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Post by gfountain on Jan 16, 2015 15:11:35 GMT -5
How is everything going?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2015 17:26:42 GMT -5
Hey, I'm sorry that I've been so absent. I'm very excited that we're so close. We've stalled a little bit, we're experimenting with different ways to get Piper to eat her organs. Even soup has been a little rough- like completely starting over. But she's such a good eater and her poo is so healthy than I'm not super worried. I'm thinking of making her fifth protein turkey if that's ok, because I know she loves it. That would make the complete list chicken, rabbit, beef, pork, turkey.
Also, my friend is quite the talented fisherman, and might be able to hook me up (no pun intended) better than the supermarket. Can she eat saltwater fish? Can I kill any parasites in a fresh-caught fish in the freezer?
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Post by gfountain on Jan 17, 2015 17:48:12 GMT -5
I know you've been busy. Did that baby arrive yet? How did that go?
Those organs are a necessity, so whatever you have to do to get them in her, do it. If you had multiple ferrets I wouldn't suggest this, but since you only have Piper, why don't you try mixing the organs with her other meat? If you combine her muscle meals and organ meals, you could cut everything up together and maybe she wouldn't be able to pick out the organs. Or make a soup of just the organs and pour it over the muscle meat.
Freshly caught fish are fine as long as they're frozen first, as you said. Let me check on the saltwater fish and get back to you. I'm almost positive that they're ok, but they should be the smaller varieties without the danger of mercury poisoning.
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Post by gfountain on Jan 17, 2015 20:28:55 GMT -5
The general consensus is that the smaller saltwater fish are ok. Larger fish have too much salt and mercury.
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Post by gfountain on Jan 22, 2015 17:12:05 GMT -5
Any more luck with those organs?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 13:53:18 GMT -5
Hi Gina, thank you for your patience as usual. I've been putting off getting back to you in part because I'm embarrassed that I haven't been able to get her to eat her organs. We tried soup for a little while. We even resorted to ferretone! No luck. She's even foregoing organs she always liked, like heart. We're so frustrated, just throwing away full dish after full dish of organ meals.
We even tried spacing her meals out more. We tried reserving evening bone-in meals for when she had eaten her organs... but at the rate we were going, she would've gone too hungry! I'm sorry we don't have more good news.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 3, 2015 16:11:38 GMT -5
OK. So we need another tactic to get her organs and heart into her. How about if you puree the heart and organ and use it like gravy on her other meats? Have you tried that? If she'll eat it that way, we can figure out the amount she needs per week and you can add it to several muscle/bone meals to meet the requirements.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 2:27:52 GMT -5
Hey Gina, thanks for your email. I didn't realize it had been so long. We'll try organ gravy, that ought to work.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 16, 2015 12:27:15 GMT -5
I don't know how much she is eating right now so you'll have to do the math yourself. Figure out how much she is eating PER MEAL, not per day, and make that amount of soup, using half heart, 1/4 liver and 1/4 other organ. See if she'll eat that by itself. If she will, you can make a big batch of soup and freeze it to serve 3 meals a week. If she won't eat it on its own, we'll need to figure out how much she'll need for a week and adjust the menu adding a little to each meal.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 13:24:18 GMT -5
Ok, I've begun thawing a thursday meal, which has the ratio you've suggested. Each meal has settled down to more like 1.25-1.5oz. I'll blend it up and sit with her.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 16, 2015 14:13:55 GMT -5
A Thursday meal? Add a little warm water to it to make it soupy and so it doesn't burn up your blender. Let me know if she eats it or not. We'll make adjustments as needed based on whether or not she likes it by itself.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 11:07:23 GMT -5
Yes, the meal plan that you were helping me with had a thursday meal that was 1/2 heart, 1/4 liver, 1/4 other organ (in this case, uterus). The important part: SHE ATE IT! :thumbsup: Now, why she consistently wouldn't touch it before and this time lapped up the entire meal, I don't know.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 18, 2015 12:39:46 GMT -5
Ah, now I understand. I couldn't figure out what a Thursday meal was, and I couldn't think of anything autocorrect might have corrected to Thursday, lol. A lot of ferrets refuse to eat organs unless they're in soup form, and then they love them. So Piper is one of those apparently. That's not a problem now that you know she wants her organs and heart as soup. So the next question is, do you want to do the soups just like the frankenprey menu with 1 meal of organ soup, 1 meal of heart soup, and 1 meal or heart/organ, OR do you want to do 3 meals of mixed heart/organ? That is up to you, whether you want to make 3 separate soups every week, or just make one big batch and serve it three times.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2015 14:08:46 GMT -5
I'm thinking of making one big batch and serving it three times. Piper's "dad" HATES handling organs with a passion (it's the strangest thing- such a gentle man, so furious over getting his hands dirty), so it'd probably be simpler for him too. I can't believe this is a ferret thing > man, what strange little beasties we love! (At least it's not just us!)
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Post by gfountain on Feb 21, 2015 14:26:37 GMT -5
That's exactly what I would do, simply for the ease. If you make a huge batch, rub a little EVOO in ice cube trays and freeze the soup in approx. 1 oz portions. Pop them out and store them in a container. Then when you have the soup on the menu, it will be easy to pull out exactly what you need.
How is Piper doing with her bone in meats? What size are her chunks now? Are you ready to graduate? I need you to post an updated menu, showing what she is eating now. Make sure to include 3 meals of the organ/heart soup. I'll try to post your "exam" questions in the next day or so. Once you've answered the questions correctly, I'll submit your menu for approval and you'll be done! Do you have any questions that I need to clarify about raw feeding? If so, now is the time to ask.
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