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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 23:00:35 GMT -5
Tomorrow my husband will try just the FDR with the other 5. Also, Dookster was grinding his teeth today He hasnt done that in a few days. He's breaking my heart.
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Post by dorena261-Natalia on May 4, 2016 5:32:11 GMT -5
What woukd you suggest at this point? Is there anything I can do to help him gain weight? Should I keep using the ensure fir this? I made my guys the FDR turkey (none for Dook though). Houdini ate it plain, right off the spoon. The others, not so much, though I did mix in 2 TBS of the chicken I made the other day, and then everyone but Ot(derifer)is ate it right up! What is a better mixture fir boiled chicken for them? They seem to really like it! you could feed him every few hours with a mixture of kibble/ensure/rabbit, slowly increasing the rabbit amount and decreasing the amount of kibble/ensure mix, but don't know is this possible since you work long hours? maybe your husband can try? did you weighed the kibble before and after your job? just to see how much of kibble he ate. they have to get used to a taste. if they like boiled chicken, maybe they will accept raw chicken too grinding teeth is probably sign of a pain, i hope it will be better soon. it's always hard to see them hurt
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Post by Sherry on May 4, 2016 9:59:02 GMT -5
Natalia is right- feed it to him as often as you can manage. And keep using your mix, just steadily decrease that while increasing the rabbit. You want him solely on that as soon as you can manage. He should for proper nutrition eat between 2-4 oz a day once on it. When he is grinding his teeth try making up some of the slippery elm bark powder and giving a tsp of that about 30-40 minutes before his meal if possible. That will coat his tummy and hopefully decrease pain. Use it for only about 3 days at a stretch maximum as it can decrease absorption of nutrients. Take a break for 3-4 days, then use again if need be. The ideal will be to get him to a point where you only need to use this if he has an episode of his IBD acting up. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/89/slippery-elm-bark-syrup-ibd
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2016 9:59:37 GMT -5
My husband and I are funny in that we schedule our work week to allow us time with the buddies. We are both off weekends. I am off Monday. He works from home Wednesday, and leaves work early to work partially at home on Thursdays. So, Tuesdays and Fridays, they are alone all day, until 6. All other days, we are with them most the day. When we are home, we are feeding him every hour, except over night. I feel bad, because I feel like Im constantly waking him up!
I'd love to fet my guys to an entirely fresh raw diet, though I worry about using chicken because if Dookster. I'm torn. Right now Im trying the rabbit because it's what was available in the pet store and seems to be the fastest transition to a non-fowl food. But, at $12 a pound, I absolutely cannot put them all on it. This means that if it's what Dook needs, he will need to be seperated from his friends. Otis is actually a new addition, and though they all play together, he still prefers to sleep in his own cage. Im considering after we settle on a diet for Dook, putting Otis on it also, and letting them share a cage. Right now, I'm sort of just playing around getting Pebbles, Ferret Bueller, Daisy and Houdini to try new things. I actually think I'd have a very easy time getting Houdini and Ferret Bueller to eat raw. Those two eat just about anything! Daisy devoured the FDR with chicken mixed in. I could probably transition her fairly easily. Pebbles LOVES scrambled eggs. He'll eat them raw if I mix with baby food and let him lick it off my fingers. Honestly, I think his issue is more about not wanting to get messy than taste! I think once Dook is transitioned, I will be able to focus on the other guys, and for now, I will keep mixing it up for them when I have the chance.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2016 10:01:20 GMT -5
Sherry, can the slippery elm be used with Carafate? Or seperately?
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Post by Sherry on May 4, 2016 10:02:51 GMT -5
We posted at the same time lol. With my Boris(IBD), I fed hiim separately from his friends. I just made sure he was full up on what he needed so he didn't graze much on their food. However I did keep chicken entirely out of the rotation. For bone, they ate mice, rats, and commercial frozen raw of other types instead.
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Post by Sherry on May 4, 2016 10:03:40 GMT -5
I didn't use carafate, so I would say no.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2016 9:03:31 GMT -5
Nothing new to report, except that Dooks is down to 1 pound 13.1 oz. I emailed the vet. Hoping she was some advice. I think he is slowly starving to death. He seems to be eating, at least enough to maintain his weight, but its dropping, about 1 ounce a week, since March. I have carnivore care, but sonce Im trying to eliminate chicken, I don't want to start giving it to him now. What can I do to get some weight on him? I fear he really doesn't have much time if he continues to lose the weight.
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Post by Sherry on May 5, 2016 9:25:35 GMT -5
I can't remember, has the vet put him on pred yet? He should be if he isn't. It will combat the inflammation in his gut. Pain meds(bupenorphrin) for a few days would be helpful as well.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2016 9:36:36 GMT -5
We haven't tried the pred yet. The vet had mentioned that if the carafate wasn't enough to deal with pain we could try prednisone. Other than the other day, he hadn't been grinding, so we haven't tried it. She is stylised to call me back today. I will ask when she calls me.
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Post by Sherry on May 5, 2016 9:45:10 GMT -5
He really should be on it. If he is dropping weight then he isn't getting the nutrition from his food. With Boris, he had to go on Imuran which is even stronger, but for him it was too late.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2016 18:17:57 GMT -5
Hi, no response from the vet today. She's out until Monday, so I'm sure I'll hear from her then. Shes offered the prednisone before, so I'm sure she wont have a problem giving it to him. Dook played with his lady bug toy today! He has this little lady bug toy that jingles. He loves it, but he's shy. He only plays with it if no one is looking! We have to sneak around to see him play! Hehehe! I made him soup with just kibble and water yesterday and he ate it. I added in a few pieces of rabbit, and he ate it too. Today, I mixed in even more rabbit (its probably about 1/4 rabbit, and he seems to be eating it so far! As long as he's willing to eat without the ensure, I dont see a reason to use it. I don't think its helping.
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Post by dorena261-Natalia on May 7, 2016 6:45:14 GMT -5
i have never used slippery elm, only carafate.
it's great that he's playing and that he ate his meal without the ensure. how many meals a day is he getting now?
is there any other vet who works on weekend and could prescribe you a pred for him?
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Post by Sherry on May 7, 2016 10:03:21 GMT -5
That is good news Keep increasing the rabbit and decreasing the kibble mix for now And excellent news he is playing. It is possible the inflammation is decreasing somewhat. Pred will still likely be needed for a month or two, but playing is a good sign the pain isn't as bad What are his stools like now?
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2016 10:14:16 GMT -5
His stool has been a good solid "kibble fed" poo since we started the carafate a month ago. Always light in color though, which I'm thinking is from the carafate. Everything was fine on blood work. He was playing again this morning! I wonder if the ensure was making him feel full quickly because of the sugar. Since we dropped it, hes eating more and has more energy! Hopefully this improves!
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