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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 18:23:56 GMT -5
1) I know that other nutrients slowly degrade over time in the freezer so I imagine taurine would too.
2) Loose stools could mean not enough bone meal. Chalky/firm stools would likely mean too much. Seedy poo is fatty poo.
3) 1 1/2 muscle meals should be heart. 1 1/2 meals should be organ, half of which should be liver.
4) 1 egg per ferret a week, right? At least, that's what I do with quail eggs. I figure they should share a duck egg because it's a lot bigger.
5) A ferrets digestive tract is short and takes about 4 hours
6) Egg is good for hairballs and thats once a week. I also heard chicks are great for cleaning out the tract but those are considered snacks and should be given sparingly. Pumpkin is given for blockages, can be used with Vaseline.
7) You don't have to put food away after meals. They can handle the bacteria and usually won't eat it if it's too spoiled though 8hrs is a good marker. If they digest their food so quickly then they must get hungry again quickly?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 8:02:21 GMT -5
Happy Happy Birthday! I hope today is a really great and fun day for you. :banana: Do you have any special plans for today? maja01 gave you your quiz so I'll wait for her to answer it. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 9:37:33 GMT -5
Thanks! My only plan is to relax and hopefully not catch the stomach bug the kids are passing around. The woozles have been out but they're pissed we haven't been in there playing with them. Idk if a ferret can catch a stomach bug but I know they can catch colds. Better safe than sorry. On a positive note, they're eating more and more bone! I'm a proud ferrent
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 13:41:06 GMT -5
You should be a proud ferrent. You and your sister are very good ferrents. I'm so sorry that you don't feel well though. Especially on your birthday plus you have such a busy life that being sick just is tough. Hopefully someone will pamper you some now. Actually a ferret cannot catch a cold but they can catch the flu. I think a stomach bug depends on the virus but I'll tag maja01 for that bit of vet advice. I'm so glad to know they are doing better with bones. The bone stage is so exciting when you hear the crunch and watch them really enjoy their meals. And now a small lesson on the impact of diet and dentition: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/10556/impact-diet-dentitionAlso when you get a chance or feel a bit better then will you post a current report card with everyone's update. You also might want to include your sister's fuzzies in with yours. Feel better soon. It's no fun to be sick.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 22:54:28 GMT -5
I look forward to my quiz getting "graded" lol Call me a geek but you don't know what you don't know til you need it and I was un sure about a couple of the questions.
I'm currently on a mini vacation (WOOT!) and the fuzz butts are with Kayla. Aris is behaving badly, he quite literally flew out of the couch to nab a candy strait out Kaylas mouth and tear off. She had to chase him down to get it back lmao Doesn't he know he's a carnivore? Don't worry, he didn't manage to eat it.
When I get back it is absolutely a priority to get current weights and profiles for all, including Kaylas. You'll see the hierarchy they've carved out for themselves haha Not sure if Kayla and I are at the top or bottom. Who's running this show?!?!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 22:59:43 GMT -5
Also, that dental article was a good read. I didn't know/realize their teeth are more like scissors so the wear would be on the sides. It makes sense that kibble would wear down the tops and create tartar. The benefits of a raw diet are endless! I just wish more people were willing to see past the convenience of kibble.
You don't know how many people I've met who said they've owned ferrets before and wanted to argue with me that kibble is fine. 3 of said people gave away their ferrets so I feel they have no ground to stand on. GTFO with that lol
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Post by maja01 on Mar 30, 2016 8:09:32 GMT -5
1) I know that other nutrients slowly degrade over time in the freezer so I imagine taurine would too.Freezing changes some of the nutrient values, especialy is this true for vitamines. It does to some point actually affect also amino acids (amino acids are particles from which proteins are made up), but not to the point it would matter and definetly significantly less than cooking. With cooking you do change the structure of proteins and amino acids become (less) availble form. I know, this one was hard sort of scientifical one. One does not realy ask himself such question in "normal life" So ... since the change in content of available taurin is so smal, we can acctualy say, the freezing does not degrade it. But on the other hand your answer was more "scientificaly" correct 2) Loose stools could mean not enough bone meal. Chalky/firm stools would likely mean too much. Seedy poo is fatty poo.Yes, it is true. Tough meals of organs and very, very fat food can also cause loose stools. And of course some bugs and viruses (but this was not the question). Seedy poo means theat there are either undigested fat particles (can be seen in ferrets on kibble diet with different intestinal problems, like mild form of ece) or undigested starch coming from the bowel. The "bird seeds" mean that the content was not properly absorbed in the bowel. Oh, and loose(er) stool sometimes can happen when you are introducing a new protein (or new part/organ). 3) 1 1/2 muscle meals should be heart. 1 1/2 meals should be organ, half of which should be liver.Yes, correct. I would only add that heart should be at least 1 1/2 meals. You can give more heart it is acctually a muscle meal with added value because of taurine 4) 1 egg per ferret a week, right? At least, that's what I do with quail eggs. I figure they should share a duck egg because it's a lot bigger.You can give one chicken egg per week per ferret or 2 quail eggs per week per ferret. But it is nothing wrong if you give one quail egg. This are numbers if we are talking of ferrets without any problems. 5) A ferrets digestive is short and takes about 4 hoursYes, exactly! The good side of this is, that you really quickly know how they respond to a certain food and it is good since you can quickly notice any changes in poo pattern, look of the poo and smell… Which can tell you a lot. The downside of course is that they poo a lot (compared to cats or dogs for instance) and that means more cleaning. 6) Egg is good for hairballs and thats once a week. I also heard chicks are great for cleaning out the tract but those are considered snacks and should be given sparingly. Pumpkin is given for blockages, can be used with Vaseline.Yes. In the time of hard shedding you can even give more eggs - two chicken eggs per week (per ferret). As you said, they prevent hairballs to get stuck up in a little fur balls (called trichobezoars). Day old chicks are also very good - they actually have a whole yolk in their stomach (their first food). 7) You don't have to put food away after meals. They can handle the bacteria and usually won't eat it if it's too spoiled though 8hrs is a good marker. If they digest their food so quickly then they must get hungry again quickly?Yes, you can leave food for at least 8 hours (depends on a structure - soupy vs. chunks vs. whole prey and size - small particles go bad faster than big chunks). In nature wild polecats have a stash of food in their dens … and they snack on it when they are hungry. As you said - because their metabolism is fast, they eat more often. Tough an adult healthy ferret can go without food for 8-12 hours (this is not true for kits and sick ferrets and can be dangerous in older ones which can have insulinoma without clinical signs). But it is much better to give them a little more food as they (can) eat in one meal, so they can have it for a later in between meals snack. You did great - just as I excpected Congratulations! (dance)
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Post by maja01 on Mar 30, 2016 8:20:53 GMT -5
Well ... they are like small kids. They don't care if they are carnivores and you are eating a salad sendwich or orange or drinking tea or eating chocolate ... they just want it because if you can have it, they should have it too ... You were asking about stomach bugs and cold ... They can catch flu (influenza virus), they can not get common cold (rhinoviruses) and they can not get common viral stomach problems (even tough called stomach flu it is not really caused by influenza virus but usually by noro-, adeno- and astroviruses). But still I allways say - even tough you are not supposed to be able to transfer the disease to animals, if you are sick, just minimize the contact ... Kibble indeed is convinient. It really is ... and most people are not prepared to go beyond opening a bag and put some food in pets food bowl. Also, many are scared that they will not be able to prepare food for a pet - they feel this is some kind of rocket science ... But - if you are able to make food for yourself and you familly and stay healthy and alive, you can do it for pets also. Yes, you have to know the basic, but is not rocket science. And still ... (ok, here you have more options than we do over here - at least for ferrets and cats) if you don't have time or don't want to do it yourself, there are prepared raw mixes that are much better for them than kibble.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2016 9:31:03 GMT -5
My vet works for the Nashville zoo and is an exotic specialist. He told me that even he would be afraid to "cook" for ferrets and tried to talk me into going back to kibble. People are worried they won't get it right. Kibble is much easier but it's not easier to watch them suffer from Insulinoma or progress to Lymphoma. I'm glad you liked the article on dentition. You've moved along so well that I'm going to look for some more articles with good information. I know you like research and that makes me so happy. Very good job on your quizz! maja01 gave you a nice one and you did well. Enjoy your mini vacation. It's wonderful to relax and have some time to yourself plus you get to know that yours are nice and safe and happy with your sister's business. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2016 10:00:43 GMT -5
Awesomesauce, thanks guys Kayla sent me current weights last night in lbs/oz, she did it while they were sleeping. Shes going to try for pictures tonight but 99% of our photos are blurs lol you know how it is. Well get that 1 good one of each, 10000000 photos later Chaos 2 lbs 10 & 1/8 oz Roscoe 2 lbs 2 & 5/8 oz Sheldon 2 lbs 4 & 3/4 oz Aris 2 lbs 5 & 1/2 oz Arya 1 lb 15 & 3/4 oz
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Post by maja01 on Mar 31, 2016 4:41:42 GMT -5
haha, it is allways like this. You shoot 100 photos of ferrets and maybee 3 of them are ok
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2016 8:01:51 GMT -5
Awesomesauce, thanks guys Kayla sent me current weights last night in lbs/oz, she did it while they were sleeping. Shes going to try for pictures tonight but 99% of our photos are blurs lol you know how it is. Well get that 1 good one of each, 10000000 photos later Chaos 2 lbs 10 & 1/8 oz Roscoe 2 lbs 2 & 5/8 oz Sheldon 2 lbs 4 & 3/4 oz Aris 2 lbs 5 & 1/2 oz Arya 1 lb 15 & 3/4 oz Everyone looks like they have nice weights on them. Spring will find them losing a bit of weight and eating a bit less so don't worry. I did want to clarify one small answer on your test. Taurine does degrade with heat. A lesson for a rainy day since it's all yucky here. Here is a very good lesson that @machan wrote on what is toxic and non safe for our ferrets. With all the children and all the ferrets in your homes then I think this should be good for you to know: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/19461/ingredients-good-bad-toxicAlso is there some information that you would like clarified or to learn more about? If so then let me know and we'll talk about that also. Enjoy your mini vacation and read this when you get home. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2016 7:25:59 GMT -5
Ended my vacation as the last to catch the stomach bug, yay me lol its been 2 days since I last barfed and Aris & Arya are impatient for me to play with them again. I'm really proud about how mellow and affectionate they're becoming! When i first got them they were wild Lil kits that liked to chomp hard on fingers and toes. Now they rough house but bite much more gently and no more surprise drive bys on my toes hahaha all 5 ferrets will cuddle and sleep with us and the kids. They are well socialized and have no fear of strangers or being hurt. I call Aris & Arya my ferret ambassadors because I get stopped with them a lot and asked questions. People are quick to say "I heard ferrets are mean and bite a lot" so I just have them hold one or the other. Usually dispels that myth right quick as the person recieves ferrety cuddles.
Aris especially will give kisses if you pick him up and walk. He has trained me with positive reinforcement to go on walks where he has a good view from my arms. He's trained my roomie this way too. Clever fella!
There's tons of stuff I'd like to know more about but of course I can't think of anything now haha
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2016 9:36:57 GMT -5
So Arya n Aris are picking up on eating again. They had been eating 5oz/day/ea then down to 2-3oz/day/ea, now about 4oz/day/ea. I know cutting down on eating is normal for spring but is it okay/normal to be changing it up like this?
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Post by maja01 on Apr 5, 2016 7:58:51 GMT -5
Yes, it is normal. I am happy you managed to socialize them so well. As you said, it is nice to have some ferret ambasadors for people to see what a ferret can be. In our association we go to some ferret presentations - twice a year we are a part of exotic animals show. We have a playground for ferrets and a couple of us all the time being there. So people can pet the ferrets, we answer questions, ... Usually we have different profiles of ferrets - som jills and some hobs, so people can see the difference, some youngsters and some older, different in colour ... Some of our members also go for walks in the city park - I don't do it anymore it was to stressfull (for me) since people are stoping and asking all the time. I prefered to go to lonlier places, now, since we have moved, we have our own property and I walk them here. But in the begining of may we are planing a group walk (we are going to arboretum) with probably 20+ ferrets. I will for sure post pics
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