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Post by Heather on Aug 27, 2014 21:18:02 GMT -5
Name: Jessi Friel HF Forum Username: cscfriel 1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? I have primarily heard about them through face book and viewing the hollistic ferret facebook page. 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. My youngest will be whole prey frozen and Franken prey. My other two I am unsure if I should do partially or fully? They already eat some commercial in the soup form but would like them to eat franken prey style also. 3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet? My youngest already eats raw, and I would like to continue and add my other two for health benefits and the knowledge for myself. 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? Absolutely. My ferrets are always my priority, and I enjoy working with them in every aspect. I consider this to be our fun summer challenge! 5. How many ferrets do you currently have? 3 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 had all my ferrets since there were 3 months old. Shift is 5.5 years old male. He is adrenal and on the deslo implant. His weight is normal at 2.2 lbs. Cam is 4.9 years old male. He is adrenal and on the deslo implant. He recently started developing insulinoma (diagnosis in May 2014) and takes 1/4 of pred 1x a day. He is also 2.2 lbs but his weight fluctuates some (I believe due to the insulinoma). Zoe Marie is a 10 week old female (I go get her next week!) Just a young privately bred healthy female. 6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup? Shift and Cam eat a mix of Wysong Ferret Epigen 90 kibble and Natures Variety with Freeze Dried Raw Duck and Chicken formula. They also eat 2x a day the Natures Variety Duck and Chicken formulas of Raw Boost (frozen commercial raw food) in a soup form. I give them EVOO, vivify, and NV Raw Boost Minis for treats. Zoe Marie eats 1 frozen mouse a day and is (I think) on the franken prey diet (her fav is variety of chicken meats,organ, ect.). All three also enjoy baby food as a treat(turkey or chicken). 7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened? Only the fact that they do eat commercial raw in soup form. 8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share? I had my first ferret pass away earlier this year from Lymphoma. His name is Clutch. I didn't always feed my ferrets high quality kibble because I didnt take the time to learn how to be a better ferrent. I honestly believe if I would have fed him better, he would still be with us. So I give every extra ounce of my time to my ferrets to make sure their lives are enriched and healthy as possible. I miss my Clutch dearly and he has taught me to make better decisions for all of his siblings. This is why I am here 9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer? All of the time, however I am most frequently on Mon - Fri from 8 AM - 5 PM. 10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible). The image uploader does not seem to be working on here. I have tried several times and it acts like the image is uploaded but then the image is not displayed. 11. Have you met the requirements for this program? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc? I am in the progress of this. I cannot find any food item I need here in town, but everything has been ordered and should be in sometime next week. Hi and welcome to the mentoring program . In a little while your mentor (Acodlin) 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
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Post by acodlin on Aug 28, 2014 9:15:13 GMT -5
Hi Jessie, I'm Amanda and I'll be helping you make the switch! Have you tried any raw soup yet?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2014 13:55:11 GMT -5
Hello Amanda! Well much has progressed and changed since I requested a mentor. I actually have two raw eaters now who eat Franken prey style. One not mentioned above because I just got her a weeks ago is Sophie. She is Zoe's sister from same litter. My one boy Cam eats commercial raw frozen, and freeze dried but also eats kibble throughout the day be cause he is insulinomic. I am not sure that I would like to change his diet because he is insulinomic and I know he needs constant access to food. My other boy Shift is currently going through some ongoing health issues. My vet is working on a diagnosis currently. Shift is only eating kibble and baby food. He used to have the same diet as Cam but I dropped the commercial raws when he started getting sick. I personally think that he had ibd. So until I get him stable again, I can't really start changing his diet. He started becoming sick 3 weeks ago. I have learned much about rAw feeding Franken prey style for the girls since I began over a month ago. So to answer your question, we are way past the soup stage for the girls.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2014 15:47:21 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name:Zoe 2. Ferret's weight: 1.6 lbs 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. about 1.5 oz per meal, will eat some and come back later to finish the rest. 4. Stools on various proteins. Stools are normal per raw diet. 5. Activity levels: Normal activity lever for a 4 month old! 6. Weekly menu: Monday AM: 1.5 oz of muscle meat (lamb, turkey breast, chicken thigh with bone meal.) Monday Afternoon: whole weanling mouse. Monday PM: 1/2 chicken neck with bone meal and commercial raw chicken 1. Ferret's name:Sophie 2. Ferret's weight: 1.8 lbs 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. about 1.5 oz per meal, will eat some and come back later to finish the rest. 4. Stools on various proteins. Stools are normal per raw diet. 5. Activity levels: Normal activity lever for a 4 month old! 6. Weekly menu: Monday AM: 1.5 oz of muscle meat (lamb, turkey breast, chicken thigh with bone meal.) Monday Afternoon: whole weanling mouse. Monday PM: 1/2 chicken neck with bone meal and commercial raw chicken I will go ahead and post for Shift and Cam since I have not been advised otherwise from my previous post. 1. Ferret's name:Shift 2. Ferret's weight: 1.6 lbs 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. Small amounts several times a day 4. Stools on various proteins. Stools are becoming more formed since starting pred, but somewhat seedy. 5. Activity levels: Minimal. Roams the house a few times a day for now more tan 5-10 minutes and back to bed. 6. Weekly menu: Monday AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Kibble soups PM: Kibble soups. Snacks on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day. 1. Ferret's name:Cam 2. Ferret's weight: 1.8 lbs 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. Small amounts several times a day 4. Stools on various proteins. Stools are normal, formed, and correct color. 5. Activity levels: Medium - normal for an elderly ferret Roams the house a many times a day for at least 20 - 30 minutes, plays/interacts and back to bed. 6. Weekly menu: Monday AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype PM: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype w/ meds. Snacks on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day & night.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2014 15:59:17 GMT -5
A quick note about how I feed my raw with Zoe and Sophie. I try to feed a variety of bone and muscle meat at every single meal. Anytime I serve muscle meat, I always add bone meal and/or carnivoreRaw by young again. I almost always have an in bone meal at every serving also. Organs are ate several times a week too, but in smaller portions that way it equals out to their required weekly amount. A big reason I feed this way is that I like my ferrets to have a variety of foods per meal to keep them guessing and keep them from being picky. Im not opposed to feeding how the weekly menu is set up on this site, this is just how I have been doing it. Of course, balance is very important, and I find this to be an easy way to make sure they get a good balance of everything all the time.
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Post by acodlin on Sept 2, 2014 19:05:51 GMT -5
Most generally with ferrets that have insulinoma, they do not need to eat as often on a raw diet as one that is on a kibble diet. The carbs from kibble set them up for a crash if they do not eat often enough, the raw diet has lots of protein which is what keeps their BG stable. Most of us who have a ferret with insulinoma feed a meal with their pred in the morning and at night, and then 1-2 meals throughout the day and they do well with that. My izzy gets a few stella and chewy nuggets with her pred in the morning, her regular meal with everyone else, dinner with everyone else, and then right before we go to bed, again some stella and chewy or some sort of whole grind with her nightly pred dose.
Do you have a BG meter to check Cam and Shift?
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Post by acodlin on Sept 2, 2014 19:06:57 GMT -5
Sorry I forgot to tell you, saturday/sunday/monday nights I work 12 hour nightshifts as a nurse in a hospital, so sometimes I'm slower to respond during those times.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 9:25:05 GMT -5
Thank u for the info. I do have a BG meter. With Cams current diet & pred, he is stabilized anywhere from 85 - 95 on any given day typically. I have noticed especially lately that he is feeling kind of bony but hasnt actually lost weight. He has been 1.8 lbs for a long time. I have not tried actual soup form with the boys but only commercial raw soups. What is your recommendation with Shift? Maybe a partial raw diet? with commercial raw?
Yesterdays feedings for the girls were: Tues AM: Chicken thigh, Turkey, Lamb (all muscle meat)with bone meal 1.7 oz per ferret. Tues afternoon: Each 1 whole weanling mouse. Tues night: each 1 whole chicken wing cut up in sections but not drummette part was not served. They did not eat all of it though.
The boys feedings for yesterday: Shift: Tues AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Kibble soups PM: Kibble soups. Did not snack on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day or night. I guess not hungry.
Cam: Tues AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype PM: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype w/ meds. Did not Snack on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day & night. I guess not hungry either.
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Post by acodlin on Sept 3, 2014 19:52:23 GMT -5
Honestly an all raw diet will stablize their BG better than anything. The carbs from kibble will cause a spike in their blood glucose, but it will drop much much quicker than if they had a meal of protein. I only feed Izzy raw with her insulinoma and she does fantastic. I'd give them commercial grinds if that is what they eat best, and leave the freeze dried raw out for a snack.
Do you have a weekly menu for those that are eating full raw?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2014 12:57:16 GMT -5
ok this sounds like a good plan for Cam I will keep you updated on Shift and probably start adding commercial raw gradually back into his food if his digestive system will allow. Yes Ma'am I do have a weekly menu franken prey style for the girls. I really have progressed so much with the girls and the help of a private mentor/friend who has raw fed for years, Im not sure I will really have too many questions. I just signed up for this mentoring program before I knew how to raw feed over a month ago So here are yesterdays feeding: Yesterdays feedings for the girls were: Wed AM: 1/2 chicken neck each and about 3 oz of chicken thigh per ferret. Wed afternoon: Each 1 whole weanling mouse. Wed night: Chicken Heart, Chicken liver and 1/2 a chicken neck each...still seemed a little hungry so I gave them each an additional few pieces of chicken thigh. The boys feedings for yesterday: Shift: Wed AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Kibble soups PM: Kibble soups. Snack on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day or night. I am going to be gravitating away from chicken based food with Shift to Lamb. so I will try to start adding raw lamb into the mix. Cam: Wed AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype PM: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype w/ meds. Snacked on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day & night. For Cam, I like to give him 1/2 a jar of baby food every day to help fatten him up. Do u think it would be more beneficial to replace the baby food meal with a raw soup meal instead or does it really matter? I rather give him what he will benefit most from. Please give your opinions on all my progress or if you see something that I could do differently that would be more beneficial for the babies. Thank you for your help.
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Post by acodlin on Sept 4, 2014 20:43:48 GMT -5
You could start off small with your insulinoma guy, replace 1 kibble meal with 1 meal of some sort of whole grind, you can still use the chicken baby food if it's what he likes for now. I like duck or pork to help build fat. So far your menu for the others looks great. I'd have to see a whole weeks worth to make sure its balanced, but it sounds good so far.
I understand the fear of switching a ferret with insulinoma and intestinal issues, but I think raw is over all less stressful on their gut, but I would go very slowly with him. A couple table spoons worth at a time, see how his poops are, if they are good, replace 1 kibble meal with 1 raw meal for a couple of weeks and see how his tummy holds up.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2014 13:44:15 GMT -5
Hello Amanda! Thank you for the info. My insulinoma guy Cam is the one that eats commercial raw pretty good right now, so I will just start increasing the amount of commercial raw bits gradually and less freeze dried raw mixed in. I will find some duck commercial raw too For Shift, with the intestinal issues, I will work towards raw slowly. I did place a few frozen chicken raw bites in his baby food this morning and he ate them just fine. He used to eat them all the time but I stopped when he started having issues, thinking that it might have been the cause. Should I be posting what everyone eats daily or should I just post what they eat once a week? What works best for you? I will go ahead and post what they ate yesterday though! On a note about the girls, Sophie (franken style raw eater) has had greener poos that last few days but they are still formed fine. Just wanted to note the change. She acts just fine too. I will keep u updated on this. Now for their feedings: Yesterdays feedings for the girls were: thurs AM: 1/4 chicken neck each and Lamb, turkey breast, chicken thigh with Carnivore Raw supplement mixed in (1.7 oz per ferret) Thurs afternoon: Each 1 whole weanling mouse. Thurs night: 1/4 chicken neck each and Lamb, turkey breast, chicken thigh w/ bone meal (1.7 oz per ferret) The boys feedings for yesterday: Shift: Thurs AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Kibble soups w/ Stellas duck (FDR) PM: Kibble soups w/ Stellas duck (FDR)& 1 Frozen raw commercial chicken bite. Late night: Kibble soups w/ Stellas duck (FDR) . Snack on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day or night. Cam: Wed AM: Chicken Baby food with Meds. Afternoon: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype PM: Raw soups of commercial raw, stella & chewy duck, and wysong archetype w/ meds. Late night: Kibble soups w/ Stellas duck (FDR) . Snacked on kibble and freeze dried raw throughout the day & night. Additional note. I always add Olive oil to at least 1 soup meal per day and pour some on the girls meats 1x per day also. Thank you! I am ordering more food this weekend from Hare Today, so if you have any recommendations for the girls (or boys possibly) please let me know! Thank you!
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Post by acodlin on Sept 5, 2014 16:38:56 GMT -5
The green poop can mean that she is digesting things too fast, if it happens every once in a while I wouldn't worry. You might try only adding olive oil 2-3 times a week, it can cause tummy upset if given too often. You can post what they eat daily, but I'd like to see 1 weekly menu at least.
With IBD chicken and eggs can be a trigger. You might try him out on some chunks of pork and I saw you said that you have lamb, that would be a good choice. Do you feed any secreting organs such as pancreas? They need at least 1 1/2 meals of that. 1 1/2 meals of heart (this counts as a muscle meat too) and 1 1/2 meals of liver a week.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2014 16:05:13 GMT -5
Ok I won't do so much olive oil. And I will just do a weekly menu then also. Yes I do have lamb on the way! So we will definitely be trying that. I also started him on carnivore care today to help gain some weight. I do feed beef kidney for my secreting organ (actually the girls ate theirs yesterday lol) but will be order pancreas on my next order (probably today). So when u say that they need 1.5 meals of those organs, does this mean they need to eat about 2.5 oz of each every week? The girls eat approx. 1.7 oz of food every meal, so this sounds like 2 oz would be equivalent. So 2.5 oz of heart, 2.5 oz of secreting organ, and 2.5 oz of liver every week? If so I don't think I have been feeding them enough organs
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 17:55:55 GMT -5
Weekly Menu for the girls! I will post girls together since they eat the same thing each day 1. Ferret's name:Zoe& Sophie 2. Ferret's weight: Zoe 1.7 lbs Sophie 2.06 lbs! 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. about 1.7 oz per meal, will eat some and come back later to finish the rest. 4. Stools on various proteins. Stools are normal per raw diet. Sophie's appear to be a bit greenish. 5. Activity levels: Normal activity lever for a 4 month olds 6. Weekly menu: Monday AM: 1.5 oz of muscle meat (lamb, turkey breast, chicken thigh with bone meal.) Monday Afternoon: whole weanling mouse. Monday PM: 1/2 chicken neck with bone meal and commercial raw chicken
Tues AM: Chicken thigh, Turkey, Lamb (all muscle meat)with bone meal 1.7 oz per ferret. Tues afternoon: Each 1 whole weanling mouse. Tues night: each 1 whole chicken wing cut up in sections but not drummette part was not served. They did not eat all of it though.
Wed AM: 1/2 chicken neck each and about 3 oz of chicken thigh per ferret. Wed afternoon: Each 1 whole weanling mouse. Wed night: Chicken Heart, Chicken liver and 1/2 a chicken neck each...still seemed a little hungry so I gave them each an additional few pieces of chicken thigh. Thurs AM: 1/4 Chicken neck, thigh lamb turkey with Bone meal(1.6 oz each) Afternoon: Whole weanling mouse each. Thurs PM 1/4 Chicken neck, thigh, lamb, turkey with bone meal (1.7 oz each)
Fri AM: 1 part chicken wing with thigh, lamb, turkey (1.7 oz each) Afternoon: Stella Duck FDR Fri PM: 1 part chicken wing with thigh, lamb, turkey (1.6 oz each) and 30 grams each of beef kidney.
Sat AM: 1 part Chicken wing and thigh with Carnivore Raw 1.8 oz each. SAT PM: 1/4 Chicken neck and thigh with Bone meal (1.9 oz each)
SUN AM: 1/4 Chicken neck each with lamb and turkey (1.2 oz each) and .5 oz of Stella's Duck FDR each. SUN PM: Chicken Heart, chicken liver, beef kidney (.03 oz each). 1/2 chicken neck and .07 oz chicken thigh and bone meal each.
Boys menu to follow...probably tomorrow AM...Thanks!
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