Lefertmama's Switching Thread / AbbyLee22

[lefertmama]

WOW was at the grocery store today 1 whole chicken no organs was $23.00 like holy crap lol. I emailed the MDF people about bone content, they say seeing how they grind the who animal they cannot give a bone percentage on their products as each animal they grind has different weights and densities he did say it would be over 10% due to the fact they grind the whole animal not just portions. A trip to the butcher is in order for the weekend he's got a new batch of goodies for me.

[lefertmama]

Well Abby I think you are right, Jagger is showing seasonal confusion and now LouLou (his littermate) is starting the get in her new coat. The kids had an all organ meal this morning, always a hit, I did add 1 tsp of eggshell powder to is as they tend to have runnier poos with organ meals.

[Deleted]

I am sure it is fine then, if they do just toss in the whole animal. There are some grinds that have quit a bit less because they are geared towards cats who need a LOT less calcium than ferts. And honestly, it's all about the poops. If they seems loose after a grinds meal than maybe the content was a little low and add a bit of eggshell powder or bonemeal to up the calcium content. And also, one loose stool, especially after an organ meal if FINE. Will not hurt them one little bit and is expected. That is why it is best to do a BI the next meal. I only say this because sometimes adding eggshell could make the NEXT poop too firm. Just be observant and aware (which I KNOW you are ) and adjust as needed. Remember, it's all about the poops! haha

[lefertmama]

Poop watch it is lol, Jack had a lovely organ poo lol, Today they had some duck breast slivers in their Breaky (MDF Chicken), they haven't had that yet, Jack and Jagger took to it, the other 3 I had to hold them to take a mouthful, not scruffing just holding, LouLou proceeded to be the princess she is and snubbed it all the way, I even tried to stuff and she proceeded to spit it out and give me the how dare you look, lmao. I have some wings thawing for tonight's meal. Cyrano is not eating much I think he prefers the meals with the purred organs in it and is just being stubborn, he is eating just not as vigorously, but also could be realizing he won't starve for a couple of days. Like at his old home, so I am watching his weight closely, he does prefer to eat before going to sleep so I don't really see him doing it, otherwise he is very active and not showing any signs other than appearing to not eat as much.

[lefertmama]

Ferret Tracking Jan 18 - Jan 24
Meals Same for All:
Sun-Am&PM MDF Turkey and Bone,
Mon-AM MDF chicken and bone with 2 egg yolks, PM Turkey Breast Slivers with salmon oil.
Tues-AM MDF chicken and bone, PM MDF Turkey and bone 1 tsp EVOO
Wed-AM&PM MDF Turkey and Bone
Thurs AM-Organ meal, 4 chicken liver, 2 oz of beef kidney, 6 chicken hearts, 1 tsp eggshell powder
Thurs PM- Turkey Breast Slivers
Fri AM MDF chicken and bone with 3oz diced duck breast, PM MDF Chicken with bone
Sat AM & PM Chicken Wings and Duck Breast

Cyrano: 34.1 OZ
Eating a little less 1 oz per meal approx
Very active, slightly runny poos on a couple of days better now

LouLou: 31.5 oz
Having to spoon feed, hoards food but not eating it
Activity levels better this weekend, was under the weather for the week
Runny poos in mid week, may be protein change, not a fan of duck

Jagger: 45.7 oz
Eating more, enjoying the duck
Normal activity, good poos

Jack: 51.3 oz
Loving the slivers and chinking food,
Eating more and playing more
Good poos

Milo: 52.4 oz
Piggy, longest at the bowl
Tires first, but very active when up
Good Poos

[Deleted]

Menu looks good, great variety. LouLou is funny. What a princess! Just keep up the stuffin, she will come around. You can also try hiding it in her favorite meal. Sometimes you gotta trick these girlies into eating things that are good for them. hehe Do a 80/20 ratio with the good/'bad' and keep more 'bad' (ie what she doesn't like) until she is eating it mostly. I had to do that when first adding beef. Tends to be more pungent and they don't like the 'weird' smelling things.

[lefertmama]

Wow it sure has been busy around here, my daughter had a really bad case of the Flu, I kept her far away from the fur kids, well not good enough, LouLou now has the Flu, she is now being fed soupies with lots of heart, her fav, but she is drinking water on her own and still walking around but very lethargic and not playing, we have her on antibiotics and close watch,she is resting comfortably in our sick cage, she has visually lost weight already, I pray she makes it through this, I have been through the Flu with ferrets before and it is always scary. Unfortunately I have to be at work and hope she will do well on her own for a few hours, She is eating and drinking on her own at this point and being in the sick cage, no climbing is needed to access food and water. If she does get worse I will have to bring her to work. Praying it doesn't get that bad, she's strong and young and I think she will be just fine.

[lefertmama]

The fur kids are doing good, LouLou is getting better with the help of Antibiotics, she is back in with the others. Today I rescued 2 more girls, Luna 6yrs and Honey 3 years, they smell so bad and Luna is pretty yellow, they are both DEWs but Honey is marked. I got an overhead shot of both of them tonight and will weigh them tomorrow. Update chart not done yet but will get that for you. Meals all week were pretty much the same, MDF with organs or Egg, 1 day of diced duck and a day of chicken wings. They all appear to be eating less, either they have adjusted to a slower eating schedule or it's because it's getting warmer and spring is coming. Found a deal on Turkey Hearts today 5lbs for $4. So def bought a pack, that will last awhile. Due to Luna and Honey's smell I want to get them on raw ASAP, there old home was a one level cage with newsprint and a blanket, they were being fed dollar store cat food,the cage was full of poo, they had no water at the time and the cage was rusting and held with duct tape. I almost cried when I saw them and picked them up. So glad I have them and can give them a good life. Calling the vet to get them checked out for sure, especially with Luna with her being older.

[Deleted]

AHHH I am so sorry! I thought I replied to your message on the 29th, I know I did in fact, but something got lost in cyberspace.... Anyhow!

Wow it sure has been busy around here, my daughter had a really bad case of the Flu, I kept her far away from the fur kids, well not good enough, LouLou now has the Flu, she is now being fed soupies with lots of heart, her fav, but she is drinking water on her own and still walking around but very lethargic and not playing, we have her on antibiotics and close watch,she is resting comfortably in our sick cage, she has visually lost weight already, I pray she makes it through this, I have been through the Flu with ferrets before and it is always scary. Unfortunately I have to be at work and hope she will do well on her own for a few hours, She is eating and drinking on her own at this point and being in the sick cage, no climbing is needed to access food and water. If she does get worse I will have to bring her to work. Praying it doesn't get that bad, she's strong and young and I think she will be just fine.

How is everyone feeling now? It is important to get them eating of course, but be careful with organ/heart heavy soupies. This can cause loose stools which can lead to them getting dehydrated. We went through this a few months ago with our kids (fur and skin) and it isn't fun. Poor babies, but it sounds like you are doing everything right... sick cage with little climbing, antibiotics, easy access to food and that is easy to eat.

The fur kids are doing good, LouLou is getting better with the help of Antibiotics, she is back in with the others.

Glad she is on the mend. Poor girley. Is she still on her soupy menu?

Today I rescued 2 more girls, Luna 6yrs and Honey 3 years, they smell so bad and Luna is pretty yellow, they are both DEWs but Honey is marked. I got an overhead shot of both of them tonight and will weigh them tomorrow. Due to Luna and Honey's smell I want to get them on raw ASAP, there old home was a one level cage with newsprint and a blanket, they were being fed dollar store cat food,the cage was full of poo, they had no water at the time and the cage was rusting and held with duct tape. I almost cried when I saw them and picked them up. So glad I have them and can give them a good life. Calling the vet to get them checked out for sure, especially with Luna with her being older.

Oh bless you! Two more! Have you introduced them to anything raw yet? The first thing I think of with the yellowing is an unaltered male, I am not familiar with laws in Canada, in US they are pretty much all sold altered. It could certainly be the filthy cage causing the yellowing too, but just checking. I look forward to hearing how the vet visit went.

Update chart not done yet but will get that for you. Meals all week were pretty much the same, MDF with organs or Egg, 1 day of diced duck and a day of chicken wings.

Sounds good, will review when it is all up.

They all appear to be eating less, either they have adjusted to a slower eating schedule or it's because it's getting warmer and spring is coming.

Both things could be the case. They bulk up so much at the start of a switch that they eat a LOT. It could also be a bit of stress with having one sick. They feel that separation too. As long as there isn't any sudden weight loss, I wouldn't worry too much.

Found a deal on Turkey Hearts today 5lbs for $4. So def bought a pack, that will last awhile.

WOW! That is good! Ill send you some cheap chicken and you can send me some hearts! Hehe (giggle)

Also, you can always PM me if I am being neglectful, never my plan! If you use facebook, feel free to friend me and PM me there too if you want! www.facebook.com/ACunningham22

[lefertmama]

Aww thanks, yes friend request sent, I think I live on facebook lol. Lou is happily back to her grinds and slivers, a few more days of antibiotics, till Sunday and she should be all better. Lou is running around very happily. The new girls are adjusting Cyrano who is the Alpha of the group is keeping good track of Honey, he is being gentle with her, she squeeks whenever he tries to instigate play and stops then looks at her almsost like saying "What?" It's really cute. Luna is going to take some time to come around I think, keeping a close on her, they are scheduled to see the vet next week, don't want to overwhelm them with so much so fast. Honey is actually enjoying the raw she jumped right into the other guys bowl and dug right in, Luna had a teaspoon full of soupie this morning before she got tired of it. Luna is not participating with the others, hides in tube or just watched from her cage. I think she will take awhile to adjust, I don't think they ever had allot of out of cage time, so I feel Luna doesn't feel comfortable out of a cage. I am going to wear a hoodie around the house backwards with her in the hood and see if that will help her come out a little more, may even bring her to work with me, you can really see how withdrawn emotionally she is, even though she is really sweet, and she has such a beautiful thick coat, that will be so luxurious once healthy again.

[Deleted]

Got the request! I have the messenger on my phone, which is like another appendage, so if you need anything feel free to PM me. I saw Luna's pic on the FB page. She does look sad, like Sherry mentioned. Poor thing, but she is lovely. I believe it is true that they take time to adjust to not being caged all the time. I am glad she ate a bit of soupy though, that is a good step forward.

Could Honey be deaf? The deaf ones tend to be vocal, but a shy fert can be too. Glad she seems to enjoy the soupy more.

[lefertmama]

Ferret meal Plan Jan 25-Feb3

1. Cyrano
2. 31.3 oz
3. Eats about 1 oz per meal
4. Been loose on organ days
5. Very Playful, Alpha of the group

1. LouLou
2. 29.7 oz
3. 1/2 – 3/4 oz
4. Good Poo, loose and slightly green, on Antibiotics
5. Been ill on medication, pretty sedentary just starting to play around again.

1. Jagger
2. 40.8 oz
3. 1-1.2 oz
4. Nice raw Poos
5. Has been staying up longer, usually the last one down

1. Jack
2. 43.5 oz
3. 1-2 oz
4. Good
5. Very Playful

1. Milo
2. 54.2 oz
3. 2-3oz
4. Good
5. More playful than before

1. Honey, New Rescue (Feb 1st), 3 years approx, female
2. 27.8 oz
3. On kibble, started tasting soup, eating about 1/2oz at a time so far
4. Big and stinky!
5. Cautious, not to social yet.

1. Luna, New Rescue(Feb 1st ), 6 years approx, female
2. 26.4 oz
3. On kibble, eating about a teaspoon of soup by spoon
4. Slightly green, solid, stressed poos', smelly
5. Very aloof, stressed, wary but alert.


Overhead of Honey


Overhead of Luna
i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah189/Yolanda_MacLaren/Mobile%20Uploads/20150201_194341_zps5kpbjxvb.jpg

[lefertmama]

I found a better more accurate way to weigh them before they moved so much on the bowl I had gues with whatever number seemed to stay the longest. I now put them nicely in a little tub I got and seem to be getting much better results.

[Deleted]

I found a better more accurate way to weigh them before they moved so much on the bowl I had gues with whatever number seemed to stay the longest. I now put them nicely in a little tub I got and seem to be getting much better results.

I struggle with weights too and only one of mine like olive oil. (headwall) A large bowl or tub is the best I have gotten too hehe

WOW Honey looks good for an kibble fed girl. Luna is also quite fluffy for an older AND kibble fed girl! Don't be too surprised if she looses weight though, she likely has lots of kibble fat to loose to get to a more muscular and lean.

Info all looks good, poops on the new girls will be weird, as you know, for a while. What does your menu looks like? I only ask just to make sure it is balanced. I know it is likely different for everyone, so just kinda a rundown is fine.

[lefertmama]

Oh I thought I put the menu in an earlier post woops.
Sun MDFChicken with Duck slivers AM&PM
Mon Turkey breast slivers AM-PM
Tues MDF Chicken with Puree'd Organs, heart liver kidney AM-PM
Wed same as Tues AM, PM MDF chicken and Turkey
Thurs MDF Chicken and Turkey AM-PM
Fri Tried wings again, still a no go, Jack ate a piece though with bone
Sat MDF Chicken with egg yolk and EVOO and eggshell powder


Picked up the new Girls on Sunday. So they will be on the next menu listing.