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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2014 13:47:40 GMT -5
Well my wal-mart sucks I guess because I could not find any cornish hens. They were all turkeys, but I will keep looking. Also, mu lamb muscle meat I used to feed is no longer being sold either and...I cannot locate these pork rib ends...I find beef ribs I think but nothing else so It appears I will have to do another online order whenever I get a little more room in my freezer. This upcoming week, I will be feeding organ types separately. Sophie seems to be picky about the beef kidney and thats not gonna happen! Still no luck with mice and Sophie. I may do away with mice after we finish off this last bag of them...Sign
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Post by acodlin on Oct 28, 2014 16:53:22 GMT -5
Raw egg is a good "maintenance" food to use for hairball prevention. It binds to the hair and helps it pass. You could try quail or duck eggs instead of chicken. Pumpkin is about the only other hair ball prevention I use, and I only use it if I think they are beginning to get one.
Beef kidney is strong tasting. My kids are NOT a fan of it either.. I have to hide it in grinds or other organ mixes, and usually they pick around it.
I think your menu's look pretty good, I'd just like to see more variety in the protein. I know it's hard to find stuff sometimes. I've gone to my butcher several times and asked him to get me certain things. It's worth a try if you have a local one.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2014 14:44:20 GMT -5
I have had more success with the beef kidney this week by making Sophie eat it first before anything else! Cuz she is hungry I guess LOL. Zoe is eating all organs just fine, she makes my life easy LOL. We do have a meat shop in town but I guess they do not butcher..I have asked them on several occasion about different things and they always tell me no I promise I will get more proteins in as soon as I can place another order from Hare Today. Shift is having Diarrhea again IDK what to do anymore. I am worried I am gonna have to keep him on pred constantly. Am probably going to take him up to an exotic vet that is 5 hours away from me to get a second opinion on how to treat his issues. He was doing so good on the lamb diet and now were down hill again
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Post by acodlin on Oct 30, 2014 18:34:22 GMT -5
Shift may just have to be on pred. Some are harder to manage with IBD than others. Even limiting their diet they can still have diarrhea.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 10:36:11 GMT -5
I was also thinking of that too Poor guy. He has been back on for about 2 days now and they seem better again.
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Post by acodlin on Nov 2, 2014 9:40:03 GMT -5
Does your vet recommend childrens immodium when they have diarrhea? Some vets will, mine still says to use pepto bismal. It helps and I'll use it in a pinch short term if someone is having lots of diarrhea
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 13:35:44 GMT -5
Yes my vet does still recommend pepto. I have never used it tho, cuz I thought it was not good for them. His stools seem better currently but of course I still have him on a small dose of pred too.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 13:43:42 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name:Shift 2. Ferret's weight: 1.75 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. Medium to Large bowls of soups, apprx 1.3 oz...most FDR & kibble in between meals. Seemed to be regressing on the FDR and eating more kibble again. Any tips on this? 4. Stools on various proteins. Been ok as long as he is on pred. 5. Activity levels: Normal 6. Weekly menu: Shifts weekly Menu consisted of the same thing every day and 3x a day. Its NV frozen raw lamb, Stella and Chewy's Dandy Lamb FDR, Ziwi Peak for Cats Lamb formula, NV Lamb Raw boost powder formula. 1. Ferret's name:Cam 2. Ferret's weight: 2.09! LBS 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 1.3 oz of soup 3x a day. Appetite seems to have decreased some and not snacking as much in between meals..Just soups. Not sure if I should be worried. 4. Stools on various proteins. Normal 5. Activity levels: Cam's weekly menu is exactly the same as Shifts
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 13:56:33 GMT -5
Weekly Menu for the girls! I portioned out their organs for the week on Sunday. So please note that I will write organ mix on the times that I fed the organs. This weeks organ selection consisted of a mix of Beef Kidney, Chicken Liver, and Chicken heart. I fed about 1.3 Oz of Heart. .80 oz of Beef Kidney, and 1.3 oz of liver PER FERRET, throughout the week.
I will post girls together since they eat the same thing each day
1. Ferret's name:Zoe& Sophie 2. Ferret's weight: Zoe 1.90 lbs Sophie 2.18 lbs 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. about 1.3 oz per meal 4. Stools on various proteins. Poos are looking great! 5. Activity levels: Normal 6. Weekly menu:
Monday AM:Chicken neck. PM: POrk and heart
Tues AM:Chicken wing. PM: POrk and liver
Wed AM: Chicken neck. PM: Chicken wing and heart.
Thurs AM:Chicken neck. PM: Chicken thigh and gizzard with Bone meal and carnivore raw
Fri AM: Chicken wings. PM: liver and pork
Sat AM: Beef Kidney (they were not happy about this LOL) Zoe a mouse. some FDR duck too. PM: Chicken neck
SUN AM: Turkey and carnivore raw. PM: Liver, heart and chicken.
I finally found some Cornish Hen and its that prospect farms brand! It is currently thawing and I will be chopping it up tonight!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 17:24:40 GMT -5
Below I copied a pasted a food item I found on Hare today. Do you think this would work as another source of meaty bone protien? Here is the link too: www.hare-today.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_37&products_id=86Pork Bones -SMALL. 2 lbs $7.58 Pork Bones -SMALL. 2 lbs Click to enlarge For smaller breed dogs and also for cats. These will be mostly rib bones cut into small pieces, packaged approx. 2 lbs. lbs per bag, vacuum sealed. This food is low in Sodium. It is also a good source of Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Phosphorus and Zinc, and a very good source of Protein, Thiamin and Selenium.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 17:30:52 GMT -5
Also, I found that they have whole dressed quail on Hare today too (for another protien source) however, Im not sure I can cut one of those up so I dont think this is really an option. I do like the thought of using ground meats with bone and organ as another protien source but it appears the girls dont like ground stuff so far. Is it the texture maybe? any tips on this? ground would make great soupies if they ever get sick, so I would really like them to eat ground meats.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 17:31:48 GMT -5
I keep thinking of things after I post LOL! If feeding ground foods frequently, this would probably cause buildup on their teeth wouldn't it?
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Post by acodlin on Nov 6, 2014 9:29:23 GMT -5
Sorry I've not been on as much this past week. I went home to ohio to visit family and to take my hybrid boy to a cardiologist at OSU for some diagnostic tests.
As long as they eat at least some bone, eating a few meals of ground meat shouldn't hurt. Now if they do not chew on bones and eat only grinds, then their teeth will get icky and need brushed. I feed whole grinds at least once a week. You can try starting off with something they like, mmaybe ground chicken? Mix other grinds into it. Drizzle it with a favorite oil, or mix some chunks of chicken into it.
Dressed quails are not hard to cut up. I butcher rabbit, duck and fryer chickens all the time. It's all about separating the bones at the joint and cutting right at the joint, it'll come apart easily. I'd give the quail a try, I bet they would love it. The pork bones would probably work, you might have to smash them with a hammer to make it more enticing for them. Ferrets seem to hate working hard for their food lol.
Did the girls like the cornish game hen? As for shift regressing back to kibble, my best advice is to either take the kibble away, or not leave it out all the time. If its not there he might be more likely to eat the FDR.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2014 12:39:22 GMT -5
Sorry It has taken so long for me to reply. I hope your boy that went to the cardiologist is ok! The girls have been enjoying the cornish hen but Ive been trying to get them to eat the ground chicken and they just dont want too lol. I really think its the texture or something. I even put ferretone and olive oil on it and they ate a tiny bit. Any more tips with this? maybe I should just stuff it in there mouth LOL For the quail, if I get it, will it be like full of the blood and guts? I dont really know how to butcher things. Even with the cornish hen, I wasnt real sure where to chop everything at...but it still turned out ok.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2014 12:57:56 GMT -5
I have a few questions: 1. Cams poop seems too firm now sometimes, will pumpkin soften it up or should I use the probiotic? or something else? 2. When I feel the girls eggs, I only feed the yolk. Zoe is not fond of egg, so I have to spoon feed her some until she refuses any more.(Im thinking she eat about 1/4 of a regular chicken egg yolk) How do I know if she is getting enough egg for it to be an effective hairball preventative? 3. Shift seems to be dropping weight still but poops are fine and he eats fine. He will not eat the fdr so much at all anymore, so Ive just been leaving kibble out and he seems to snack on it. I know he eats enough soups to suffice his meals as a whole though. So I decided to switch to Origen regional red for kibble (should be in today) so he wont be consuming any poultry type foods. Im not sure how much further I can progress with him on switch to FDR. Im worried to stress him out more and cause more digestive issues, which may cause him to lose more weight. He seems to be at a happy medium right now. He eats 1.3 oz bowls of lamb soups 3x a day plus minimal kibble snacking. So I may just stick with this pattern if you think that would be ok? 4. Cam has not been snacking at all in between soup meals. I think because the bowls of soup are pretty large. 1.3 oz 3x a day. He is my insulinoma baby, so of course this worries me that he goes all night long without eating. I did however check his BG yesterday after 4 hour fast and it was 101 so maybe his BG is just staying higher and keeping him fuller cuz of the raw soups?
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