Good Morning
looked at some beef stew and it said it had salt in it so I didn't buy it. Does it usually have salt?
You don't want any enhanced or flavored meats. They do put some flavorings in meat or enhance them sometimes. So, when shopping for meats, you always want to check and make sure that nothing is added, especially salt.
I've been testing out just turkey based for potential allergies. Brooklyn's poop has been diarrhea consistency, seedy and some yellow colored.
Seedy is undigested fats and the yellow may come from the dye that is often used in poultry to make it more appealing. How long has Brooklyn had diarrhea? Have you tried adding eggshell powder to help firm her poops? Diarrhea can quickly dehydrate them and cause problems. You don't want to let that go on for long.
Also of note, Brooklyn has been kinda hiccuping / slight coughing the past 2 days and had one nose snot bubble (clear) that I saw. Her activity level and appetite is the same it just seems to bother her a bit while walking around or after eating.
Ferrets don't get colds, but can catch the flu. Has she been around anyone with the flu?
Chances are that she is coughing from overgrooming. Give her an egg or try some oil in a little water. If it's simply some fur that is stuck, that will help ease the fur down. Hiccuping isn't uncommon and she might simply be a little panicky from the fur caught in her throat.
The mucus bubble would worry me, if I saw it again. I'm tagging
Heather to see what she thinks.
9oz duck stock portioned into 1oz trays for ~1/2 oz servings each -----is the duck broth ok to give to them with the duck ? It looks like grease but it has to have some bone marrow etc in it
I'm guessing that the duck stock was in the duck to make gravy with. Like you find in a turkey to help make gravy. If so, it is most likely seasoned and I wouldn't use it.
I know you are concentrating on turkey for now, but I still would like to see a good red meat in your menu. Lamb might be a good option, of course beef is less expensive.
Since you are worried about Brooklyn, here is some info that HurricaneKatt posted on the Mentors Board. Read thru it and see if there is some new info that helps you:
Protein Trial/Elimination Diet for Ferrets (Raw Diet)
Author: Katt Crouch
If you suspect that your ferret may have IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) or a food allergy then you may need to do an Elimination Diet to determine what foods cause your ferret to experience flare ups. The first and most important thing to do is to first get your ferret’s condition under control. Often this requires medications, though some ferrets do well with diet changes alone.
What is an Elimination Diet?
An elimination diet, or protein trial, is a diet in which you eliminate ALL but ONE protein/food, and slowly introduce new foods one at a time. The basic concept is to first get the symptoms under control either by meds, diet, or both, and then to test proteins to determine which ones your ferret can or cannot tolerate.
The first step in an elimination diet is typically to switch your pet onto a single, novel protein. What does that mean? A novel protein is a protein that your pet has never had before. As you may well know, most ferrets imprint on their food and if they are not used to receiving a varied diet, they may not take to a completely new protein. Typically new foods should be introduced gradually, to warm your ferret to the idea that it is indeed edible. In the case of a ferret having gastrointestinal issues however, you want to get the inflammation down as quickly as possible. Forcing a sudden change to a new food that the ferret doesn’t recognize as edible yet can cause stress, exacerbating the GI upset. So now what? IF your ferret will not accept a new meat (many ferrets who are used to a very varied raw diet will accept whatever new meat you put in their bowl), then your best choice is to choose a protein that your ferret is familiar with, but is less likely to cause a reaction.
Choosing a Meat:
Hypo-allergenic literally means low-allergenic, or something that has a very low chance of causing an allergic reaction. This does not mean that “hypoallergenic” things can’t cause an allergic reaction, just that they are less likely to do so.
Lamb and Goat: Lamb is typically considered “The Hypoallergenic Meat.” Lamb is very easy on the digestive system, easy to digest, and unlikely to cause an allergic response by the immune system. Goat meat is very similar to lamb, but is often much cheaper (if you can find it) and more widely accepted by ferrets (it is not uncommon for ferrets to snub lamb). For these reasons, lamb or goat are typically the first choice of go-to meats when starting an elimination diet.
Due to the fact that introducing an entirely new meat, I typically recommend that owners at least familiarize their ferrets with lamb and/or goat, feeding it just often enough for them to recognize it as food. This way, if you ever end up needing to do a protein trial, your ferret will already recognize lamb (or goat) as food and you can immediately go to a lamb-only diet.
Rabbit: Rabbit is another meat that, in ferrets, rarely causes an allergic reaction. Rabbit is also a great non-poultry source of edible bones. However, rabbit meat is very deficient in both fat and taurine, so even if your ferret is eating a whole-prey form of the rabbit (whole ground, whole rabbit) rabbit isn’t an ideal meat to have as a ferret’s sole dietary protein for very long. For this reason I do not typically recommend using rabbit as a starter protein for an elimination diet; however, it is a great choice for a second or third protein to introduce later.
Pork: Pork is an uncommon allergen in ferrets. Though pork is more likely to cause an allergy than lamb, goat, or rabbit, it is also a more commonly fed meat. Most raw fed ferrets are already getting some pork in their diet and will accept it without a struggle. Pork is also easily accessible at most grocery stores. It is a very fatty meat, which is helpful for putting weight back on ferrets and provides a nice balance to lean meats like rabbit.
Duck: Duck is another great meat that most ferrets with allergies tolerate well. Like pork, it is a nice fatty meat. It is also a great source of edible bones. However, duck may be difficult to find and is often costly. I do recommend feeding your ferrets duck if you have access as it is a great, fatty, darker white meat that is typically well accepted.
Turkey: Turkey is a decent source of edible bones, though many of the bones need to be smashed for a ferret to be able to eat. It is typically less expensive and easier to access than duck, but a less common allergen than chicken.
Chicken: Chicken is a very common allergen in ferrets. It is thought by many that the antibiotics or GMO-diet of chicken are more frequently the source of the problem than the meat itself. Many ferrets who cannot tolerate standard chicken CAN tolerate GMO-free, antibiotic-free, organic, free-range chicken. Chicken is typically the easiest to find source of edible bones for those feeding frankenprey style raw diets. That said, I typically try to save it for one of the later proteins to test simply because it is such a common trigger for ferrets with IBD and/or food allergies.
Beef: Beef for some reason appears to be the most common allergen in ferrets. While many argue that ferrets should not be fed beef since it is not an animal they would hunt in the wild, the fact is wild Polecats and ferrets do indeed eat carrion – including red meats such as deer, elk, etc. While these aren’t quite the same as beef, they are all red meats. Red meat is high in Vitamin B and Iron, both of which are important for a ferret’s health. With that said, beef is a very rich food and some ferrets do not tolerate it well even without allergies. Perhaps it is the richness, or perhaps it is the fact that most beef on the market is loaded with antibiotics and fed heavily GMO diets. Whatever the reason, beef very commonly causes reactions in ferrets with food allergies or IBD. This is unfortunate as beef meat, heart, and organs are typically among the easier to find and less costly food sources. I almost always save beef for one of the last proteins to introduce in a protein trial, because of the high rate of allergic reactions.
Whole Prey: Whole prey is obviously the best diet your ferret can be on. It is no coincidence that whole prey is also tolerated extremely well by ferrets with IBD and food allergies. Ferrets with IBD commonly do better with a small amount of fiber in their diet, but feeding carb-rich foods such as pumpkin or other plant matter puts strain on their pancreas and may contribute to insulinoma - the fur, teeth, and claws of whole prey provide this fibrous material without the risk of insulinoma.
Commercially Ground Raw: Commercially ground raw is often a great choice for ferrets with particularly bad IBD or other GI issues. Any inflammation in the GI tract, such as that experienced in IBD or during an allergy response, is going to reduce the intestines’ ability to properly absorb nutrients. In ground form the meat is already partially broken down, making it that much easier to digest and absorb. In addition, many commercial grinds are whole-animal grinds, and contain the fur, claws and teeth that we discussed under whole prey.
Step One – Get It Under Control:
Step ONE Means ONE Protein!
Okay, you have chosen your starting protein (which we will now refer to as your Base Protein) – now what? The first thing to do is, as mentioned above, get the inflammation under control. First you must REMOVE any proteins that you suspect may be causing the issue. Typically the best way to do this is to remove ALL proteins except for one novel protein - or at least less-likely to be the culprit protein (see above).
STOP feeding your ferret ALL meats, treats, supplements, etc except for the Base Protein. For 1-2 weeks your ferret should ingest nothing but the Base Protein, and any necessary medications. If you do not begin to see improvements within a few days, you can try some natural supplements (to be discussed). If in 1-2 weeks you still do not see any improvement, than your ferret may need medications to reduce the inflammation before progress can be made OR he may need to be tried on another protein. You should ideally be working closely with your vet during any health concerns, so discuss with your vet whether they think a round of antibiotics and Carafate might be beneficial for your ferret.
[Triple Therapy is the common medicine regime for ferrets with ulcers or IBD-like symptoms. It consists of Amoxicillin, Metronidazole, and Carafate (Sucralfate). It is best, except in severe cases, to try Triple Therapy before jumping to steroids, as steroids can have long term consequences on your ferret’s health.]
Once your ferret’s symptom begin improving, you can begin to introduce new proteins. You want to ensure at least a week on the ONE Base Protein before trying anything new as it can take time for the body to “flush” itself and clear up a reaction to previous proteins. You want to start on as clean of a slate as possible. If you do not see any improvement on the Base Protein and meds after a few weeks, you can try switching to a NEW Base Protein. You want to find something that your ferret does not react to, that you can fall back on. This is very important!
Step Two – Try Something New:
Now that your ferret’s inflammation is at least mostly under control, you can begin to introduce new meats, and supplements. The rule is ONE CHANGE AT A TIME!!!! If you change more than one thing, than it will be impossible to determine which change the ferret responded to (either positively or negatively). This applies to both new proteins AND new supplements – try one or the other, but never both at once.
Introduce changes slowly, in case your ferret has a strong reaction. Start with adding a small amount of the new protein into the next meal (I typically say about ¼ of the total meal new protein is a decent starting point), and watch for any sign of reaction. If there is no response after about 1-2 meals, then increase the new protein gradually each meal, adding more of the new protein and less of the Base Protein, until the meals are entirely the new protein. As long as there is still no sign of a reaction, feed this new protein only (nothing else) for a few days. If there’s still no reaction, then you likely have found a second protein that your ferret can tolerate – congratulations! You can now feed both your Base Protein, and the Second Protein interchangeably.
If there is any sign of a reaction during your trial of the new protein, then immediately stop giving the new protein and revert back to the Base Protein Only diet. Go back to step one - get your ferret’s inflammation back under control, and then try a different protein by the same process.
This same process applies for testing supplements. Try one supplement for a few days and take note of any changes for the better OR the worse. If there is any reaction to the supplement, immediately stop and get things back under control before proceeding forward with any new changes (either protein or supplement). If the supplement doesn’t seem to help or hurt, then there is really no benefit in giving it and you should likely just remove it unless it is something you feel your ferret really needs (e.g. a taurine supplement if your ferret isn’t eating heart). Supplements are like medications – you should only give them when absolutely needed. If the supplements help however, you now have another tool in your arsenal to help reduce your ferret’s inflammation during an IBD or allergy flare up.
Step Three: Variety
Step 3 is to keep doing what you have been doing. Slowly introduce one new protein at a time, backtracking to the Safe Proteins whenever there is a reaction. Gradually build your ferret’s variety back up. Also, experiment with different feeding methods. Does your ferret do better with slow changes between safe proteins, or constant rotation? Does he do better with supplements or without? Are there environmental stresses that could be contributing to flare ups? Pay attention – these things are important.
Proteins that Cause a Reaction:
Supplements:
Pancreatin:
Slippery Elm Bark:
Reishi:
Call of the Wild:
Pet G.O.:
Probiotic Powders:
Kefir:
She also stresses the importance of keeping a food journal. It should include:
Each Meal: Protein eaten, Form (e.g. soup vs chunks vs whole prey), Amount eaten
Supplements/Meds given and amounts
Energy level
poop - color, texture, size, consistency, Rate 1-5 on a scale of good to bad
Notes: anything important - did something stressful happen today, something unusual, forgot to give meds, super itchy, grinding teeth, vomited, etc etc