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Post by gfountain on Dec 16, 2014 22:40:34 GMT -5
I typed sweet oil up there not really thinking about what I was typing. Basically, sweet oil is olive oil packaged for sale in health food stores. My vet gave me this bottle of sweet oil so I use it, but any kind of oil will do the trick, lol.
How much you should be giving them depends on how much they're eating. Have you weighed their meals before and after they eat to see how many ounces they're consuming? If not, you really should do that. The amount of liver they get should be the equivalent of one meal of anything else.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2014 23:17:39 GMT -5
But when you say give them chicken thigh with liver slivers and they eat 2 oz each, it would be 1 oz liver and 1 oz chicken each? And tonight I gave them really huge chicken thigh chunks with bone. They both gnawed on the pieces pretty well but when Coco was eating a piece, he was gagging at points and one moment he scared me because he started wheezing and stood still for a few seconds. It was as if he was choking on a piece of bone. In fact I heard him wheeze and hack up a piece and chew it. Is this okay? I worry he's going to choke next time. And also, I found this in the corner where they eat. It looks like one of them threw up heart, I'm not sure...
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Post by gfountain on Dec 17, 2014 10:20:20 GMT -5
The ratio of thigh to liver really depends on how well they're eating the liver. During the transition, while we're working up to a whole meal of organ, we usually have to mix just a few of the organ slivers in with the chicken and gradually increase the size and number of organ pieces while decreasing the amount of chicken. I don't think they've had JUST liver before, have they? Are they already eating it with no problem? If they are, you can skip the 'add liver' days and go directly to a whole meal of liver. If they're hesitating or not eating the liver, just add maybe a tsp of liver slivers to their chicken and start increasing the amount every time I said to 'add liver'. There's not really a set amount that they need on those days; we're just getting them used to the texture and taste.
Gagging while eating is usually from trying to eat too fast and/or trying to take too big a bite. They'll learn. He successfully hacked up whatever was too big and chewed it up, so that's good. The huge pieces of thigh with bone.. did they actually eat the bone or just chew on it? How are their poops, still formed?
And I can't see the picture here at work, so I'll check on it when I get home. You're doing great!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 13:22:20 GMT -5
Okay gotcha Just didn't want to be giving too much or too little of liver, but I see it doesn't matter right now. They've never just had liver. Chanel eats it but gotta keep trying with Coco! I'm happy to say Coco likes to sit and eat a piece of chicken with the bone. I can't really explain what size the chunks are...definitely bigger than a quarter. They'll both grab a piece from the bowl and work on it outside of the bowl. They like to shake it too which I find funny because it's not alive, hehe. (they shake because they are trying to kill it, right?) So they are both eating bone! Their poops are good too a little runny but I'm sure it's fine.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 13:45:01 GMT -5
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Post by gfountain on Dec 17, 2014 14:03:35 GMT -5
I'm so glad Coco has decided to get on board with eating raw! It is funny to see them do the kill shake on their food, lol. But I think they sometimes shake it to help rip a bite off. Slinkee used to shake his so hard it would fly out of the cage. He almost shook himself out of the cage once. Since then, I close the door on the side their food is on. Their poops would be loose because they're still not eating ENOUGH bone. Sprinkle a tiny bit of eggshell powder or bonemeal on their meal once a day to firm them up... just barely enough to see on the meat. Once the bone-crunching is easier for them and they're eating more of it, their poops should be fine. Liver amount IS something that needs to be regulated as too much liver can result in vitamin A toxicity. BUT right now, during a switch, we don't worry TOO much about it. We do whatever it takes to get them eating it, even if that means they get some every single meal for a little while. As long as they're only eating it when it's listed on the menu, they'll be fine. I'm not going to let you overdose them on liver, lol. @poncesmom, THANK YOU!! You're an angel.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 18:42:23 GMT -5
I'll check it out thank you! I live in the city
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 18:45:03 GMT -5
Slinkee is so cute LOL what a determined little guy! And yeah I figured you wouldn't let me kill my ferrets, I trust you!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 13:12:19 GMT -5
I forgot but is it alright to let them stash bone and eat it later? Coco is all for gnawing on a piece of bone-in chicken! I think since he's a chewer he likes it. Chanel seems to have trouble learning how to chew and tear. The pieces are still too big for him I think I don't know if it's because of his jaw or what. He loves chicken heart though and the liver.
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Post by gfountain on Dec 18, 2014 16:05:34 GMT -5
The worst thing about stashing bone is that sooner or later it's going to stink. It is safe though, because they won't eat it if it's bad. I am a little worried about Chanel's jaw problem. I think he will have more trouble with the bones and big pieces. You may need to compensate for him by cutting his pieces smaller.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 19:24:56 GMT -5
That's no problem at all. I feel sorry for him because of it. And did you get a chance to see the pic above? I'm just wondering why one of them puked it up.
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Post by gfountain on Dec 18, 2014 23:57:35 GMT -5
I'm sorry. I forgot to check on the puke picture. There are a lot of reasons he could have thrown up.. he could be sick, but if he were I'd expect more than one episode. The meat could have been bad, but then he most likely would not have eaten it. He could have a sensitivity to that protein (what was it?); if so, he should have diarrhea also. The heart could be too rich for his little system; if that's it, he'll adjust to it. He could have eaten too fast or eaten too much; that's not too unusual, he'll learn. Honestly, unless it happens with regularity, I wouldn't worry about it. Note what protein it was after and watch what happens next time you feed that protein. If there's a problem with a protein, it should cause a similar reaction every time you feed it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 12:21:08 GMT -5
Thanks I think he ate it too fast, it hasn't happened since, and I think it was heart.
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Post by gfountain on Dec 19, 2014 14:12:31 GMT -5
Did you try giving them whole wings? And this morning was introducing ground turkey. How did that go?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2014 22:44:10 GMT -5
They just want to try and stash a whole wing, lol. I still have to chop it up for them. I'm still working with them on the turkey! Starting over with it, I should say.
Have a Merry Christmas!!!
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