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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 9:42:50 GMT -5
Waiting on my scale and raw food order (my pet carnivore) but have started Kat a bit.
We've had her for 6 days now, she was eating marshall's pellets when my husband got her so he bought a bag of that. I know it's foul, but since we're switching her to raw I didn't want to transition on top of that to a new pellet. Maybe I should? Is there any benefit to keeping kibble around on top of raw for a "just in case" scenario?
She's approximately 2 months old. Currently she'll eat her kibble with some pureed chicken mixed in. She'll also eat it with egg, I scrambled the egg and used a third of it to mix. A total snubber of food when she's being watched (she'd rather play if she's awake) she'll eat it at night and early in the morning. Basically if we're asleep, she'll go to town.
Planning on soupie once I get my ingredients. A few days puree texture and a few thicker before attempting slivers.
Her poops are good, and she seems to be going a lot! Texture and amount seem average for kibble. Does kibble cause more poop like it does in dogs?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 10:00:39 GMT -5
I would not switch to a new kibble since other food is soon to arrive--would be just another expense---just my two sense. Nice to hear she is doing so good. Yes, they pooh a lot on kibble. Mine went about 7-9 times in 24 hrs---if i remember correctly. What do u think ur ferret does?
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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 10:13:47 GMT -5
Ok cool that's what I was thinking too. Seemed a waste of $$ and effort since she's already going to be adjusting to raw.
Glad the poo is about right too, less of it is all I need to sign me up for raw LOL! I clean her litter box 2-3 times a day and 7-9 sounds about where she's at. In the morning there's 3-4 to get, second cleaning 2 or 3, and there may be an extra present I grab with a napkin before I go to bed. Princess Kat has just decided pooping outside of her hammock is a great idea, right by her ramp, ugh. She was doing so well with her box too! It does let me see she's urinating though so I'll count it a win and make sure there's room in her new cage for a box on the hammock level.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 10:32:40 GMT -5
Yea, sometimes when they r real young--- they may have not had enough time with mom to teach them. I got one from craigslist 1.5 years old, and she pottied everywhere. My senior, who is an excellent potty goer showed her the ropes. However, she still likes going on my carpet, sometimes. At back door on vinyl, all the time. So, at back door, i put a puppy pad. If i put a potty there, I can't open the door.
For carpet, the white spray bottle called Nature's Miracle is good for removing stains from carpet---I bought the red bottle one time and it had a little too much perfume. Petco or Petsmart.
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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 13:16:25 GMT -5
I found a bottle of that I had from when one of my dogs had an upset tummy. It was like Christmas!
With food are there any supplements/seasonal change ups good for coat growth? I see lax recipes and suggestions for shedding season so I figure I'll ask.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 14:22:56 GMT -5
Congrats on your girl! I'm not sure if we've met, I'm Emily ( or Jules, or Julesalot, whatever you prefer ) I'm in the process of switching my two fuzzers over to Frankenprey with the help of my two amazing mentors. Have you signed up for the program? It's where you and your mentor work one-on-one guiding you through your switch. There's a waiting list, so while your waiting you can go ahead and get started. How old is Kat? The younger they are the easier they take to it. If she's under 4 mo I'd say just throw some chunks of meat in her cage, she'll figure out what to do with it we call young ferts "Tummies with Teeth" for a reason, they're open to most everything. And the more proteins you get them to try when they're younger the easier it'll be later on. Here is a basic rundown of Frankenprey if that's what you're interested in. Frankenprey is weekly- 7-9 Bone-in Meals 3-4 Muscle Meals Half Liver & Half Other Organ Half Heart, 1/4 Liver and 1/4 Other Organ 1 Meal of Hearts At least one Red Meat meal A minimum of 3 different proteins Edible Bone-In Meat is the non-weight bearing bones of the animal the size of a chicken or smaller. Muscle Meat is any meat not containing bone, remember that Heart is a muscle and must be one of the muscle meals. "Other" organ is any organ that secretes, Kidney, Spleen, Pancreas, Brain, Thymus, etc. Here is a sample menu that you can fill out to help you learn - Monday AM: Half Heart - 1/4 Liver - 1/4 Other Organ Monday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Tuesday AM: Muscle Meal Tuesday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Wednesday AM: Muscle Meal Wednesday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Thursday AM: Edible Bone-In Thursday PM: Half Liver - Half Other Organ Friday AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Friday PM: Muscle Meal Saturday AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Saturday PM: Edible Bone-In Sunday AM: Muscle Meal Sunday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal You can find organs, hearts, and meats like quail and such at most any Asian/Hispanic market. In the beginning of the switch we like to do one protein at a time, usually we do chicken because it's generally most easily taken, found and the cheapest meat. If you introduce too many proteins in a short period and your ferret has an allergy, you won't know which protein it is they are allergic to. Food allergies are usually detected from projectile vomiting and diarrhea, but they can be a bit subtle too and can be your ferret chewing, having runny/odd poos, etc, not very common but possible.
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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 15:06:16 GMT -5
Hi Jules thank you for the menu list there! My order didn't go through anyway, I don't know if I didn't fill out a window or what but when I didn't see a confirmation email I checked the site and my order was still in the cart. I could've fixed it but I *do* have an Asian market fairly close by so I'm going to check it out since I'm just doing chicken for a week. Going to join the mentor program when my scale comes in. One click on Amazon so that should be fine, grr.
If she rebels and rejects it I can just soupie it then, yes? How long is safe to wait? I'm cool with waiting her out if that's an option but I want to be safe.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 15:24:14 GMT -5
When you go to the Asian Market if you're wanting to just get what you need right now, pick up some Chicken Hearts and Chicken Liver. Then unless the Asian market has chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) then you can go anywhere for them, my local Sams Club has big packs of chicken thigh, I think it's 7lb for $12. The packs at Walmart are 2-3lb for $8, but that's for me, it varies A LOT on where you live. If you would like to buy some different things you can get Quail, Cornish Game Hen, any other heart/liver/other organ like from pork or beef or lamb and etc. Don't buy a bunch of a protein other than chicken as lets say Kat is allergic to Pork and you buy 10lbs of it, then you can't use it. I find it's best to buy a small amount when introducing a new protein, then after a few days of them eating it and having no issues it's safe to buy however much you want. Have you been adding eggshell powder in? They have to have that calcium, never go more than a few days without it as it will cause major issues. You can order bonemeal (NOW is a good brand) or you can let your eggshells dry them pulverize them into a fine powder with your blender. If Kat doesn't take to the chunks then yes continue with the soup as planned, but if you can skip steps by doing chunks that'd be really great. Don't let her go without food for more than 8-12 hr if she is refusing. After about 10 hr I would give her something she will eat. Since she is young and healthy this is O-K to do. With an older ferret or one with Insulinoma they absolutely must eat every 4-6 hr to keep their BG up. Try and make you Kat always has some food available, she doesn't need to eat every 4-6 hr if she doesn't want to but it's good to have a little available. Raw soup is good for 6-8 hr at room temp (2 days in the fridge and pretty much forever when frozen). Slivers are good for about 8-10 hr at room temp, large chunks good for 12-24 hr, whole prey good for about 48 hr at room temp. Ferrets won't eat meat that has gone bad, and even if they do remember that these are the animals that in the wild will kill the animal, munch on it, then urinate/defecate on it, drag it around and hide it, then come back to it after a week and eat it again, so if Kat eats a piece of meat that's a bit on the smelly side she'll be just fine How old is she?
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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 15:32:17 GMT -5
She's 2 months old, little fert. I'm still letting her eat the grody Marshall's pellets, I just added some pureed chicken thigh to them to see if she'd eat it and she did. I also added 1/3 of an egg this week to the pellets and she ate them that way too. I have some ground eggshells but I just ground those today and didn't add them because she's still eating the pellets. Once I get back from the Asian market tonight if I find everything then it will be game on tomorrow morning with no pellets! I'll try chunks first and see if she's good, I like skipping steps!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 16:10:33 GMT -5
Aww then yep, throw a big ol chunk of meat in there and she should likely figure it out. Once she is eating good, if she is eating the chunks well, then you can pull the kibble. You can take a look at the kibble chart comparison I made if you'd like- holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/17537/kibble-commercial-ingredients-overview-comparison?page=1Be careful about mixing the kibble and raw, in some ferrets it can interact and cause tummy upset/bacterial infection if fed too close together. Watch for any runny poops are loss of appetite. Generally we advice taking kibble away 2-3 hr before giving raw.
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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 16:20:05 GMT -5
Awesome thanks so much for the help
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Post by linsul on Feb 18, 2015 22:26:30 GMT -5
Tummy with teeth indeed I went to the Asian market, and like a total derp forgot it was Chinese New Year even though I know I knew and was talking about it earlier with friends. Market closed early so no chicken hearts. I said "whatevah" and took Kat's pellet food away at 4:45 pm. She had been munching away until around 3:30 which was new to see so she wasn't going to starve. It was plain pellets. after running a bunch of errands and the market closing discovery I decided to just chop up some boneless skinless thigh and see what happened. Guesstimating an ounce? It was a quarter of one approximately. She was awake when I got home (a little after 8pm) and acting starved, food bowl overturned, pacing and big "HELP ME" eyes. I put in the food and she decided to try and drag it up to the 3rd level by the edge of the plate. Much sniffing ensued, then glorious success! She ate about a third of what was on the plate, but she was making happy little noises as she did, it was cute. I'll try a quarter piece of liver maybe and see if she goes for it. I have reading to do tonight so I'll be able to take it out in time. The pieces look big here, but they were just stuck together after rolling around on the plate. SUCCESS!
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Post by linsul on Feb 19, 2015 13:13:18 GMT -5
Only two poops this morning. Smaller than pellet poo and they looked like little dots of chicken fat were spread throughout. Firm and SO MUCH better smelling. If that can be said for poop She was making a weird sound this morning in her cage, something sounding kind of like a sneeze? Or like scratching on fabric, I couldn't tell because it was early and my contacts weren't in so I couldn't see what was going on. By the time I could see she had stopped and was curled up again to sleep. It hasn't happened again but will watch her. Pounded on a chicken wing with a hammer in a ziplock bag wrapped in a towel for breakfast, that along with a piece of liver. She will get heart later today.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 14:43:58 GMT -5
Wow, you 2 are doing great!! I can't see the pictures on this computer, but I wanted to pop in and say good job!! Keep up the great work!!
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Post by linsul on Feb 19, 2015 15:46:02 GMT -5
Thank you ferretmomma I really appreciate it and all the help the forum provides.
In other news, Kat is very sleepy today. No additional poops, 2 very spastic playtimes that were about 30 min each before she was over it. She ate a teensy bit of egg yolk from my finger but wouldn't touch the plate it was on.
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