Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 6:59:20 GMT -5
Earlier this year I posted this thread Original post as I'd started to become concerned with the poop of my ferrets particularly Lewey who would pass strange coloured poop, grainy poop and sometimes diahorrea, but all 3 of my ferrets had loose poops when previously they'd all been fine. I took the advice given here and have had a very good improvement. I thought I'd just detail my findings which might help someone else.
My 2 boys had been raw mince fed since I got them last year, but over winter I cut out their morning meal figuring they could just have kibble and fed them an evening meat meal. Over the last 2 months, I noticed their poops being loose and it wasn't clearing up. I learnt that feeding them kibble and meat means that the rate of digestion when eating kibble is slower than with meat which could and might have caused an upset in their digestion. Also by mixing kibble and minced meat the pH of their stomach might not be at optimum for digesting also possibly causing problems - if in the case of Lewey who has a sensitive stomach the problem is far more noticeable.
I had changed their brand of minced meat to what I now feel is an inferior product which could also have contributed to the problems. To be on the safe side, I also took them to the vets to be checked out. Lewey has had a few health issues since we acquired him and over winter he'd looked quite fat which we had taken for being just winter weight, but we had thought him well as his activity levels were high. However, the vet thought he was suffering from a colitis type problem and gave him a long acting anti-inflammatory injection along with Vit B12. The next day it was noticeable that his stomach wasn't so bloated or distended...so not winter fat! And a few days after his poop was much improved.
We also put them back on the better quality and coarser ground bone mince, added more heart over all to their diet, I'm more aware of rotating the flavours to make sure they get a balanced diet, and went back to feeding them twice a day. And I'm pleased to say all of them have better poop and the colour has gone back to being dark or mid brown and formed. Lewey is no longer straining to poop or doing the occasional diahorrea poop. He probably does have a sensitive stomach and we'll have to keep an eye on him, but things are much improved at the moment. The only things I would say is that although the injection does seem to have had a positive effect on his digestion and poop, I don't think overall it agreed with him as it was noticeable from the time returning from the vet that he was a little under the weather and his activity level was reduced. As the long acting anti-inflammatory injection started to wear off (2-3 weeks) he has started to get back to himself and his activity has returned to normal.
Just to say,they do have access to good quality kibble but only my elderly jill really still eats it as well as meat. But I've now managed to get her on 2 meat meals a day. The strange thing is she'll only eat meat if you stroke her or hold her!!!
The boys rarely touch the kibble now, but I want to keep them aware of kibble for when we go on holiday - as I can't afford for the petsitter to come twice a day.
Just to add, I also cut out their weekend treat of cat milk after reading the article here and replaced it with a beaten egg which they drink up with the same gusto.
My 2 boys had been raw mince fed since I got them last year, but over winter I cut out their morning meal figuring they could just have kibble and fed them an evening meat meal. Over the last 2 months, I noticed their poops being loose and it wasn't clearing up. I learnt that feeding them kibble and meat means that the rate of digestion when eating kibble is slower than with meat which could and might have caused an upset in their digestion. Also by mixing kibble and minced meat the pH of their stomach might not be at optimum for digesting also possibly causing problems - if in the case of Lewey who has a sensitive stomach the problem is far more noticeable.
I had changed their brand of minced meat to what I now feel is an inferior product which could also have contributed to the problems. To be on the safe side, I also took them to the vets to be checked out. Lewey has had a few health issues since we acquired him and over winter he'd looked quite fat which we had taken for being just winter weight, but we had thought him well as his activity levels were high. However, the vet thought he was suffering from a colitis type problem and gave him a long acting anti-inflammatory injection along with Vit B12. The next day it was noticeable that his stomach wasn't so bloated or distended...so not winter fat! And a few days after his poop was much improved.
We also put them back on the better quality and coarser ground bone mince, added more heart over all to their diet, I'm more aware of rotating the flavours to make sure they get a balanced diet, and went back to feeding them twice a day. And I'm pleased to say all of them have better poop and the colour has gone back to being dark or mid brown and formed. Lewey is no longer straining to poop or doing the occasional diahorrea poop. He probably does have a sensitive stomach and we'll have to keep an eye on him, but things are much improved at the moment. The only things I would say is that although the injection does seem to have had a positive effect on his digestion and poop, I don't think overall it agreed with him as it was noticeable from the time returning from the vet that he was a little under the weather and his activity level was reduced. As the long acting anti-inflammatory injection started to wear off (2-3 weeks) he has started to get back to himself and his activity has returned to normal.
Just to say,they do have access to good quality kibble but only my elderly jill really still eats it as well as meat. But I've now managed to get her on 2 meat meals a day. The strange thing is she'll only eat meat if you stroke her or hold her!!!
The boys rarely touch the kibble now, but I want to keep them aware of kibble for when we go on holiday - as I can't afford for the petsitter to come twice a day.Just to add, I also cut out their weekend treat of cat milk after reading the article here and replaced it with a beaten egg which they drink up with the same gusto.