jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144 
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 17:46:10 GMT -5
Hey guys so my vet wants me to change the ferrets to raw but not until our next appointment so we can make sure they are healthy. And that it's the food they are on and not something else that was making their poo runny (They are still doing great their poo is looking more like ferret poo everyday). So in the meantime they are still on kibble. I am softening it some but it's not completely soft but its not crunchy either. My question is how long do I have to softening it. Whats the right age to be able to just give them crunchy. One was born Nov. 15th and the other Nov. 29th. Thanks!
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 17:52:10 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 18:19:50 GMT -5
Can I ask how exactly you "soften" kibble?
Adding water to it is a risk. It may cause an increase in bacteria which may cause stomach upsets in some ferrets.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean in regards to runny poop. Were you switching and then stopped to go back to kibble? Runny poop can happen during the start of a switch, it takes some time before they adjust and the poop firms up. If they're young, they could easily go straight to raw, bones and all...
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 18:31:35 GMT -5
I am softening with hot water. How would you recommend doing it? I haven't started a switch yet. They were on kibble and they started to get runny poo last week so I took them to the vet to make sure there was nothing wrong. The vet talked to me about raw diet and gave me some meds to give them because he thinks they are just missing things in their diet. I made threads on that if you didn't see it. I was just asking at what age should be okay without softening.
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 18:32:23 GMT -5
Oh and the vet tested the ferrets for bacteria in their poop and they were clean.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 18:39:42 GMT -5
Hiya Jess, they are cutiepatooties!
At that age unless there was a reason I wouldn't be softening it at all. They have pretty strong chompers.
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 18:42:36 GMT -5
Hiya Jess, they are cutiepatooties! At that age unless there was a reason I wouldn't be softening it at all. They have pretty strong chompers. Okay great! I heard something about it being an issue with their jaws when they are young but that was a few weeks ago! I'll stop softening now! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 18:44:37 GMT -5
Great news on the bacteria.  If they were on kibble when they started getting the runny poop, then your vet may be right about it missing something in the kibble. Is this the food that pet stores hand out when you buy a ferret? If I recall that's marshall brand, and that is very poor, wouldn't surprise me. ;n; If you were softening it at the time, it may also be due to adding water to kibble, that sometimes may cause an upset stomach. I don't recall seeing your thread, I'll go check it in a moment just in case. ^^ Both kits are possibly around ~3 or so months. They're very young. ;n; I'll tag, Heather, Sherry They may have some good advice on how to go about this. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 18:46:39 GMT -5
Hiya Jess, they are cutiepatooties! At that age unless there was a reason I wouldn't be softening it at all. They have pretty strong chompers. Okay great! I heard something about it being an issue with their jaws when they are young but that was a few weeks ago! I'll stop softening now! To be honest I ended up with 2 kits (while back) that couldn't possibly have been any older than 6 weeks, they were chomping away on kibbles (yucky pvf kibbles :/ ) when I got them with no probs. |
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 18:48:10 GMT -5
They were on Marshalls lol. I bought the smallest bag and Zupreem so I could start mixing and getting it off Marshalls. Zupreem isn't great either but my vet wants me to hold off on changing to much until we can start them on raw.
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 24, 2016 18:50:01 GMT -5
@libbyw okay that makes me feel better. When I got Cash I wasn't softening it the first few days but it looked like he had trouble eating. I'm sure it will be fine now.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 19:04:54 GMT -5
Hey guys so my vet wants me to change the ferrets to raw but not until our next appointment so we can make sure they are healthy. And that it's the food they are on and not something else that was making their poo runny (They are still doing great their poo is looking more like ferret poo everyday). So in the meantime they are still on kibble. I am softening it some but it's not completely soft but its not crunchy either. My question is how long do I have to softening it. Whats the right age to be able to just give them crunchy. One was born Nov. 15th and the other Nov. 29th. Thanks! It sounds like Tango and Cash are feeling better. I'm so glad. I love that your vet is recommending a Natural Diet. Kudos to you for finding that vet and Hooray for the Vet being so Ferret savvy. Are your Ferrets petstore Ferrets from a store like Petco. Marshall's sends them out at around 7-9 weeks or so they say. Once in the petstore then the kits are given a kibble mush to help make it easier for kits to eat. Once your vet gives the approval then I'd go straight to the Natural Diet and skip over the dry hard crunchy kibble. It's just not a good start for a healthy ferret. They'll be better hydrated and get the proper nutrients and none of the filler that kibble has. Ferrets are not designed to process starches, carbs, fruits, grains or veggies. Since they are carnivores, they are designed to eat meat. Kits have not imprinted on kibble yet and they are Tummies with Teeth. They will eat what you give them and we can help you get them onto a well balanced diet early on in their life which will stand them in good stead later in life. You'll like the difference you see in them on a good diet. Their fur will be softer, their poop less smelly and smaller plus their little bodies are not getting stressed from trying to digest undigestible fillers. I'll link this thread to help you learn a little until you're ready to begin. You can sign up for a Mentor, by now you know about our Mentoring program and you can begin your own switching thread until a Mentor is assigned. All the Mentors will help you along and provide guidance and support to keep your menu balanced and help Tango and Cash learn to eat a healthy diet. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/17480/intro-raw-newbies-read  |
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Post by Heather on Feb 25, 2016 0:50:46 GMT -5
Personally, I'd be switching the wee mites right now...but it's all about your comfort zone. The sooner you switch them the easier it is. By the way they're adorable  ciao |
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Post by Sherry on Feb 25, 2016 11:00:51 GMT -5
I'm with Heather- Now is easier. But at least your vet is for a raw diet!
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jessmarie
Junior Member
Q: How do you drive a ferret crazy? A: Give him a round litter pan.
Posts: 144
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Post by jessmarie on Feb 25, 2016 13:45:25 GMT -5
Yeah my vet is pretty cool. He's all about going more along the lines of natural things being a holistic vet lol. I'm from Germany and many of my dads friends had ferrets and they would get hired by farmers to help with rabbits and such. Most people from where I lived give their ferrets whole prey so the vet and I talked a lot about that. I talked to my cousin who still lives in Germany and their ferrets don't get the same medical issues as ours over here.
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