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Post by Sherry on Mar 23, 2016 14:27:47 GMT -5
Remember to do a slow introduction to reduce gastric upset when switching from one kibble to another.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2016 14:37:39 GMT -5
I just picked up the orijen regional red.
I was just going to ask. What is the proper way to introduce this food.
Should I just take her bowl and do 1/2 and 1/2 new and old? Or should I do like 1/4 new to 3/4 old?
Thanks
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2016 16:43:41 GMT -5
Rosie is simply beautiful. What a sweet face. Ferrets imprint on their kibble and sometimes simply do not recognize a new food as food. Try the new kibble and if she turns up her nose at it then take some small containers and mix some of the old and some of the new in it. Do one with something like 75 percent old and 25 percent new, do one with 50/50 and then one with 25 percent old and 75 percent new. Make it in small amounts so you can put some fresh out every day and ease her into it. The containers will mix smells and she may pick out the old first but she will become familiar with the new. FDR is Freeze dried raw. There are several good products out there but it can be expensive. Look at Stella and Chewy's feline. Their duck, duck, goose and tummy ticklin turkey can be great. FDR has less filler in it than kibble and you would see a lovely change in her fur and her poops would be smaller and less smelly. Plus you'll avoid the stress that kibble causes in her body. Each animal offers differing nutrients and on a raw diet, we recommend more than one animal protein to take full benefit of what each animal offers. Beef for example is full of iron and vitamin B. Rosie is still young and she would benefit from an obligate carnivore's diet. Ferrets lack a cecum which processes fruits/grains/starches and veggies. The filler in kibble is just not digestible and becomes waste product but it also stresses their little bodies. What happens then is that an illness called Insulinoma can happen as they age. That's one of the reasons that this forum exists. We try to help new Ferrents avoid the mistakes that others have dealt with and we have an all volunteer mentoring program where you can request a mentor to help switch her to a more natural diet. If you're interested then look around and follow a switching thread or two and see how the process works and if it's something that you think would be like to be a part of. We just ask that you don't post to those working threads. Give Rosie a big hug and tell her that I'm jealous that you get to live in NY.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2016 17:00:50 GMT -5
Alright so what's the deal then. Should I just get her off the kibble and be done? If it's going to cause problems in the long run I would rather put her on raw now ya know?
Edit: if I just give her a bowl of the new kibble and she does take to it, will that be a shock to her system?
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 23, 2016 22:30:20 GMT -5
I was looking at the ingredients in one of the totally ferret foods and saw corn and flaxseed, so it could be anything in there. maybe this will agree with her better.
Also when you switch to raw, you will need kibbles in case she is stubborn switching. I kept some kibble out at night for Abbey while I was switching her.
Tell us how she does.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 24, 2016 10:23:17 GMT -5
As abbey said- switching to raw can be difficult. so having a kibble she will eat is paramount during that time. Personally I will ALWAYS advise to go with raw if you can. If she is taking to the new food, just be prepared for some tummy upsets. If she doesn't have any real issues then great. If she does, you can go back to a slow switch.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2016 10:57:24 GMT -5
I figure she will have some diarrhea but darn isn't there a lot more involved in raw feeding? Like having to use daily laxatives
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 24, 2016 13:49:46 GMT -5
no laxatives. Main thing is convincing them that the raw soupie is food. It is usually down hill from there. I did have one who wanted to stay on soupie. She licked the soupie off the slivers of meat so i just daubbed the slivers with soupie and she ate them. She ate bone on her own. She dearly loves her chicken.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2016 15:07:21 GMT -5
Ok so if I were to do a FDR diet. What would it consist of to be a proper diet? I don't want to go buy random stuff. Would rather have the info before shopping.
A total switch from kibble to FDR. What would be recommended?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 25, 2016 0:39:29 GMT -5
Stella and Chewy's. Nature's Variety. Wysong's. Those three will give you a good balance on freeze dried raw. However it is SO important to try to use a minimum of 3 different proteins to make sure your nutritional bases are covered. So- as your babe is sensitive to chicken, rabbit, beef, and maybe duck would be good. Keep in mind all fowl could potentially be an issue over time.(not confirmed but possible- same symptoms).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 7:11:05 GMT -5
Alright. Sorry for all the questions !
So if I go pick up Stella and chewys I'm not just getting one kind. I'm getting 3 different kinds to cover all muscle meats and stuff.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 25, 2016 9:54:05 GMT -5
Not a problem on the questions And yes, exactly!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2016 10:05:20 GMT -5
Well here is day 3-4 on the 50/50 kibble. Totally ferret to Orijen. It would appear as though her body is definitely enjoying not having chicken. There's no doubt this week I'll be starting a raw diet. But I don't want to shock her system. And honestly it's just strange offering her raw beef....
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Post by raynebc on Mar 26, 2016 22:33:51 GMT -5
I think it feels strange to most of us at first, maybe less so to people that eat raw meat already. When I started my older pair of ferrets on raw, I hadn't even handled raw meat more than a few times over the span of several years. Now I handle it several times per day. You get used to it pretty quick.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2016 9:52:42 GMT -5
The touching raw meat part is not a problem for me at all.
It's more, I don't want to go stockpile and not have the right meat.
Does anyone else have little bastards that don't like chicken?
To be honest how do we even know that the original poop looked like it was rejecting chicken? Maybe she was just rejecting totally ferret.
Either way I'm probably going to go to Wegmans today and pick up something. I honestly still have no idea what to even start her with.
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