless they wont eat them 'whole' (<~~~ need to find another word) of course. Dark poops after a heart or organ meal are totally normal, they are Expected. I would be far, far more concerned if their poops were NOT dark after a heart or liver meal! Organ poops, esp liver, will tend to be dark and tarry due to the high blood content of the organs. Heart will be similar, but typically not quite as loose. Noted and sounds exactly what we have been getting. I count 1.5 meals heart, 1.5 meals organ and 6 bone meals.
I guess I was counting the "same" meals as a BI also because the AM meal will last until the evening... SO I was getting 8 BI meals. This was also adding Sunday AM as one because they will hopefully have enough to tide them over from Sat PM meal... Unless the beef is a commercial grind with bones included, you cannot count it as a bone-in meal. "Bone-in meals" refers only to meals containing significant amounts of Edible bone. Beef bones and most pork bones are far too large for ferrets to eat. Some ferrets can handle pork rib-tips or oxtail, but not all.
It's neck (or throat better described...) so it has some cartilage added, but mostly meat. We (or maybe in a universal post) have talked about this. They eat a bit of the cartilage, but not enough to be a BI meal, so I changed that to MM meal. A few notes on variety... I don't generally count variety in the organs as menu variety. For example though you could save a few of your duck meals for the next 2-3 weeks, and replace them with a few chicken and/or turkey meals to spice up the week.
I can definetly do that. Honestly, I had a bunch of DUCK! I found 3 on sale the other day. Also, I had the right bagged porportions to get the right size meal is also why I used the duck. I should have some chicken and turkey in my BI bin that I will replace with a couple meals. Spice it up a bit Okay having some technical issues on my end but looks good from what I can see. Who is Rico? Rico is my sister's ferret. I am TRYING to get her to see the light and get him switched over. Mainly (besides the obveous reasons) because I am pretty sure he is adrenal. A quick background, she got him from a feed store that had gotten him from another customer that found him wandering. He was guessed to be about 3 when she got him. She has had him for about 2 years, always on Marshal's. Well last year, during the summer, he lost 60% of his hair. ALL of his tail hairs, most of his belly hair, and a line of hair down his back. At the time (all of us being ignorant...) thought it was just the heat and him shedding. Her house can get kinda hot and a few days in the summer the swamp cooler does little to nothing. He grew most of it back that winter, all but the last inch or so of his tail. He is a big boy, about the size of Pepe, but you can tell a HUGE difference when you hold them both. He definetly has some muscle wasting. I have told her about it and what I think is wrong and what she can do about it (not just diet, but DES and Suprelorin implants) and I honestly don't think she doesn't care, I just don't think she trully understands the severity. He is active and 'normal' as far as we can see. She loves him and I know wants to do what's right for him. I dunno, It's one of those things, you see a child whose parents are not raising him like you feel he should. It's not exactly your place to correct them, you can simply give advise when able. I have gotten her to switch from kitty litter to a pellet and she always asked questions about what I'm doing. I know she is interested and willing I just have to convince her that it is worth it I guess. I think she thinks it's time consuming. I dunno. I struggle with this because even though Rico isn't suffering right now, he could easily go down hill and I know that would break my sis heart. I'm working on her.... But ANYWAY, that's Rico. He comes over or we all go to her house for play dates sometimes when my sis and I get together to exercise. They don't really care about each other, just the new sniffies. Side question... Can a true adrenal ferret grow back there hair??? It seems like the ones I have seen just get worse and worse... Ferrets gain/lose up to 40% of their body weight with their seasonal changes. And of course they are always fattest their first winter bc they have winter flub AND kit flub (*ahem* Pepe) so enjoy the chubs while you can and don't be too shocked when they slim down for summer. Noted, poor Pepe get's picked on... good thing he doesn't care!!! Can't hear ya anyhow... lol BUT with raw fed ferrets, who have been fed raw since kithood, the risk of insulinoma is next to zero (NOT impossible, but very, very low).
THIS is why I decided to switch my babes right away. I have had several ferrets die of horrible seizures and it was while I was still young (in ferret knowledge) and ignorant and didn't know what to do. It was horrible and even though we can't stop all diseases, it is good to know this one will be close to avoided. SO...with that in mind... it is actually thought to be GOOD for raw fed ferrets to skip a meal here and there. Noted. Obviously don't plan on it happening often, but I will feel less bad when I get home late or something. One final note though that I forgot to add - you have about 2/3 other organ and 1/3 liver. If you do that just try to balance it out by doing 2/3 liver and 1/3 other next week. Organs generally should be at least half liver.Whoops! Missed that. Again with the baggies purportioning I did previously. I had all my living in 2 oz servings (under the impression that was how much they got....) and was trying to match it with something to make about 6 oz for that meal. Didn't even think about it throwing off the 50/50 (headwall) I will just give a bigger liver meal neaxt week, try to kill off these 2 oz servings!!! I hope you had a great weekend!I miss my boys though. Ahhhh I bet you do, I always hate leaving my kids, furry and furr-less! And no problem on the spotty internet, I appreciate every little bit I get to rack your brain! One more thing, I think I might hold off on egg for a while. I was really careful to make sure each fuzz got their own share of egg Monday morning. This time I added the 1/4 olive oil and some powdered eggshell powder I have left over and mixed it well and kept it mixed up as they were eating so most of it was consumed. Well Pepe, of course ate all of his, this includes most of the eggshell. Ruby ate MOST of hers, she left more eggshell than I would have liked, but did ok. Oliver is not a fan of eggs, we tried the tricks (nose dab, scruff and stuff) for about half an hour and he seemed to just get annoyed with me, never really even tried it. So I gave up on that, maybe try to find a different oil that he likes. Pepe was of course hanging out while we were working with Oliver and got some of his, not much. Well I went to work like normal and got home and all three ferrets were at the bottom of their cage. Ruby and Oli perked right up and begged to get out, but Pepe just lay there. Didn't think much of it. I had a few things to do before they could come out. Went back to the cage and opened it up and the two came out, Pepe still lay there. I picked him up, I think he may have been 'dead fert' a bit, when he finally 'came to' but he seemed a bit off. Not running around like the others. Flat ferreting a bit more than normal for him even. I went to cleaning the cage, poop looked fine, still a little dark from the hrt meal the day before, but mostly ok. And there is what looks like vomit on one of the levels. The reason I say vomit is because it wasn't stinky like poop would prob be and just the consistency was more vomit to me. And it was definitely egg, maybe about 1/5 of one in size. At that point we had to leave for a Tball game, so I gathered up the furrbabes and caged them. When I got home 2 hours later I let everyone out again and Pepe was still at the bottom of the cage and didn't come out with his brother and sis. I just left him for the time being, he did stretch and adjust when I pet him, so I thought maybe he is just sleeping. Almost an hour past and he didn't move. I finally got him out and sat on the couch and loved on him and monitored him for a bit. He wasn't doing anything weird (breathing weird, grinding teeth, etc.) and finally he did get up and make his rounds, but he went back to bed shortly after. He did go upstairs in the normal sleeping area and go to bed. Could he have an allergy to just the eggs, I don't see an issue with the chicken (that I know of...). It just worries me because this is now the second week he has gotten sick. Well I am ASSUMING it is him getting sick, I guess I haven't actually witnessed it. He seemed fine this morning, normal goofy self (as I posted about...). The only other notable thing is it was REALLY hot yesterday. We have the house air conditioned of course, but it may have gotten to the high 70s-80 maybe in the house. Could that of made him vomit and get lethargic while the other two seemed fine?
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Post by katt on May 21, 2014 2:27:50 GMT -5
The wifi here isn't working very well. By which I mean I can't connect at all. Grr. Anyways just wanted to at least do a quick post. I would def hold off on egg for Pepe. Watch to see if he keeps acting this way without egg though. It could be the heat, esp with him in full flub. You can freeze some water bottles, put them in socks, and put them in the cage during the day. Then they can lay with them to cool down. Also opening doors in the room to allow air flow can help (our bedroom can get really hot if we leave the doors closed).
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Post by katt on May 21, 2014 2:27:54 GMT -5
The wifi here isn't working very well. By which I mean I can't connect at all. Grr. Anyways just wanted to at least do a quick post. I would def hold off on egg for Pepe. Watch to see if he keeps acting this way without egg though. It could be the heat, esp with him in full flub. You can freeze some water bottles, put them in socks, and put them in the cage during the day. Then they can lay with them to cool down. Also opening doors in the room to allow air flow can help (our bedroom can get really hot if we leave the doors closed).
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2014 21:03:38 GMT -5
[/b]The wifi here isn't working very well. By which I mean I can't connect at all. Grr. Anyways just wanted to at least do a quick post. I would def hold off on egg for Pepe. Watch to see if he keeps acting this way without egg though. It could be the heat, esp with him in full flub. You can freeze some water bottles, put them in socks, and put them in the cage during the day. Then they can lay with them to cool down. Also opening doors in the room to allow air flow can help (our bedroom can get really hot if we leave the doors closed).[/b]
I'm sorry, as much as I hate to say it, it stinks to not be connected. We are so dependent on it lol. Today was a cold cloudy day so it only got up to the 70s. And they are in the living room, so coolest area really in the house. He seemed much better, his poops were ok (well all the pops in the box were...) and all the food was gone so he likely helped. Lol I put some water bottles in the freezer just in case. They go to the vet tomorrow afternoon, so that will be an adventure.
I was gonna ask you what you thought about vaccines??
Hope you get your wifi working soon, but if not, enjoy the quiet!
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2014 22:02:12 GMT -5
Quick update before bed.
Poops looking good, energy is amazing and they are eating more than the 6-8 oz I planned for meals (of course, more than last week...) and I have been supplementing with chicken BI. Specifics will be in the google doc, but it makes the BI % a little higher, which it needed to anyhow. And I got my hare-today order today so next week we are gonna try rabbit and goat. Any advice on introducing the new stuff would be appreciated.
Lastly, we had our vet visit today and it went well! Like I said, I've been going to this vet for years. But never with ferrets. Turns out she was pretty knowledgeable and even better she was willing to learn! She was really excited that I was feeding raw and asked a bunch of questions. She even asked for info to give a couple more ferret owners she had as patients. She was really impressed with my babes fur and how sweet and calm they were. Pepe even gave her kisses, it was sweet. They got a clean bill of health minus ruby, she had visible ear mites. And if one has em, they all do, so we are treating with a drop. She's mixing it tonight and I'm picking it up tomorrow, so I forget what it is now.
So yeah, all in all, it was a great day! Hope yours is good :0)
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Post by katt on May 24, 2014 1:07:46 GMT -5
I'm sorry, as much as I hate to say it, it stinks to not be connected. We are so dependent on it lol. Today was a cold cloudy day so it only got up to the 70s. And they are in the living room, so coolest area really in the house. He seemed much better, his poops were ok (well all the pops in the box were...) and all the food was gone so he likely helped. Lol I put some water bottles in the freezer just in case. They go to the vet tomorrow afternoon, so that will be an adventure. [\b]
Good boy! I'm on my phone sorry. We have had a rough couple of days. No Internet, it was actually down where we were staying during the week and on the weekends we are at the cabin with only phone 4G. We are moving to Seattle for school (Shane and I are both in the WWAMI medical school program through UW School of Med) this summer to do our M2 year down there. We have had an apartment set up that we have been working with for 3 months. Over the past 3-4 months I have verified again and again with MULIPLE different people on MULTIPLE different occasions that the ferrets were okay. I brushed off getting it in writing bc I figured if that many people said it was okay that many times over a few MONTHS then we must be good. Well we paid deposit, application fees, first month rent, everything...then super long story shortened, got a call from corporate yesterday saying No way can ferrets live here either you get rid of them or you can't live here..... Talk about stress!! Ahhh! And last night we were driving out to the cabin - so no Internet, on Memorial Day weekend when everything is going to be closed, and we have 6-8 weeks to find a new apartment. We drove an hour out of town today to get Internet and spent the entire day searching and calling apartments.... Thankfully we actually managed to find a new place in one day! Got the lease signed and everything all today - and this time the ferrets are ON THE LEASE!!!! Phew! By the time that was all done the library was closing and I ran out of time to get on here. So now I'm doing it all from my phone until Tues...
I was gonna ask you what you thought about vaccines?? [\b]
I do not vaccinate unless I have to. I don't do distemper. Koda got one as a kit bc I didn't know better, Kenai did not. It's probably not a bad idea to finish their kit series, but they shouldn't need anymore after that. If you are worried, get a titer. But the distemper vax has a really high risk of reaction in ferrets, and reactions can be extremely serious and are frequently lethal within a very short period. Rabies I do when I have to. They got it one year bc the vet said if they but anyone during Des implant then it would be bad. I wasn't worried about them biting at all, but I think that was the year I was working at a vet clinic and could get a good discount so I went for it. They are getting it this year bc we have to cross the border in and out of Canada so it's required.
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Post by katt on May 24, 2014 4:11:26 GMT -5
****Poops looking good, energy is amazing and they are eating more than the 6-8 oz I planned for meals (of course, more than last week...) and I have been supplementing with chicken BI. Specifics will be in the google doc, but it makes the BI % a little higher, which it needed to anyhow. And I got my hare-today order today so next week we are gonna try rabbit and goat. Any advice on introducing the new stuff would be appreciated.**** (Bold didn't work from my phone, trying a new approach lol) Perfect Introducing new meats, there's all kinds of tricks. you can try drizzlig salmon oil or another favorite great over the new meat, drizzle a little soup of a meat they like over the new food (like gravy), or hand feed little pieces (or hand feed slivers with oil or soup gravy drizzled over). If they are extra stubborn you can slowly mix little slivers or chunks into existing meat chunks or try slowly mix slivers of new meat into existing. The more familiar they are with raw and wide variety the easier it generally is the introduce new things. My boys will eat just about anything I put I their feeding den. Worst case I drize a little salmon oil over it and Koda will eat it and once Koda eats it Kenai will generally follow suit. Obviously not all ferrets are that easy, and the longer they have been on kibble the pickier they seem to be. Luckily yours are still young and not fully imprinted on food yet (so now is the time to try a ton of variety - as much as possible so they can get used to it) and they are starting on raw young so you have a lot working on your side. Oh yay! It sounds like the vet visit went fantastically! (dance) That is great!! You can't ask for more - a vet who knows her stuff, is pro raw, and willing to learn - that's the best of all worlds! RE the ear mites - called it! lol It is really unfortunate, but more kits than not tend to pick up mites somewhere along the way during the whole shipping, processing, and pet store process. Unless you have a pet store that is really good about checking and treating all animals for mites, ear mites in pet store kits is absurdly common. Where I live it's a guarantee. Any ferret (especially new kits) coming into the vet is assumed to have ear mites. I mean they are checked before being medicated of course, but an ear mite check is part of a pretty much every ferret exam. :/ Glad it went well though! Definitely curious to know the meds once you get them. I forget the name of one meds that we got once or twice, but it's most common here for vets to use kitten revolution at half dose (half a tube per ferret). You generally have to treat them all 3 times every 2-3 weeks too (I forget if it is 2 or 3, I think 3...) because of the mite life cycle.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2014 16:50:28 GMT -5
So I got frozen mice today! (dance) I will be gone soon until tomorrow camping, but will be home Monday. My hubby got in a cat accident, so he is staying home and I am just going for the day Sunday to let the kids do camping stuff. I will reply more later
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Post by katt on May 24, 2014 17:29:01 GMT -5
Hahaha Oh my, a cat accident? That does sound bad! Sorry. Haha I am very sorry to hear he was in a car accident though. I hope everyone is okay and that any damage is minimal too - I know repairs can wreak financial havoc on people. Hope hubby gets lots of rest and feels physically and emotionally better soon!!!! :/ And YAAY on the mice! Have fun camping and we will tackle the whole prey when you get back. I hope to have real Internet on Tues, so that works well.
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Post by katt on May 26, 2014 4:59:23 GMT -5
Just keeping this bumped on my feed
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2014 12:53:49 GMT -5
Good morning... Well almost afternoon now lol jut wanted to pop in and let you know that I will post a schedule and weight and hopefully pics tomorrow.
They had rabbit for breakfast and so far are loving it! Let's hope they take to the host as easily. I plan on reading up on threads about f/t mice feeding and try it out this week.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2014 10:59:28 GMT -5
****(Bold didn't work from my phone, trying a new approach lol)That works, got the point across lol Perfect Introducing new meats, there's all kinds of tricks. you can try drizzlig salmon oil or another favorite great over the new meat, drizzle a little soup of a meat they like over the new food (like gravy), or hand feed little pieces (or hand feed slivers with oil or soup gravy drizzled over). If they are extra stubborn you can slowly mix little slivers or chunks into existing meat chunks or try slowly mix slivers of new meat into existing. The more familiar they are with raw and wide variety the easier it generally is the introduce new things. My boys will eat just about anything I put I their feeding den. Worst case I drize a little salmon oil over it and Koda will eat it and once Koda eats it Kenai will generally follow suit. Obviously not all ferrets are that easy, and the longer they have been on kibble the pickier they seem to be. Luckily yours are still young and not fully imprinted on food yet (so now is the time to try a ton of variety - as much as possible so they can get used to it) and they are starting on raw young so you have a lot working on your side. Luckily, we didn't have any issue with the Rabbit. They left a tiny piece, but ate 90%. I will keep all this in mind with the Goat, but it's not nearly as pungent as the Rabbit, so hopefully we will be okay. So far, my guys have not been picky at all really with new things. They didn't eat the Turkey one day, but I have fed it since and they have devoured it, so I think that day was just a fluke. Oh yay! It sounds like the vet visit went fantastically! That is great!! You can't ask for more - a vet who knows her stuff, is pro raw, and willing to learn - that's the best of all worlds! I was happy too. I have known Rika for AGES, even worked for her in high school. I would have been really disappointing if she didn't 'do' ferrets, the way we wanted anyhow. (dance)RE the ear mites - called it! Yeah you did! lol lol It is really unfortunate, but more kits than not tend to pick up mites somewhere along the way during the whole shipping, processing, and pet store process. Unless you have a pet store that is really good about checking and treating all animals for mites, ear mites in pet store kits is absurdly common. Where I live it's a guarantee. Any ferret (especially new kits) coming into the vet is assumed to have ear mites. I mean they are checked before being medicated of course, but an ear mite check is part of a pretty much every ferret exam. :/ She looked in all three ferts ears, but only took a sample from Rubs. She said the others had clean ears. She said to go ahead and treat all three though, one of those "just because we can't see em, doesn't mean there not there' kinda things. Glad it went well though! Definitely curious to know the meds once you get them. I forget the name of one meds that we got once or twice, but it's most common here for vets to use kitten revolution at half dose (half a tube per ferret). You generally have to treat them all 3 times every 2-3 weeks too (I forget if it is 2 or 3, I think 3...) because of the mite life cycle.[/quote][/b] I didn't start them this weekend 1. because I wasn't going to be there most of the time and I like to observe when I give new meds, you just never know and 2. my hubby picked it up and didn't get a dropper, so I have to get a syringe from work today that has a .1 cc measurement. So, I am going to dose them tonight. All it says on the bottle is that it's a 'compound topical for ears ivermec.' I am to dose Ruby with .1 cc, Oliver with .2 cc and Pepe with .3 cc and repeat in 2 weeks. She also said I can kinda rub the outside of the ear to make sure the liquid gets down in there, just like a massage. She said what she mixed (she told me the name and I am mad at myself that I didn't write it down... I figured it would be on the bottle) could also be injected, but most people don't come back for the next dose, so she prefers to send it home like this. I am going to Google now and see what I can find lol
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