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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 1:04:29 GMT -5
Day 6: Breakfast: about 2 oz. of soup in 2 feedings Dinner: about 2.5 oz of soup plus 1 chicken heart in small chunks, almost all of it in one feeding. Snack: half an egg... or less. He did not seem very interested in his raw egg today maybe because it was almost dinner time and he really just wanted "real" food ? I offered the soup as soon as I saw he did not want the egg and he started eating away. Activity level: he wanted to play and wondered around early in the morning and some time around the afternoon. but other than that, he slept all day. Could he be bored of his toys? Poops: Similar size, texture and colour as the one pictured above. I took one in toilet paper and squished it, it looks to be really dark green. Today is was his first time trying chunks of heart in his soup and I think he did great! maybe tomorrow for dinner I'll try a bit bigger pieces? I found chicken necks at the grocery store and bought some to keep in the freezer for when he is ready I was very happy to see they also had beef heart, beef brain and turkey necks. Now I know that I can get chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, beef and pork He continues to gain weight, I forget exactly how much right now but I will weight him again tomorrow morning.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 19:20:39 GMT -5
Day 7: Weight: 962g Breakfast: 2.5 oz of soup including chicken leg chunks Dinner: 2.3 oz of soup + 2 chicken hearts in small chunks and chicken leg chunks, enough to add up to 3 oz. Ate about 80% of it in one feeding the rest a bit later. NOTE: I find that he normally eats about half the portion on his own and then I have to feed him the rest with a spoon and he will take it just fine but... I don't mind giving him the extra love but I hope he takes the entire portion on his own soon. He is not eating his kibble anymore. I leave the bowl for him during the day and at night but he just does not touch it anymore. whether because he's sleeping all the time or just not hungry anymore, I guess it is a good sign? I will continue to leave it until he can handle chunks so that I can leave him some snacks during the day. I got him chicken necks yesterday, would this be a good time to add them to the soup in small chunks? Also, can I add other parts of the chicken as chunks or should I stick to hearts and leg meat? His activity level seems a bit better today, he wonders around and plays for short periods of time. His poop last night was dark again, during the day dark again but just after dinner it was lighter in color. I will apply for the mentor program tonight
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Post by Heather on Nov 2, 2015 23:04:55 GMT -5
It sounds like he's given up on his kibble, that's a good thing. The tarry stools bother me but I'm going to think as it stopped today and the colour is much more normal that maybe you've got your meat to organ ratio is a bit off? You can try bashing the necks and then chopping them up and putting a few in his soup. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2015 0:12:29 GMT -5
Day 9: AM: 2.3 oz of soup with chicken leg meat (small) chunks. Again, he eats half of it on his own and the rest I have to hold the spoon for him. PM: 3.8 oz aprox. of soup with chicken leg meat chunks. In two feedings. He actually ate dinner a bit earlier today because of scheduling problems so at around 11pm I noticed he was looking for some food, so I quickly thawed some soup and added chicken meat to it and he ate it all on his own (tried giving him just the chunks but he wouldn't take them, he eats them well when they are mixed in with the soup) Poops: smelly, all 3/4 poops I saw (last night, morning, afternoon) were different in colour, size and consistency. Pee: peeing a lot!! holly smokes! Activity level: he has not been playing much ever since I started the switch but there were too many things going on: -took away plush toys as he was chewing on them and trying to eat them -covered up 2 of his favourite hiding spots as I realized were not safe -winter time -diet switch His sleep seems to be deeper because he is not bothered or alerted by things that would normally wake him up (in summer that is) but he has short play time periods when woken up (about 15-20 minutes) I also have been taking him out for walks after his PM meal just to keep him distracted, he power-walks for about 15-20 minutes with intermittent breaks of 1 or 2 minutes where he wants me to pick him up and put him in my jacket. He is not playing with me as much as he used to (does he resent me for giving him his meds? ) but he prefers to play with his balls on his own... sometimes he will let me chase him and his ball around the room. He seems to be at 968g of weight now (shy) Yesterday I gave him smashed chicken necks as his chunks but he did not like them all that much... they had to be really coated in the soupy for him to eat them. What other alternative do I have to add as chunks? would this be a good time to try another protein or should stick to chicken for a little longer? If I can try another protein, should I add it to the soup as chunks or replace ingredients from the soup? Thanks to all of you who take the time to read my posts
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2015 23:42:31 GMT -5
Day 10 All same as yesterday, aprox. same portions with chicken leg meat chunks... I find that if the chunks are bigger, he won't eat them... only the small ones, and as long as they are mixed in with the soup. For the egg shells... are we supposed to remove the membrane that holds it together or not? I have been removing it to be able to crush it. Today we went for a walk again, the longest he's walked for the past week... about 30 minutes... and 20 of them were non stop at a really fast speed even a little bit of running. I am still wondering: What other alternative do I have to add as chunks? would this be a good time to try another protein or should stick to chicken for a little longer? If I can try another protein, should I add it to the soup as chunks or replace ingredients from the soup? I keep checking the mentor program but I am not sure how I will be notified yet... I will need to read how it works again to see if I missed something.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2015 9:06:54 GMT -5
U should not have to remove membrane. I have tho,when I crushed them the same day that i cracked them.
I would do the little sneaky thing and cover the different protein chunks with the soupie he has been eating.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2015 18:21:26 GMT -5
Day 13.
Last night was a bit different because we went out to a friend's so I brought more food than usual for dinner. He ate a total of 3.8 oz of soup and chicken leg meat chunks in 3 feedings, one at 7:30, one at 11 and the last one at around 4 am. His breakfast time is normally at 7 am but he did not eat until about 10 am. just half of his regular 2.5 oz. Then the rest at around 12:30 pm.
He also had an egg yolk at around 4 pm.
I am worried because he has become a bit dependant on me to feed him. If I put the plate on the ground, he'll eat a bit and then look at me waiting for me to hold the spoon for him. He did the same to me with the egg, did not want to eat it until I held the bowl for him, then ate it all. Since he eats a lot when I hold the spoon, I don't think he's lost his appetite, I think he is just maybe in some sort of discomfort that makes him want more attention. I love giving him all of my attention but I am certainly worried about his health since he does not have any symptom... other than sleeping A LOT!
I made a vet appointment for tonight.
fingers crossed.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2015 0:16:20 GMT -5
Day 14.
AM: 2 oz of soup + .5 oz of chunks of chicken gizzards and chicken leg meat was prepared but he left about .5 oz of it. I left it in his cage but he did not touch it during the day. PM: 2.5 oz of soup + 1 oz of chicken leg meat in chunks. Ate almost all of it in 2 feedings. Drinking: normal Peeing lots Pooping, about 2 times at night and 2 -3 times during the day, different colours, small in size and a bit loose, normally dark in colour. It really smells bad, is this normal? it has been getting more smelly lately. Weight: 1,010 g (what a fatty! (giggle))
Activity: almost none, he walks around the house for about 10 to 15 minutes after his meals before going back to bed. Then at midnight he wants to play again for 10 to 15 minutes. We went for a walk today, it was cold so he only really walked for 8 minutes.
In yesterday's visit to the Vet, she said his heart sounded normal as did his lungs, his glucose was 4.1 (was told within normal ranges) they took a pee sample and will do a urinalysis, I am feeling like getting a heart ultrasound to be safe... his last xray did not show anything but he is really lethargic lately. May be his adrenal but he is on lupron so I wouldn't expect that to be the reason.
I still have not heard back about the mentoring program.
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Post by Heather on Nov 10, 2015 1:26:58 GMT -5
Stools will probably be rather smelly as he's probably in detox and even if he's not when they first switch they're disgusting. Smaller stools is good. He's eating a good amount between the soupy and his chunks. Now one thing to consider is if you're using powdered egg shell you may not be using quite enough if you're only accounting for the amount in the soupy. It's just a thought, this might be why it's a bit loose though raw fed ferrets have looser stools than kibble fed ferrets. Winter is coming, so it could be that he's nothing more than lazing around, putting on the winter weight and getting ready for winter. You mention he's on lupron, could it be that he needs a higher dosage. Do you know what dosage he has right now? Can you get hold of the implant, Superlorin (DES)? Lethargy is an adrenal symptom ciao
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2015 0:27:54 GMT -5
Stools will probably be rather smelly as he's probably in detox and even if he's not when they first switch they're disgusting. Smaller stools is good. He's eating a good amount between the soupy and his chunks. Now one thing to consider is if you're using powdered egg shell you may not be using quite enough if you're only accounting for the amount in the soupy. It's just a thought, this might be why it's a bit loose though raw fed ferrets have looser stools than kibble fed ferrets. Winter is coming, so it could be that he's nothing more than lazing around, putting on the winter weight and getting ready for winter. You mention he's on lupron, could it be that he needs a higher dosage. Do you know what dosage he has right now? Can you get hold of the implant, Superlorin (DES)? Lethargy is an adrenal symptom ciao Hi Heather, I think there may be something wrong with his tummy, he had a prolapse every time he pooped yesterday, I took him to the vet for ultrasound (chest and abdominal) to discard heart problems and possibility of any lumps, they also collected stool for a culture and see if they can find anything, what bothers me most about his poops is the mucus, it almost looks like its 60% mucus and 40% waste. Sherry suggested on facebook to add some pumpkin to his soupy, I did add a tsp for breakfast and one for dinner. He pooped a few hours after dinner and it was better formed but there was blood in it (will upload the pic in the next post). He's been laying down all evening since we got back, wish I knew how to help him. Right now my hopes are that he's just having a bad reaction to chicken so I got some turkey and made soup with turkey meat, chicken hearts and liver and eggshell, I increased it to 5/8 tsp (was going to do 3/4 but ran out). Jason suggested I do half chicken meat half turkey and switch him over to turkey slowly so that I will be doing in the next few days. I don't know what dosage of lupron he is getting, I was told it is enough for 1 month, I will ask for the exact dosage, I am waiting for the implant to come to Canada, my vet already ordered it but seems like paperwork gets in the way and takes a while ... may be looking at getting another shot before the implant arrives
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2015 0:35:58 GMT -5
Poop with blood:
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Post by Heather on Nov 12, 2015 12:31:24 GMT -5
The stools are good for a switch. Some seediness noted but that will be undigested fat. The frank blood will be from his sore bum. The prolapse might cause some bleeding (just like having hemrrhoids) The one tsp of pumpkin should help. The present stool doesn't look bad for an in process switch. How much organ meat and heart are you putting in his soupy? ciao
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Post by Heather on Nov 12, 2015 12:42:22 GMT -5
Ask them about the Lupron dosage you're using. The normal therapeutic range is 100 to 250 mcg/kg. We were using 400 mcg/kg for Atreyu per month. Seemingly, it can go up to 500 mcg/kg. The best confirmation of this information would be to have your vet call my vet for actual dosages (it will be in Atreyu's files). The order of the DES implant should only take about 2 to 3 weeks. Once the paperwork is approved, the DES is sent from the US distributor and I believe we received the order in less than 2 weeks ciao
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2015 23:56:32 GMT -5
The stools are good for a switch. Some seediness noted but that will be undigested fat. The frank blood will be from his sore bum. The prolapse might cause some bleeding (just like having hemrrhoids) The one tsp of pumpkin should help. The present stool doesn't look bad for an in process switch. How much organ meat and heart are you putting in his soupy? ciao Hi Heather, thanks for taking the time to look at my posts. These two stools are much more firmer because of the pumpkin I added to his soupy yesterday both for breakfast and dinner. I did not add any today and they went back to loose. I don't want to keep adding because of the insulinoma risk. For the soup I use the recipe you guys have: 8oz meat 1 oz liver 2 chicken hearts 1/2 tsp eggshell (sometimes a tiny bit more than that - 5/8 tsp) Now I think I may need to add more eggshell because on top of the soupy, I mix some slivers (1 oz) for each meal... and I do not account for that extra portion, maybe that's why his poop is loose? Anyway, I just spoke to my vet and she said the ultrasound was fine! (dance) no heart problems and no lumps in his tummy, we are just waiting for the fecal culture (3 - 5 days). So, it might be bacteria overload from the quick switch to raw? or sensitivity to chicken? I am now giving him 1/2 chicken soupy 1/2 turkey to see how he does. Vet said to call her tomorrow and she may put him on an antibiotic until his results come back.
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Post by Heather on Nov 13, 2015 0:01:08 GMT -5
Up his egg shell powder to 3/4 tsp to a tsp. Don't go any higher. One of the biggest problems when adding meaty chunks is forgetting to allow for the extra meats. As the ferrets aren't on bone this can have significant results. That's great that there appears to be no health issues visible. As for a bacterial overload, it's possible. Though in truth those stools appear more like too much meat, which was why I asked what your recipe was ciao
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