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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 2:11:15 GMT -5
That's the idea with bony meals. They're supposed to have extra bone. There isn't really an exact amount that you need per meal. As long as you feed a few different bone sources then you'll be okay. If you notice poos are really hard and honey or chalky then we can lessen the bone. Also Marco says he don't care them nomz was good
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Post by Celene on Feb 17, 2015 18:22:09 GMT -5
Sorry for not updating for a couple days. Yesterday Mocha started getting nasty, explosive diarrhea. It wasn't that bad, but then I woke up this morning and she had made at least 6 poops over night (hard to tell exactly how many). Then this morning before I left she made a really gross/not normal looking poop. Needless to say I'm worried for her. I've gotten mixed advice from "ferrets get upset stomachs just like us, don't worry about it" to "that IS parasites" or "that IS bacterial overgrowth" to "get to a vet ASAP because she could die any instant". I am feeding red meat commercial grind until they're feeling better because a) yesterday they had chicken and that's when these poops got really bad and b) grind is easy to eat and I can mix in extra water so Mo doesn't dehydrate. There is a vet across the street that I don't normally go to (they aren't very ferret-experienced) but they can do a fecal test tomorrow if she isn't better.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 0:42:56 GMT -5
i wouldnt trust people that say this is 100% for sure >.> BUT they look like some seedy poops to me. The colors a little off and it could mean a bacterial upset. Which happens moreso in ferrets with compromised immune systems to keep an eye on her.
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Post by Celene on Feb 18, 2015 10:36:43 GMT -5
Yeah people like making blanket statements even though poop can definitely not be diagnosed from a picture. Now her poops seem really small, but maybe it's because she's ran out of poop from diarrhea or she's trying to poop more frequently because she could never make it in time yesterday.
I think Nova's are now a little liquidy so maybe it's a bit of a bug passing through.
In more frustrating news, apparently if you feed commercial grind for two days they completely forget how to eat pieces of meat! I cut the pork extra small (one-two bites each) to encourage them to eat a lot and they're just licking it and looking confused as to why it isn't just sliding down into their bellies. Ferrets!
Also, weights:
Mocha Nova 11-Feb-15 1.62 1.55
14-Feb-15 1.66 1.58
18-Feb-15 1.68 1.57
But yeah, I think I will monitor them for another day and decide to either take 'em to the vet for a poop test or get back on the frankenprey wagon.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 0:11:23 GMT -5
They decided to be spoiled again! Just remind them that they have to eat their chunks again LOL Are their poops any better today? It could be a bug or maybe a little something that they ate.
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Post by Celene on Feb 19, 2015 0:28:53 GMT -5
Their poops seem fine, although Mocha's area really small. Not skinny like blockage, just small. The really good news is I came home from work to find no "accidents" - all poop 100% contained in the litter boxes!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 0:53:36 GMT -5
Whoo! Well small is okay. That just might mean she is eating smaller amounts
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Post by Celene on Feb 19, 2015 10:07:29 GMT -5
No, she's pigging out. I woke up to about 7-8 poops/pees NOT in the litter box and she went once on the floor right in front of me which she's never done. None of the poops looked particularly abnormal or "bad" though, so I'm not sure what's going on.
She also feels bloated but it might be because she's pigging on the 'grind. She's up about 1.5 oz from yesterday, although I measured her just after she ate.
Rrrrrg! Why do ferrets cause so much stress?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 13:42:39 GMT -5
She says poo on you MOM! When I feed grinds or soup everyone always pigs out and they have little food bellies
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Post by Celene on Feb 20, 2015 21:54:10 GMT -5
So the last couple days I've been feeding red meats (beef and pork) with eggshell powder (don't worry, they're getting heart/organs for breakfast tomorrow so I'm keeping it balanced) and today their poops are finally looking a little more normal! (In fact, when they got up they pooped within 5 minutes of each other in the same box and the poops looked nearly identical.)
Anyway, today I went to the fancy organic grocery store and picked up some quail eggs, as well as grass-fed new zealand lamb, which they had for dinner. They've only ever had lamb in a commercial grind, and not for awhile, but they totally loved it and nomm'ed down on it. It also probably didn't hurt that the lamb was topped with a quail egg. I've been cutting their meat smaller the last couple days since I wanted to encourage them to eat while they weren't feeling good, so the meat pieces are about the size of a paper clip, but thicker. (Maybe as thick as a motrin pill? I can't think of any good comparisons right now).
Anyway, I definitely think they're feeling much better because apparently while I was at work they danced and dooked and played a bunch with hubby. He said at one point they were both running along the wall towards a corner (so couldn't see each other) and ran head-first right into each other, gave each other incredibly dirty looks, and started wrestling. He said they actually collided snout-to-snout, but weren't hurt or anything and that it was incredibly funny.
Anyway, I'm still frankenprey-ing them. They had a muscle meal tonight, will have heart/organ tomorrow morning and meat+eggshell tomorrow evening and Sunday. On Sunday I will post my meal plan for the week. Sorry I didn't last week, but things went a little sideways.
I didn't weigh them today, but I did yesterday, although they both felt a little bloated - likely from being commercial grind piggies. They feel a lot less like overstuffed sausages today.
Mocha Nova 14-Feb-15 1.66 1.58 18-Feb-15 1.68 1.57 19-Feb-15 1.78 1.63
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Post by Celene on Feb 21, 2015 19:57:47 GMT -5
So as it turns out, when organ meals are only coarsely chopped instead of ground, they don't get slurped down so fast. It was a little harder keeping track of whose dish belong to whom since they came and went a few times throughout the morning, but I really did want to make sure they both had the same amount and didn't pick and choose bits out of each other's bowls. I've already pre-portioned and froze their "organ" meals for the next couple weeks so we'll see how it goes, but after that I may split up the heart and liver/kidney or get my grinder back and do it that way. They don't seem to like kidney as much, but their next organ to be mixed with liver will be veal sweetbreads (they're sitting in my freezer, I am NOT looking forward to cutting those, although they probably smell less nasty than kidney), which they might find yummier. Also just wanted to update you on the size "chunks" they're currently at: So proud of little Nova! She normally digs around for the smaller pieces, but she looked hungry between meals so I just pulled out a chunk of beef, and I guess there wasn't much choice so she ate it!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2015 21:38:05 GMT -5
That is so awesom! I'm glad they're feeling better that chunk is big too! Go nova!!!!!! They gained some weight too it might be from eating grinds, but that's okay. Sweetbreads are fine and smell much better, but they're kind of slimy like liver. I wish I could find quail eggs around here :/
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Post by Celene on Feb 22, 2015 18:58:22 GMT -5
Menu for this week: Contains: 9 bone-in meals (including meat with eggshell powder) 2 muscle meals 3 organ meals*
*organ meals this week comprise 50% chicken heart, 25% chicken liver and 25% lamb kidney.
Let me know what you think!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 22:39:27 GMT -5
Your meal plan looks great I'd like to start incorporating some more actual bone in though if you can maybe some quail or some sort of rodent if you can?
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Post by Celene on Feb 22, 2015 22:53:17 GMT -5
Speaking of "actual bone" - they both had CGH for dinner and CRUNCHED the @#$%&! out of those bones. (With only minimal choking, wheezing and gagging.)
I would love to give them rabbit or quail, but I don't drive myself (kind of pointless in a big city) so I have to wait until I can convince my husband to drive me to an Asian grocery store on a weekend (he drives a lot as part of his work so likes to stay home weekends). Plus we have no freezer space and I truly don't know whether I could cut a little bunny.
So basically what I'm saying is that I also want to see them eat bones, I've just been procrastinating it.
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