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Post by bitbyter on Dec 1, 2014 0:26:39 GMT -5
Sounds good. I'd suggest slowly increasing the amount of solid foods vs. the amount of soup. They are eating raw well now so it is time to move them slowly onto solids only.
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 3, 2014 19:44:18 GMT -5
Any updates?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2014 19:31:54 GMT -5
I am doing exactly what you suggested. They are eating about half raw chunks with half freeze dried. I'm slowly adding crushed chicken wing bones. I'm not aiming very high right now. Sorta maintaining the status quo while I prepare for my leave of absence at school. A semesters worth of lesson plans for 11 different classes isn't easy. Time is very limited. So as long as they keep gaining weight and eating the proffered menu I will be sending reports every three or four days for a few weeks. After Christmas... Look out for the onslaught of chicken wings and frankenprey! I always find time for facebook .
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 4, 2014 22:37:39 GMT -5
Ok, sounds good.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 19:22:07 GMT -5
Grizzly ate a whopping 4 ounces tonight in addition to the 2 he ate this morning! Snickers isn't far behind he's shoveling down 2-3 1/2 ounces daily. All is well... pork is a favorite. Gonna try them with turkey this weekend. I have family coming in from out of town this weekend the chaos begins...
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 8, 2014 20:51:38 GMT -5
Wow!! Are they still mainly on FDR or are they progressing to solids?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2014 20:03:36 GMT -5
They are eating chunks of chicken some as long as an inch and half inch thick. They are eating about 1/3 freeze dried, 2/3 raw chunks (chicken thigh or wing, and/or pork). I've really been mixing things up. So no taste becomes too familiar. Snickers really tried hard to eat a chicken wing last night. The remainder is somewhere in my home. Really grateful it wasn't under my pillow last night. My first goal after the 19th and I will be on leave, is to get them tasting and eating innards. They will eat the freeze dried, but fresh ones are a whole different problem.
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 10, 2014 21:31:57 GMT -5
Keep reducing the freeze dried until they are fully on solids and great idea. The next step is definitely going to be organs. After that, bone in meats. Chicken gizzards are great for developing jaw strength before they get to bone in meats.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 19:01:46 GMT -5
After reading Scott's facebook post about using the glucose monitor and (I don't remember who) someone's post about legs sliding out on an insolimic ferret. I'm wondering if my Sidney is insolimic? He isn't gaining much weight, he shuffle walks, doesn't eat as enthusiastically as the others. He's 4 years old, deaf and dew colored with blue eyes. What do you think?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2014 8:33:44 GMT -5
I'm back in business... Pun intended. So this is where I am with diet. All four are eating raw chicken chunks (crushed bone in wings and thigh meat) with the largest size being and inch long, half an inch wide. Liquid is warm water for thawing. To this I sprinkle 1/4 tsp taurine powder, and a dusting of freeze dried chicken liver. I finally have Sid on board, he is consuming 2-3 ounces daily. I plan to eliminate the water with your permission and begin feeding chopped chunks of bone in chicken wings and thighs, every other day. Alternate days will be freeze dried whole prey. This week I will introduce egg, Grizzly loves them, the rest think they are pewie. So egg will slowly introduced in the freeze dried menu this week, next week will be devoted to raw liver. What do you think?
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 21, 2014 8:39:41 GMT -5
Sounds good but if they are eating bone in meats then they don't need the taurine powder. Have you been able to find fresh heart and other organs besides liver?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2014 8:21:51 GMT -5
I have freeze dried hearts, chicken... I think? Need to look at the bag. We need to go to our local butcher for the other organs. I have liver in the fridge, ready to go; but,I need advice as to how to introduce. They smell so strong. I know my guys are going to think I am, once again, going to poison them. Should I purchase some salmon oil? They love coconut oil, but I only use a smidge on their bellies so I can clip nails.
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 22, 2014 10:44:19 GMT -5
There are a few ways to introduce liver. One way is to puree it and add it to their soup (there should have been liver in their soup from the beginning). You can chop it really small and add it to their meats. Lastly you can freeze it, cut it super thin and then lay it over their meat. When it thaws, it creates a kind of "coating" over the meat.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2014 22:50:40 GMT -5
With whole animal, freeze dried, the liver and organs have always been a stable part of their diet. But I have never fed them fresh liver. The past two weeks is the first time I have been feeding just raw with a sprinkling of freeze dried on top. Tonight I introduced them to their raw feeding area (corralled area off the laundry room). Everyone, except Sidney, is eating large chunks of thigh meat. Everyone, except Sidney, is maintaining weight or increasing. Sidney is going to be the death of me. His weight is down 1 3/4 ounces from last week (I usually weigh on Saturday, but forgot until tonight). He is in his full summer coat. I am going to make an appointment with the vet and have him checked for insolimia. I will have the others checked also, so I have a baseline. I have been reading all I can about insolimia and he doesn't exactly fit the profile. He is high energy, always has been. His legs splay out from under him, but He has always been slightly spastic. He does try to eat whatever requires the least amount of effort to chew. But he does eat chunks, he's just not eating large "gotta work it" chunks. Any thoughts? He ate with gusto Tonight, he ate for a solid ten minutes, shuffled away and came back for more.
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 24, 2014 10:20:04 GMT -5
Sounds like he is just being lazy. Have his teeth looked at. I doubt insulinoma but bad teeth can have an impact on their willingness to chew. If he is in a summer coat now he is probably a backwards baby like my Wilma. She has a summer coat in winter and a winter coat in summer.
Just keep giving the size of chunks you are giving now for a few days. He'll probably come around. My Wilma is a lazy eater as well, always going for the best / easiest bits. He'll eat when he has to. Just leave the meat with them.
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