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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2011 21:48:42 GMT -5
So ever since starting the raw switch, I've noticed the past couple days the litter box has been extra stinky. I assumed it was the poop. But just now Olivia peed in her hide out box (which I just turned into covered litter boxes because the girls have been secretly going to the bathroom in them outside the cage... "They're litter boxes not hidey houses, geez mom"  ). But anyways she just peed and it's totally the pee! It actually smells a bit like rotten eggs/sulfur combined with something else. There wasn't any litter in the hidey house either so I could see the pee and I wiped it up with a paper towel an it was kind of chunky? Like there was the liquidy part and then a thicker part? I've never seen or smelled ferret pee before so is this normal? Is it the raw food? I have also changes litters a lot (from schweat scoop to yesterday's new to those wood stove pellets - $6 a bag for 40lbs why didn't I do this sooner?!) so maybe I'm just noticing the smell more? I'm adding a bit of baking soda now. What about that carbon stuff? Anyways should I be concerned? Or is stinky pee normal? |
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 7, 2011 21:56:40 GMT -5
I think their urine smells like battery acid. LOL. There is a period of time after you start feeding them raw food that their poop / pee smells worse. It's almost like they are detoxing from all that awful cheap kibble. I just use newspapers and change them twice a day. otherwise, yes it can get pretty rank..
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2011 22:00:07 GMT -5
Battery acid... That's totally part of the smell! I think they are detoxifying for sure. I just wanted to make sure extra stinky pee wasn't a warning sign for some health problem.
Is it a concern that's it's not clear?
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 7, 2011 22:10:06 GMT -5
It should be yellow. I hate to tell ya, but their pee always smells like battery acid. That's not going to go away.  |
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 7, 2011 22:11:58 GMT -5
Also, when you feed liver their poop smells bad (I think the pee too). It smells kind of like a slaughterhouse. I feed mostly commercial raw and some of them contain more liver than others.
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Post by Heather on May 7, 2011 22:15:57 GMT -5
One of the reasons why I changed to recycled paper was how ghastly their litter boxes stank when I used the pellets (had a friend give me a bag), they also tracked the powdered pellets everywhere  . No their urine should be dark yellow and concentrated. If they cannot concentrate their urine they're very very sick. If there is no smell, if it's clear you've got a ferret in renal failure  . ciao |
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Post by katt on May 7, 2011 22:19:51 GMT -5
Um...it was chunky? That's one I haven't heard...  |
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 7, 2011 22:27:20 GMT -5
No their urine should be dark yellow and concentrated. If they cannot concentrate their urine they're very very sick. If there is no smell, if it's clear you've got a ferret in renal failure ciao Yes, those are 2 of the signs that I have witnessed with renal failure. Also strange smelling breath (actually it was bad breath it smelled like ammonia). Stinky yellow pee is good! I LOVE that battery acid pee!!! ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 7, 2011 22:31:20 GMT -5
@carpetsharks, how "old" was the pee before you cleaned it up? when it sits awhile ferret pee starts to dry & it becomes thicker and then it looks kind of like yellow shaved ice on the paper when you wipe it up. is that the " Chunky"? That is the only way I can describe it.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2011 1:41:03 GMT -5
Sorry I didn't say that really well... By "clear" I meant not chunky... not clear as in the colour. It's the regular dark yellow colour. and by chunky I don't mean... chunky as in chunks, I just mean there is the liquid layer of yellow urine that's more diluted like and see through but still yellow, and then a thicker layer of urine on top, that seemed to "float" in the thinner layer. When I wiped it up with the paper towel some of it soaked in and the "thicker" layer kind of sat on top. Does that make any sense? ;D She had literally just peed, I watched her pee, so it was as fresh as can be! Good to know about the clear pee being renal failure. I had a 15 year old shepard cross who we put down in January due to liver and renal failure, and I can vouch that their breath honestly smells like urine when they are in renal failure. As for the pellets, these wood ones actually smell really good and now that I've had them in the cage for a bit (just put them in today) the "wood" smell actually covers up both the pee and poop smell, hurray!  |
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). But anyways she just peed and it's totally the pee! It actually smells a bit like rotten eggs/sulfur combined with something else. There wasn't any litter in the hidey house either so I could see the pee and I wiped it up with a paper towel an it was kind of chunky? Like there was the liquidy part and then a thicker part?
. No their urine should be dark yellow and concentrated. If they cannot concentrate their urine they're very very sick. If there is no smell, if it's clear you've got a ferret in renal failure 
