|
Post by maja01 on Jan 7, 2016 10:03:37 GMT -5
Hi. Got a question if some of you with IBD diagnosed ferrets ever encountered that when things with bowel were stabilising, ferret started to eat a lot. And I mean A LOT.
Some background: I suspected Chili (6yrs) to have IBD for a while (poops, blood values, loosing weight, coarse hair even tough he has an implant ...). He has been fine until september/october, he started to be weird, or maybee weirder than usual since I got Drdra and Gusztav and things got worse when we moved to a new house. Here I separated him from others, since he really does not like them (he is scared, they are too hyper and since the beginig he just really liked his girlfriend Pupa, wich we had to euthanise two years ago). So ... He has been on polutry free diet for few weeks and he was getting better, than I reintroduced chicken and we were back on "exlpoding poops", his blood chemistry values we checek on monday (and removed a small bump, probably a mastocytoma) confirmed that the bowel is not working as it should. He is now back on rabbit + antibiotics + reishi + colostrum + omega3 for a while. We didn't put him on corticos for now, since he really got better pretty quick.
But, he is eating like crazy - he is now 1300g and eats like 150+ g/day. He gets 50 g in the morning + meds and around two he is allready begging for more. I give him 25-50 g and than in the evening another 50 g or even more and until the morning he is really hungry again. Before he eate like up to 100 g. He started to eat bones again (wich he didn't in the mean time) and he eats like everything I give him (in a mean time he was picky and didn't want to eat same meal twice in a row).
Not that I don't like the change that is going on, I was just wondering if anyone had a similar experience. It almost seems like he needs to replace / catch up all the nutrients he was loosing.
I intend to keep him on rabbit for few more days (he gets also rabbits liver and a heart - but is not on what I would say balanced diet for now) and introduce horse as a second protein next week. Or would it maybee be better to start with rats/mices?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2016 10:19:10 GMT -5
Luckily I haven't had a ferret with IBD but the rapid eating seems like he's trying to fatten himself up for winter so he can keep warm, if it's not winter where you are then a trip to the vets may be needed as the only thing I can think of is hyperthyroid
|
|
|
Post by maja01 on Jan 7, 2016 11:00:40 GMT -5
It is winter here. It is for a while He has been on a vet check on monday (look above) + he sees a vet everyday He is doing great - poops (almost) formed, looking better, feeling better, acting better, everything is better. And I am really, really happy about it. I was just wondering if anyone had such an experience after the IBD/food sensitivity thing got calmed down, because I haven't seen anything like this until now. It is like when animals wich were not fed enough or were starved, finally starts geting the proper amount of food ... Only that there of course was no food deprivation, he got as much as he wanted, I even had to force feed him for some time, since he was eating so little. Than things were normalizing - he was eating normal amounts, poops were better, hair started to grow, he was more allert and more happy looking after the first round of elimination trial, even when I made challenge (for a few days only, since poops were horrific) he was eating normal amounts. But from tuesday he is gobbling food. I will give him as much food he needs/wants for some time, he has to get some more weight on.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 7, 2016 11:24:23 GMT -5
His bowels have finally calmed down and are now allowing him to absorb the nutrition he had been lacking. Kind of like when a ferret is first switched from kibble to raw they eat almost double of what they finally settle to. Lasts 4-5 weeks on average I'd not worry about it just yet.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2016 14:54:06 GMT -5
It is winter here. It is for a while He has been on a vet check on monday (look above) + he sees a vet everyday He is doing great - poops (almost) formed, looking better, feeling better, acting better, everything is better. And I am really, really happy about it. I was just wondering if anyone had such an experience after the IBD/food sensitivity thing got calmed down, because I haven't seen anything like this until now. It is like when animals wich were not fed enough or were starved, finally starts geting the proper amount of food ... Only that there of course was no food deprivation, he got as much as he wanted, I even had to force feed him for some time, since he was eating so little. Than things were normalizing - he was eating normal amounts, poops were better, hair started to grow, he was more allert and more happy looking after the first round of elimination trial, even when I made challenge (for a few days only, since poops were horrific) he was eating normal amounts. But from tuesday he is gobbling food. I will give him as much food he needs/wants for some time, he has to get some more weight on. With him putting his winter fat on, soon he'll be waddling around rather than running around
|
|
|
Post by maja01 on Jan 9, 2016 5:24:27 GMT -5
I will use this thread as a tracker. Seems quite convenient Chili got small rat for breakfast, waiting to see what will happen. For later meals (he will for sure beg for more food soon, since it was a rat pup). I plan rabbit and thatn tomorrow in the morning - if all goes well, rat (bigger one) again.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2016 9:29:39 GMT -5
I ordered some rats--big white rats. It would feed two ferrets a meal. first time ordering rats besides the asf rats that I buy which are small in comparison. How r you going to present it---cut up and gutted, just gutted, or whole? In their cage or room?
I am going to have to track this one down as it has been stashed( served in their room from now on).
|
|
|
Post by maja01 on Jan 10, 2016 18:40:22 GMT -5
He got mice before. Whole, non-guted. I just gave them and waited to see what will happen (they were on raw before). They all (at that time four of them) instantly knew what to do with them. All eate heads first. Others got rats before - same "procedure", just gave them. I didn't gice it to Chili at that time, since he started to eat less. Yesterday what he got was one small one - in the last package I ordered there was one. If it wouldn't be - I would just give the adult one, wait for some time and if he didn't eat it, I would cut it in half. First time they got them they were in cage (we just moved in a new house at that time, and the house was not yet ferret proofed and was filled with boxes and stuff). Now only Chili is living in the house and he has a cage seted up (alwasy open). He has a feeding pen there and he eats only there. Once in a while he moves half eaten parts around the cage. The young ones are now living outside (covered terrace and an enclosure) I give them food, but they usualy just stash it first and only then when everyone gets its share, start to eat. So yes ... it happens that in the middle of the day I found part eated rats or something else. But usually it is gone by the evening. I guess, that if they know what to do with asf, they will also know what to do with "ordinaray" rats.
|
|
|
Post by maja01 on Jan 14, 2016 5:36:12 GMT -5
He is still mostlly on rabbit, today it was 4th time he got whole rats. For now it seems ok - poop is ok, activity level is better, ... There was some weirder looking poop after the first rat meal - wich is normal when encountering new protein source, but was back normal right after this one weird poop. He gained 50 g in 9 days, he is now 1350 g (his normal winter weight would be somewhere between 1500-1600 g).
He is still on antibiotics twice daily (synulox), colostrum and omega3 + I added sucralfate few days ago, when I started with rats. He is a bit nervous ferret, so a course with sucralfate will only do ok to him.
|
|
|
Post by maja01 on Jan 17, 2016 18:14:42 GMT -5
Today he got one pork meat meal. So far so good. Will see tomorrow when he gets another one ...
|
|
|
Post by maja01 on Jan 19, 2016 6:36:46 GMT -5
I was happy too soon. No pork for Chili. The poop was runny and tarry, he even puked fev times Back on rabbit and rats. We will try mices in few days.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 6:42:00 GMT -5
That's the reason pork isn't in my ferrets' diet, ferrets aren't supposed to eat pork for the same reason dogs aren't, it can give them roundworm too
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Jan 19, 2016 11:27:42 GMT -5
As long as the pork has been frozen it is fine. I feed it here regularly as do many of us.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 13:42:37 GMT -5
As long as the pork has been frozen it is fine. I feed it here regularly as do many of us. The main reason I don't feed it to mine is because two of mine throw up if they eat it and another one just doesn't like it.
|
|
|
Post by raynebc on Jan 19, 2016 17:50:00 GMT -5
Mine either do or don't like pork depending on the cut. They don't like pork rib meat, but they seem to chow down on pork chops just fine.
|
|