Mouse's Switching Thread / Wildferret

[Heather]

Name: Emily
HF Forum Username: mouse

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

In the research I did before getting my first ferret last year, I vaguely remember reading that ferrets can eat raw meat. After I joined the Holistic Ferret group on Facebook, I learned what feeding raw is all about

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 would like to fully switch to raw fed, not whole prey.

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

My first ferret, Louie, died from bladder stones, and I think it was caused by a poor diet. I want to keep my other two as healthy and happy as possible.

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! And I have my husband to help 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. Macie is an 11 month old girl, and Harley is a 4 month old boy.
Macie gets frequent bladder infections and is currently on an antibiotic for pneumonia. She's very petite, and I worry about her being underweight. She's 1.1lbs Harley seems healthy, but he's a heavy breather and coughs sometimes. He's a lot bigger than Macie but he's still growing into himself, so he has baby fat! He's 2.8lbs


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

They are currently eating Orijen Regional Red cat food. It's literally the best I could find, besides Wysong. They get to eat laxatone when I do their nails, and I'm hoping to find a gooey treat without all the vegetable oils in it to replace the lax. I do feed them Marshall's Duk soup, which they eat willingly most of the time and sometimes need some encouragement.
They eat eggs if they're mixed in with soup. I've also infrequently fed them coconut oil and tried olive oil but they didn't like it.
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?

One of the reasons I feed them Orijen is because back when Macie was eating food that had chicken in it, she occasionally pooped lime green poops. It was suggested to me by an experienced ferret owner to stop feeding chicken because that may be what she's reacting to. Ever since the switch to Orijen, she has not pooped green for a long time and I'm nervous to buy a bunch of chicken meats only to find out that she can't tolerate it. What is my best plan of action? Should I make soup with chicken some days and another poultry other days?

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

I have a smartphone, but limited data. When my data runs out at the end of the month (I've been using it like crazy this week reading everything on the HFF!), I'll have to find a WiFi hotspot in town, which won't be hard, just not convenient.

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

Hi and welcome to the mentoring program . In a little while your mentor (Wildferret), 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 :boing: Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao

[Deleted]

Hi! I'm Wildferret and I will be taking you though your switch. I have seven ferrets, Buzzy, Clint, Tootsie, Muppy, Rikki, Echo, and little Flake. There are several areas we need to work on. We will begin tomorrow.

[Deleted]

Do you have everything you're supposed to? Blender, access to different proteins, organs, etc?

[Deleted]

Hello! I'm so excited! Sorry I have not replied to this until now, my husband and I are on vacation in Chicago for the weekend.

I do have everything needed and have already started the switch. Also I acquired a new ferret, Rio! Gotta love ferret math

I have a switching thread in the diet transitions board (I think that's what it's called).
Let me know where we can go from here

[Deleted]

At what point are you?

[Deleted]

We are still at the soup stage, but I don't add water to my soup anymore, so it's basically ground meat. All 3 are off kibble completely.
At the beginning they ate slivers perfectly, until I added more slivers than soup. Now they barely eat anything if there are slivers or chunks in the soup.
I often add ground beef or ground pork to get them used to different tastes. They love the ground pork!

Macie eats about 1.5oz per sitting, Harley 2oz, and Rio 1oz.

[Deleted]

My current soup recipe is as follows:

8oz chicken thigh
2oz beef liver
1oz turkey heart
3/4 tsp ground eggshell (Macie's poops were runny so I increased the amount)

Like I said in my last post, I don't add water anymore, so it's not even a soup consistency.

[Deleted]

Gonna have to get them to eat slivers. Cut the slivers about the same size as the half moon on your fingernail and add a very small amount. Let them get hungry and they'll eat it.

[Deleted]

Try drizzling a little salmon oil on it.

[Deleted]

We are heading home from vacation now, so I will put slivers in their supper tonight and see how it goes.

Would you like to read my switching thread or should I summarize it here?

[Deleted]

Summarize it here.

[Deleted]

I started with 2 ferrets, Macie and Harley. Macie weighed 1lb 10oz, and Harley weighed 2lbs 8oz.
My original recipe was as follows:

8oz turkey thigh
2oz turkey liver
1oz turkey heart
1/2 tsp egg shell
8oz water

Every time I prepared a meal, I mixed hot water in to warm it, along with duk soup powder to make it familiar and encourage them to eat.

They officially started raw on July 25th, and I fed them twice daily. They didn't eat much at first, but within a week they were each eating at least 1.5oz per meal, so I felt comfortable taking the kibble away.
I started cutting up Turkey thigh and adding small chunks, which went super well at first, but now when I do it they only eat a few bites and are done.
When Macie doesn't eat enough, her poops get unusually tiny, like the size of a pebble.

I slowly weaned them off the duk soup powder and only used it when they refused to eat.

I bought ground beef and mixed it into the soup, and they loved it!
I eventually ran out of turkey thigh, so I started buying chicken thigh from the grocery store instead. They were reluctant to eat the new recipe, but eventually got used to it.

Once I knew that they were eating enough independently, I started leaving food in their cage for them overnight and during the day when I'm at work. It seems to work better, because they can eat when they want, they never go hungry, and they're both retaining a healthy weight and have healthy poops so I know they're eating enough. I wish I knew exact amounts, but I'm just glad they're eating. Most of the time, they have eaten everything in their bowl by the next mealtime.

I brought Rio home on August 5th. He's a 2lb 6oz male, 2 years old and fed horrible kibble all his life. At first he didn't want to touch raw, so I decided to switch him to Orijen Regional Red kibble before he ran out of his old kind. He made the switch in a week.
In the meantime, I ordered ground pork with the organs and bones in it, and mixed that in with their soup. They loved that too! Once I saw Macie find a bone and she chewed on it for a minute before swallowing most of the time they both just eat the bones without chewing.

Rio was nervous and had a hard time adjusting to his new environment, so I waited a while to start switching him to raw. He ate his first bites on August 17th! A week later, he was eating pretty well, so I moved Macie and Harley into his cage and they all live together now.

Not long after that, I ran out of turkey liver, so I started using beef liver instead. All 3 ferrets were reluctant to eat. It took Macie and Harley a full day to start trying it, but Rio didn't eat raw again for another week. When he finally got back on it, it took coaxing to get him to eat enough.

Throughout the switch, I gradually decreased the amount of water in the soup, and now they're down to zero water, so it's just ground meat. Each time I make a new batch, I blend it less than the last, so there are bigger pieces.
I had to increase the eggshell, since Macie's poops were so runny and her bottom was irritated and minorly prolapsed. So my current soup recipe is as follows:

8oz chicken thigh
2oz beef liver
1oz turkey heart
3/4 tsp egg shell
And no water!

I usually mix ground pork in with each serving. They all like it and I like that they're getting used to bones that way.

[Deleted]

Sounds as though you are making good progress. Continue as you are. If you have a problem getting them to eat, drizzle some salmon oil on the food.

[Deleted]

I forgot to mention that they get one egg a week, between the three of them. They're shedding, so should I increase the eggs?

They also get 1/2tsp salmon oil every third day. It took a lot of convincing to get Harley and Macie to eat it, and Rio still won't touch it.

Tomorrow I plan to feed them ground bunny from hare today mixed in with their regular grind.

[Deleted]

You can give them two eggs a week.