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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2015 14:39:27 GMT -5
Well, Yogi is still giving me a hard time. He didn't touch the food at all when I left it in his cage while I went to work. I fed him a little on the spoon when I got home but he didn't each much. I'm still having to scruff him, but he is fighting even harder with the scruff now. Today, he ate quite a bit (maybe 0.5 oz or so?) from the spoon with no oil added, but he fought so hard at first and I have to keep him scruffed. He eats it a lot more greedily now when he finally does start eating it, so idk... I'm getting mixed signals from him  * I'm a little concerned that I have to scruff him so hard, and that he's going to start associated me with that. The salmon oil came in the mail today. It took rubbing some on his gums and mixing in a little ferretone to get him into it. He's really not as food driven as I'd like him to be, but hopefully that will change soon enough. I put some in with his kibble just so he can keep tasting it. Right now he is getting Instinct rabbit and Instinct duck/turkey raw boost, but as soon as the rabbit is done I'm not mixing it in anymore since it has peas. I've been breaking up the freeze dried raw pieces, which it seems like he's been eating. I'm hoping to get some Orijen red meat kibble and Go! fit and free to mix in as well. Does anyone have any opinions on Stella and chewy's food? |
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Post by raynebc on Aug 27, 2015 15:58:12 GMT -5
Stella and Chewy's is a good food to make soup with, I mix it with foods my ferrets don't like as much to bribe them to eat.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2015 17:43:07 GMT -5
Stella and Chewy's is a good food to make soup with, I mix it with foods my ferrets don't like as much to bribe them to eat. . Only the cat dinners? They have a lot more variety in the dog selections. |
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Post by raynebc on Aug 27, 2015 18:03:06 GMT -5
If you're only using a little bit as a bribe, it may not be a problem to use the dog varieties, but they aren't balanced for cats/ferrets (ie. not enough Taurine content). If you were going to use it as a major amount of the diet, the feline varieties are probably a safer option.
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Post by FireAngel on Aug 27, 2015 22:17:07 GMT -5
Well, Yogi is still giving me a hard time. He didn't touch the food at all when I left it in his cage while I went to work. I fed him a little on the spoon when I got home but he didn't each much. I'm still having to scruff him, but he is fighting even harder with the scruff now. Today, he ate quite a bit (maybe 0.5 oz or so?) from the spoon with no oil added, but he fought so hard at first and I have to keep him scruffed. He eats it a lot more greedily now when he finally does start eating it, so idk... I'm getting mixed signals from him [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/  .png" src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ ![]() .png"]* I'm a little concerned that I have to scruff him so hard, and that he's going to start associated me with that. Try to get away from scruffing him, try to just hold him and daub his mouth with the spoon to get him to eat. The salmon oil came in the mail today. It took rubbing some on his gums and mixing in a little ferretone to get him into it. He's really not as food driven as I'd like him to be, but hopefully that will change soon enough. I put some in with his kibble just so he can keep tasting it. Right now he is getting Instinct rabbit and Instinct duck/turkey raw boost, but as soon as the rabbit is done I'm not mixing it in anymore since it has peas. I've been breaking up the freeze dried raw pieces, which it seems like he's been eating. I'm hoping to get some Orijen red meat kibble and Go! fit and free to mix in as well. Does anyone have any opinions on Stella and chewy's food? Stella and Chewy's cat I have seen highly recommended here for FDR. It must be the cat as the dog brand does not contain enough taurine and contains more veggies and fruits, as a dogs nutritional requirements are just that much different from a cats and even more so from a ferrets. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 0:20:27 GMT -5
We tried again tonight with soupies... no go. I hold him and put it to his mouth and he won't budge. I just put him back in his cage and put some ferretone crack on top of it, since he's crazy for that stuff. So far, just a sniff. I'll check the bowl when I get up (in 4.5 hours, eeeeek), but my guess is he won't touch it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 3:41:40 GMT -5
This is what I do, I heat my empty saucer in microwave maybe a minute and few Then I take soup and stir it around in plate with finger. U can feel it getting warm. Hold him and daub his mouth. Let him go if he wants down and in a couple minutes do it again.Repeat, repeat, repeat. Switching is not for the faint of heart  My senior would take off running with her head held up like she had tasted the most awful thing in the world. One thing a ferret is, and that is stubborn. Talk sweet baby talk even though u want to (headwall) As far as whole prey it took a while before my ferrets would eat mice. my baby ate them pretty well from get go. I left a mouse in playpen with her overnight. In morning it was gone. u could periodically do that. It may go wasted a few times My others would stash mice for the longest. I would often go to petco and buy frozen mice· And of course it was wasted, but they started understanding this little creature could be food. I would take it by tail and jingle it and tie it to a cat toy string . Mine like ASF rats better than mice,so u might want to try frozen rat from petco as well. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 8:43:25 GMT -5
I'll give it a try. He seems to like this batch of soup less than the last... not sure if it's because of how I blended it or the fact that I might have gave him rancid soup a few days ago I left the crack laced soup in his cage over night. No go. I tried sitting with his this morning and feeding him some, but he wasn't having it. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh The last time I gave him a mouse I don't think he fully understood the idea(check out earlier posts for deets on that). He did tear at it a little and was surprised when he found the mouse meat... but he didn't eat it. I was thinking about gutting a mouse before I go to a wedding this weekend and maybe hanging it on the cage since he likes to chew on his toys that I do that with. Hopefully gutting it will make it not go rancid for the day or two that I'm gone. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 9:50:21 GMT -5
I'd save the scruffing for the vet office. They don't like it and you don't want him to associate food with any unpleasantness.
Instead place him on your lap and just gently put one hand under his belly to let him know you are there and keep him still.
A whole mouse can be safely left out for 48 hours. Slice the belly open and drip some oil in it.
Yogi may be stubborn, but you can convince him with alot of love and patience. That really is important.
Try thinning the soup, it may be too thick. I just run a little warm water in it. You don't want to cook it with hot water, just warm enough to release the smell.
You're going on eleven days now, how often is he still getting his kibble. Yogi is smart enough to hold out for that. If he knows kibble will show up sooner or later, he will wait for the kibble and then he is not hungry for soupie.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 10:09:11 GMT -5
I pull the kibble about 2 hours before I try feeding him the soup. Sometimes I will take it out over night and replace it with soup or won't put anything in there at all and try to feed him the soup in the morning. A few days ago I pulled the kibble for about 24 hours and he only ate maybe a total of 0.5 oz of soup... and that number is being generous. I think since then he's been more resistant. He's also a lot more crankier and naughtier when I pull the kibble for that long. I don't really want to starve him into eating it  He was doing really well at first... idk what happened. He fights so hard to resist it now. But then sometimes he eats a lot of it, although that hasn't been the case these past few days. I guess I should also ask how practical it is for me with my schedule to have him on a full raw diet. For example, I'm going away this weekend and have to leave him kibble since I won't be there and don't have anyone who can give him the soup (I plan on leaving the mouse in there, but he didn't eat it last time). Also from what I'm reading it seems like furrkids like to "forget" that some pieces of raw are food or will just refuse to eat it for no good reason. I'm happy to sit down and work with him but it's definitely frustrating! And my hours are about to get a bit longer. I guess I'd just like an honest opinion on it  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 10:11:50 GMT -5
A whole mouse can be safely left out for 48 hours. Slice the belly open and drip some oil in it. Would you recommend taking the organs out or just leaving them? Also, should I use the ferretone or the salmon oil? He was just introduced to the salmon oil and isn't as addicted to it as the ferretone. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 10:18:13 GMT -5
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Post by Thérèse on Aug 28, 2015 10:52:27 GMT -5
Just a thought. Are you sure of his age? Have you posted a pic of his teeth on the aging by teeth sticky under ferret talk for those that can to age him by his teeth? Just some things are making me feel he may be older than you think.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 11:20:28 GMT -5
Just a thought. Are you sure of his age? Have you posted a pic of his teeth on the aging by teeth sticky under ferret talk for those that can to age him by his teeth? Just some things are making me feel he may be older than you think. I got his "certificate" from Petco when I got him that said he was born the week of 2/8/15-2/14/15. I guess they could always fake that, although he does look like he's gotten a little bigger over the 3 weeks I've had him. I could post on ferret talk about it anyways! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 11:25:40 GMT -5
Do you think, for this weekend since I won't be around, it'd be beneficial to get some and mix it in with his kibble so he gets the taste? I see Chewy.com has it for cheaper than amazon, so maybe the store nearby will price match. I'm assuming rehydrating it involves just putting some water on it. I mixed a little ferretone with the salmon oil when I got it and he took to it! Unfortunately I put some soup with it and then he didn't want to touch it (YOGIIIIIIIIII, WHYYYYYY?!?!). I want to put some on the mouse but I don't want him to start associating the oil with meh things. Thanks a lot for all your help, it is much appreciated! |
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