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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2015 21:07:04 GMT -5
They are getting the same thing. This morning I gave them Rad Cat with 3 small pieces of meat/bone, Annie ate all but the bones. This evening I have NV duck thawing.
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Post by mjbez on Jan 11, 2015 22:03:09 GMT -5
Try smashing the bones up Just bit more. Is that possible?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2015 20:12:37 GMT -5
I can try but these were pretty small1/4 in or smaller. I smashed up a wing tonite like you suggested and spread rad cat on top of it tonite- she licked some of the rad cat off the top but then left it.
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Post by mjbez on Jan 12, 2015 21:09:17 GMT -5
Keep trying. I'm surprised that she will take a few pieces, eat them, and now is refusing again. Silly girl. Do feed her meals as well, add a few pieces into those. And then every 4 meals or so try the rad cat gravy on the smashed wing. Its worth continuing to try!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2015 22:43:46 GMT -5
It's weird. I've tried twice more, each time she licks a little of the Rad Cat off then leaves the rest. Last nite she barely ate any. I guess it tastes that much different? She will eat small pieces still(1 or 2, max) They are small (~ 1/8 inch)and I wonder if she just swallows them whole.
I miss not giving them soupie- altho it's a lot easier to open up a bag and thaw 20-25 pieces of NV.
Going backwards from today: Sat. am:NV duck, beef slices. Fri AM egg, pm Rad Cat chicken, some on wing but she didn't eat much so I gave her just the Rad Cat after a while Thurs AM & PM:NV duck, I added 5 small pieces of chicken to the morning, she left 3 and she ate 1 piece of chicken/bone PM Wed AM: NV rabbit, ate 5 small pieces of beef, PM NV duck, 1 small piece of bone out of 3 Tues AM & PM:NV chicken(dog) with heart added (5 small pieces) pm ate 1 piece of bone out of 2 Mon AM NV duck, PM Rad Cat chicken on a wing;licked a little off but that was it
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Post by mjbez on Jan 18, 2015 21:18:05 GMT -5
Hmm. She will eat chicken pieces but not chicken wing pieces huh? She ate a smashed up piece of wing before...
Do you have access to chicken back? I'm just wondering if the taste would make a difference.
In her non bone meals continue adding other pieces of meat. I think those need to be increased again. Looking at your menu she is only getting small pieces of things like beef etc. This allows her to be lazy and mainly eat com raw which is easier. It is a good possibility she is just holding off for her easy to eat meals. When you say "small pieces" of meat how big do you figure? Those may need to increased in size and amount with a few bone pieces snuck in.
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Post by mjbez on Jan 22, 2015 13:39:10 GMT -5
How is it going?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2015 18:26:02 GMT -5
I said a few posts ago that I feel like I was going backward; we are back to small pieces of meat because she wasn't eating if there were larger pieces in it. So I am slowly increasing the size. Yeah one time she munched on a chicken wing spontaneously. Or was I dreaming? She still is very lethargic; if I take her out and get her to play a little then she is more active for a short time, but usually ends up sleeping somewhere. Sometimes I think she's just bored-(Sophie isn't that much fun these days,) but sometime I worry there is something wrong with her.
I posted on the facebook page a package of organ grind that I got from my natural foods store. Sherry said to check the percentages and it looks like it is 75% bison meat, 5% each heart,spleen, kidneys,liver and 2% bison bone. I know that doesn't add up to 100%......but close. I am wondering if at 22% organ can I feed this once/twice a week to take care of the organ requirement. IF they will eat it.
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Post by mjbez on Jan 22, 2015 19:28:44 GMT -5
If the organ grind contains 20% organs you would need to feed it a lot more than 1-2x per week on a frankenprey diet. Now if you feed some other grinds like NV for instance that contain organs we would need to work out how many meals contain organs and work from there. But assuming you are not feeding any com raw and only the organ grind.. you would need to feed it too many times in one week. They would close need one meal a day for it to make up enough of their diet. IMHO I would stick to grinding organs and using just heart. I buy beef offal (organs) for my dogs. It contains only organs (and hearts). I tried it with my ferrets - just to see and there was no way they were going to eat it. Beef organs are pretty potent. That isn't saying some ferrets won't eat it, but with those percentages unless you are going to feed some other com raw as well, I would stick to just organs.
I am wracking my brain over why Annie is taking such a step back. I know that there are meals she doesn't get pieces in. Honestly, if they aren't in all the meals she is going to hold out for those much easier chunk free meals. So it's either all in or going with more of a com raw diet. (I'm not saying that to be harsh, but at this point she has made it pretty clear that she will wait it out to get what she prefers) It is your decision. Obviously there are benefits to a diet that contains whole bone and meat. However, a com raw diet is still a lot healthier than kibble (but will require some teeth cleaning).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 16:19:28 GMT -5
So if I just feed com raw(= NV?) do I still need to feed organs? I'm confused now. Could I just treat the bison grind like another complete meal if they eat it? (I haven't tried it yet because I am a little concerned about Annie.
Annie is eating somewhat sporadically. This morning I gave her a little over an ounce of Rad Cat chicken because I wanted to make sure she ate something, and she usually will eat that. Last nite I hand fed her (NV Dog duck with tiny pieces of heart added) and she ate about 3/4 oz. Fri am she didn't eat anything as far as I could see. That was NV (cat) chicken with 10 small pieces of turkey added. The NV is a new bag and I noticed that they have changed the formula recently; I am wondering if I was feeding them the old formula before and she is reacting to the change. I still have the old bag and I will check. Thurs morning was egg, she ate 1/2 an egg which is less than she usually eats. That nite I gave her Rad Cat chicken with 3 small pieces of neck/meat added, which she left. Wed. am was NV dog duck with some sliced beef (more like minced beef),2 small pieces of chicken wing and heart added, she ate ~3/4 of an oz and one piece of bone. PM was the same thing,she ate ~3/4 oz but left the bones. (The natural pet food store lost one of their freezers(the one with the frozen cat food in it)so I have not been able to get my usual NV cat from him-hence the dog. I can pick up the small packs of dog at Petco; but I'm hoping his freezers are back working now.) I had Sophie following me around the house the other day; she walked in front of me, turned around and pooped while looking up at me. When I cleaned it up I noticed there were hard things in it which I assume are pieces of bone. I guess I should hope its bone.. I add the same thing to hers as I do to Annie's but I think the only thing she had eaten that day was NV. I will check her weight tonite, I don't think she has lost much if any.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2015 22:16:32 GMT -5
Annie weighs 2 lbs now. She ate half of the NV rabbit this morning, tonite I tried her on the bison with a little baby food mixed in-she scarfed it up and licked the bowl. I just gave her a little, so there's also NV rabbit with some chicken breast and 2 pieces of chicken neck. Sophie's poop may have had some egg shell in it and not bone. I realized I had brushed her teeth with egg shell/coconut oil recently. But not sure. She is having some loose stools tonite and looks fatigued-I am hoping it is transient. Nothing new in her diet and it had only been 1/2 hr since she ate the bison.
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Post by mjbez on Jan 25, 2015 23:58:30 GMT -5
I read your posts and will respond as soon as possible tomorrow. Sorry, It's been a busy day.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 20:26:20 GMT -5
I don't know what is going on with my guys. Neither is eating much of the NV. I think Annie didn't eat more than a quarter of what was in her bowl this morning
Last nite I went to get Sophie to bring her to the cage and she was limp, unresponsive. Since she had had the diarrhea earlier I was very worried. I was sure she was dying. I wrapped her in my sweater and put her on the couch while I got the carrier to take her to the vet(this was 12:30 am).Come back in the room to see her walking around on the floor! Guess she was dead sleeping. I have never had her so out of it. But sooo relieved. I had her eat some watered down NV (by spooning it to her.)And this morning she was fine. Me on the other hand... tired.
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Post by mjbez on Jan 27, 2015 8:17:00 GMT -5
I'm sorry i didn't respond. I'm dealing with a very sick ferret. I believe my Mika may be giving up.
I don't suppose Annie is eating any pieces? When u asked about a com raw diet is that the route you are wanting to take?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2015 17:39:19 GMT -5
Oh, no. I understand Hoping she will get better. I can wait
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