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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2015 13:13:10 GMT -5
Well, I tried to start Stevie Monday, but she has no interest in meat. She's 3 and 1/2 months old, a Marshalls, and I got her Sunday from some lady that realized ferrets need attention. She weighs 1 and 1/2 pounds, got a clean bill of health from the vet, who happens to be on-board with me putting her on a raw diet. He is no ferret expert, though, so I'm on my own. I sliced some beef and scruffed her and put it in her mouth and she squirmed around and spit it out. Then I rubbed it on her teeth/gums and she didn't look happy. I figured that was enough for one sitting. Later, I chopped up some cooked chicken wing and sprinkled it on her kibble. I didn't see her eat any and it looked like she had just eaten around it. I'm going to try chicken liver today using the scruffing method. I'm going to blend it so that I can sort of pour it in her mouth like the videos on here. Then, I'm going to put some on her kibble. I'll post when I get off work and let you know how this goes today. If only I could speak ferret and tell her how yummy and good for her it is lol.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2015 13:43:24 GMT -5
Reading Dr. Susan's Brown's essay "Rethinking the Ferret Diet," I pondered on this thought...
If you decide to make a change, you may find that adult ferrets can be very particular and will resist change. I do not believe that it is necessary to “wean” a ferret off of a less digestible and gradually introduce him to a more digestible diet. I just change “cold turkey.” If you keep offering the old diet, there may never be a change. It will probably be necessary to let your pet get hungry before he makes a change. Temporarily coating a new food with a fatty acid supplement as an enticement may help. Only ferrets that have insulinomas should not be fasted for more than 6 hours. If your ferret is currently being treated for any illness, consult your veterinarian first.
Maybe I should just give her raw meat today, help her eat it, and not give her any kibble? After all, she is healthy.
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Post by Klarissa on Dec 23, 2015 13:51:01 GMT -5
Once I switched my first two ferrets, it was cold turkey for the rest. Ferrets are dramatic toddlers, and you just have to be a firm ferrent  Start with a puree of raw meat in the blender until your ferret gets used to the taste of meat. At 3.5 months old, your ferret should come around to raw easier then an adult ferret once they adjust to the taste & texture. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2015 17:45:31 GMT -5
Stevie is a good girl! I blended up a chicken drumbstick and put some in her mouth via scruffig. She ate it and came back a moment later to nip me VERY hard and she held onto me. She was peeved! Then she began "surfing" across her blanket, trying to wipe her face. Well, I followed the Dr's advice and threw the Marshall food in the trash and blended the chicken 50% with her kitty food (with my hands), put it in her bowl, and left the room. When I came back an hour later she had eaten quite a bit of chicken! She licked up all the chicken goop around the kibble and ate a good amount of the mix. The darling is sleeping like a log now. Such interesting little creatures, but I'm sure she will give me a hard time tomorrow. I went ahead and gave her some kibble in a clean dish in case she needs a snack tonight, but no more Marshalls junk. I'm really appreciating that article and am so glad to see a direct link is provided here on this forum. Thank you all for your advice so far! I don't have kids so my pets are very dear to me and I really appreciate this community. I'm so glad to be a part of it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2015 11:59:37 GMT -5
I know the quote was by Susan Brown, and her article was instrumental in me changing to raw, but 6 hrs sounds scary to me for a ferret with insulinoma. I would be curious to know what others thought about that.
Most of my ferrets took to soupie or eating right raw off the bat, but my last one off craigslist, would not even eat a kibble with soupie on it, nor kibble powder sprinkled on soupie. I started worrying when she refused food for hours, so I did force her to eat soupies.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2015 20:00:42 GMT -5
Well Stevie is doing much better than I expected. She has calmed down so much my husband said to me today, "I thought they were much more playful." She just needed to run around and be treated like a pet. I think that she now understands and appreciates everything I do for her. And this understanding, I believe, has made her much more willing to eat the raw food. I gave her raw chicken mixed with kitty kibble twice today, and she ate well. She still prefers the kibble, but I think she just needs to adjust at her own pace now that she will eat raw chicken on her own. Again, I think a huge part of her success is coming to trust me and feel loved and comfortable in her new home. I let her out of her room (she has the master bathroom) to play as often as I can and I have noticed a significant decrease in her playfulness and activity. I think most ferrets you see that are super spunky simply have a ton of bottled-up energy. And I'm also happy to report that she has yet to have a potty accident while running loose in the house. And I have only one litter box in the living room (newbie here so I'm waiting for some more to arrive that I ordered online) and still no accidents. I think I may have adopted the BEST FERRET IN THE WORLD or I'm just treating her the way she needs to be treated. Either way, Stevie and I are both very happy and that's all that really matters. Oh, and that she's healthy and safe, and she is. Thanks again everyone.
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Post by Klarissa on Dec 25, 2015 12:28:27 GMT -5
abbeytheferret6 the quote is saying that ferrets can be fasted up to 6 hours, EXCEPT ferrets with insulinoma @wencme, you shouldn't mix dry kibble with raw. Because they digest at different rates, it can cause digestive upset. You can wet the kibble, however if she is eating raw meat, and you have supplies for organ meals & bone in meals then you should try cutting out the kibble. The less kibble she eats, the better.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2015 15:54:48 GMT -5
Thanks klarissa:))
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2015 15:18:37 GMT -5
I didn't know you shouldn't mix them so thank you! The problem I'm having is she prefers the kibble and after two days of offering mostly raw, she began losing weight. I'm giving her dry kibble now and offering organ meat in an attempt to better turn her on to it. She basically just licks it and that's it now that I've stopped putting it in with her kibble. At least she's not eating Marshall food anymore, but this is again very tricky now that I can't trick her into eating it. Is there something I can put on it that will make it more enticing? I don't think she's even been exposed to ferretone and it seems like there may be a more natural alternative?
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Post by Klarissa on Dec 29, 2015 17:26:27 GMT -5
I had to go back & read the whole thread since it feels like forever Have you applied for a mentor? They are magnificent at helping ferrents make the switch to raw. For starters, don't use the scruff method to feed them off the hop - it forges a negative association with their new diet, as well as with scruffing. Scruffing is an important tool, and needs to have lots of positive associations, so when it has to be used it is not a flailing, traumatic battle, lol. And of course, we want them to like their new diet! Next, feeding a ferret is exactly like feeding a toddler. You don't give them choices because they will opt for Oreos (Kibble), over vegetables (raw) if given the opportunity. Finding the balance between being a firm ferrent, and not letting them go hungry was probably the hardest part of switching to raw. Ferrets are so good at being difficult The biggest help in this area is using the soupie recipe from this forum to start (Recipe & link below). Soup is easiest to feed in the beginning stages because you can finger feed it to them. Start by just dabbing a little bit on Stevie's nose & she will lick it off. Repeat. Then see if she will lick it off your finger. I usually aim for tablepsoon per sitting, using this method. If need be, you can add a little ground up, *wet* kibble to the soup. Once she eats it from your finger willingly, I would hold my finger just slightly over the bowl & slowly lower it until she is eating on her own. As far as enticement & alternatives to Ferritone. Salmon oil, krill oil, and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) work really well. What worked best for me was using freeze dried raw, such as Orijen single, FDR treats. It is strictly freeze dried meat, and tends to be accepted by most ferrets. It's kind of like the best of both worlds between kibble & raw. However, unlike kibble it can be mixed with raw & sprinkled over raw soup it's an excellent trick. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/145/raw-soup8oz chicken meat 1-2 chicken hearts 1/2 chicken liver 1/2 tsp powdered eggshell Enough water, or homemade chicken broth(straight chicken, no spices, veg, etc) to make a soupy texture Puree all of the above together |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2015 19:19:29 GMT -5
Well, I tried to follow the advice here but I pooed up more than Stevie on her kibble! I actually watched a youtube video and realized that the soup I was making was too thick as I wasn't adding enough water. Following the video (was from someone on this forum) equaled absolute success. She has been eating her soup and nothing else.
I've never imagined myself blending raw meat and it's trickier than making cookies if you've never done it. Tomorrow I will end this thread with the soup recipe I'm using now and hopefully this will help someone else in the future. I never applied for a mentor because I had just gotten her and knew kibble was bad and just couldn't wait 15 posts to take proper care of my little terrorist.
Again, thank you everyone, but this forum is tricky to navigate and the recipes could be more straight-forward and user friendly. No offense, I write user guides for a living and it's not easy! If any administrator comes across this, I'd be happy to volunteer to write a few instruction guides - it's the least I could do to help new owners take proper care of these amazing little creatures.
Thanks again everyone and Happy New Year!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2016 22:22:51 GMT -5
Here is the ground meat "soup" I make for Stevie that she loves:
1 pound chicken thigh, skinned and boneless
5 chicken livers
2/3 hearts with gizzards
1 tsp bone meal powder
I've also been offering her turkey neck and she is not interested. I have thickened her soup a bit by adding less water and I will go with that for a week or so before I start adding pieces of bone and meat.
She is fully transitioned to raw meat. She hardly poops, pees much more, has gained weight, and is much more playful and active.
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Post by Klarissa on Jan 2, 2016 23:29:40 GMT -5
Hopefully you check back, a the soup isn't quite balanced.
You need less liver. Liver provides vitamin A, which is lipid soluble. Because it is lipid soluble (as opposed to water soluble) excess vit A is not excreted through waste. This means vitamin A will build up & can be life threatening.
The recipe also needs more. Heart provides taurine, an essential amino acid. Ferrets, like cats do not produce any taurine on their own & must synthesize it from food. Taurine is important for heart, eye, and brain health.
So if you're using 1lbs of chicken thighs, that's double what the original recipe calls for. Meaning you'd need 4 chicken hearts, and 1 chicken liver.
The turkey neck is most likely too big & will need to be chopped up. In the mean time gizzards are wonderful for building jaw strength. Gizzards are a muscle meal.
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