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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 14:13:12 GMT -5
It may have been the egg last time that did it for them. Today I just put some water with the chunks, and Miri wouldn't want them at all. I'll see how she does this evening. Honey at them fine. Zack ate a little with some help from me to understand that it was edible.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 20:56:19 GMT -5
How many quail eggs my three ferrets can eat among them in a week?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 22:02:34 GMT -5
Honey just threw up the food she just ate. I think it was because she ate too fast, and didn't chew. Because all the throw-up had unchewed porks in it. I gave her an egg yolk (she refused the pumpkin). She is acting fine otherwise.
ok she is acting fine this morning as well. I found that she stole an organic body soap sampler and had bitten through the pack and probably ingested a tiny bit. So it could have been the soap, or the combination of an upset stomach and inhaling her food at a similar time. She ate well this morning. I haven't seen her poop yet, but it is very possible that she did and I just missed it.
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Post by katt on Sept 30, 2014 10:27:19 GMT -5
Good fuzz! So we know they'll eat those chunks - keep them at that size and increase from there. As for eating on their own during the day, it's best for them to have access if they get hungry even if it's just a little. As long as you know 110% that Zack is still eating enough and often enough, which you do with his supervised feedings;, I'd keep leaving a little bit out for them - it doesn't have to be much. Play with it and see how much they eat. You can always weigh the food before you put it in and after you remove it if you want an estimate of how much of it they eat on their own so you can adjust the amount you leave out to minimize waste. I always leave enough so that by the next meal time there's just a bite of two left so I know they got their fill but there's very little waste.
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Post by katt on Sept 30, 2014 10:37:46 GMT -5
The last page didn't load for me! Sorry. Quail eggs 2-3 eggs = 1 chicken egg. If it's not giving them diarrhea and it helps them eat the chunks a little egg on their meat is okay. Maybe you can scramble a few eggs and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge and drizzle a little on so they aren't getting a full egg each meal but you don't have to waste any egg. It should be fine in the fridge for a few days. Then as they feel more confident with the bigger chunks you can wean it off again. Or you can go back to smaller and work on increasing without the egg - it's enitrely up to you. Honey just threw up the food she just ate. I think it was because she ate too fast, and didn't chew. Because all the throw-up had unchewed porks in it. I gave her an egg yolk (she refused the pumpkin). She is acting fine otherwise. ok she is acting fine this morning as well. I found that she stole an organic body soap sampler and had bitten through the pack and probably ingested a tiny bit. So it could have been the soap, or the combination of an upset stomach and inhaling her food at a similar time. She ate well this morning. I haven't seen her poop yet, but it is very possible that she did and I just missed it. Uh oh! I hate it when they throw up. Koda is prone to blockages (he has a serious oral fixation...) so any time I see vomit I feel terrified. So I get the stress! If she isn't acting off and she is eating fine I wouldn't worry. They can definitely upset themselves if they eat too fast (silly buggers!). Unless she ingested quite a bit of soap or it had an ingredient that is particularly toxic it *probably* wasn't that. Soap IS an emetic but they have to eat a fair amount usually. Koda is always trying to make off with the soap bar if I let him in the bathroom and several times he's gotten in many licks before I realized what he was doing. *facepalm* Odd little creatures. LOL On a side note too they love soaps and lotions because they have a protein in them that is appealing to them. That's often why they love licking your legs or the bottom of the tub after a shower - the soap residues. I can't put lotion on my feet without being chased down by Kenai! (giggle) Keep me posted on little Honey. It sounds like she should be fine though, just a little greedy-guts. Oh! And that is super awesome about Zack!! (dance) There is a good chance that as the insu progresses he will eventually need to go back onto pred, but that stuff has some nasty side effects so the more you can keep him controlled by diet (yay raw!!) the better! (dance) Go Zack! *smooches his furry little head* lol
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 11:21:08 GMT -5
I've also read that primrose oil helps with itching skin in adrenal ferrets. I have some, and I was thinking of giving some to Miri to help with her itching. I was wondering if you knew the doses I should add it in? Or if I should make another thread to ask about that?
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Post by katt on Sept 30, 2014 11:32:20 GMT -5
I've also read that primrose oil helps with itching skin in adrenal ferrets. I have some, and I was thinking of giving some to Miri to help with her itching. I was wondering if you knew the doses I should add it in? Or if I should make another thread to ask about that? Hmm I would make another thread, I've never heard of it. I CAN say that if it is an essential oil don't use it. EO's are toxic to cats and ferrets. Is Miri implanted? If she has he implant and is still having itching problems maybe some melatonin would help. Also inspect her skin - adrenal fuzz are more prone to MCTs which make them very itchy. Often I've found what I thought was a general itchy ferret is actually one or more MCTs. Putting some 1% hydrocortisone on the MCTs 1-2 times a day really helps soothe the itching and often even helps them go away entirely. I've heard that Benadryl cream also helps the itching.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 12:00:55 GMT -5
She doesn't seem to have any MCTs I've looked her over. And it isn't overwhelming itching, but she does itch more than the others. Ok I'll ask in another thread, thanks.
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Post by katt on Sept 30, 2014 12:23:30 GMT -5
Sorry I can't be more help there, I've never heard of that oil so I'm clueless. :/ An oatmeal bath may help relieve some of the itching too.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 9:08:47 GMT -5
Our breakfast this morning - chopped and crushed turkey neck, with one quail egg and some water. Went over relatively well, Zack is still saying that he is offended by anything other than soup, but will eat it if he has no other choice. Miri and Honey ate it pretty well.
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Post by katt on Oct 1, 2014 11:21:43 GMT -5
I see some nice chunks in there. What soothes think of the bone bits, are they chewing those up okay?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 12:11:57 GMT -5
They are fine with the bits of bone. Even Zack chews them fine. We did have a couple of coughs with Miri while Che was eating, but she got over it immediately and continued on.
We are going to eat organs this evening. With the big chunks again.
They are eating the liver chunks fine, but they go around the heart bits. Too lazy to chew, I suppose.
The turkey necks this morning again, less successfully. Zack was struggling a bit, I'm worried he might have swallowed a bone or two while attempting escape. He didn't chew as much as would be good for him. The bones won't cause any problems in his digestive tract, will they?
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Post by katt on Oct 2, 2014 21:18:00 GMT -5
Nope, the bones will be digested. They will get better at eating bones as they progress. If they are chewing the bone pieces okay, try smashing them a little less - get those jaws and teethers working. I'm being slaughtered by kidneys - renal final is Monday so I won't be checking in until Mon afternoon. If something urgent come up PM Sherry or Heather.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2014 10:32:16 GMT -5
Miri surprised me in a very happy way today when I came home from class and good luck on the renal test
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2014 8:56:06 GMT -5
Hello Katt I hope the renal test went well for you. I have some news. I have another foster ferret with me since Saturday and she will stay for a little while now. She was a stray, i took her from the humane society, she is officially part of the animals under the care of the ferret shelter where i volunteer. I named her Magnolia. She is a female about 8 years old at least, by my estimate looking at her teeth. She is eating balanced chicken blended soup well. She is at the vet today to look at her teeth (which are bad), and to check for any illness like insulinoma etc. As for mine, the girls are eating by themselves in their cage. Zack is giving me trouble. He needs to be scruffed to start eating, and to continue eating. He eats the chunks and the bone, but he doesn't want to. For organ meals we eat liver extremely well. They eat chunks of it the size of a phalange. And would probably eat bigger c chunks as well, this was just t the last size I tried. But we don't eat the heart chunks as good. Would it be OK to separate heart and liver meals? Because I think we can get them to eat whole livers soon. This morning we had a breakfast of chicken gizzard chunks, with a quail egg. Is it OK to feed them gizzards as a meat for meals, or are they more of a treat/additive to a meal? UPDATE The new girl's BG is 57.6 mg/dl, so it is a bit low. But she spent the night at the shelter, where she only had kibble, and I don't know whether she ate it. She didn't eat any kibble that I offered her. Two other shelter members took her to the vet along with a couple more ferrets, the vet did not get a chance to get her examined because one of the other ferrets was quite ill and needed a lot of attention. Unfortunately as money is very tight with the shelter, this might have been her only chance in a while. They don't usually get a check up unless there is something wrong. I think I will try to feed her three times a day, to see if it helps. Then check her BG in another week or so.
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