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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 22:20:43 GMT -5
Hi  so I posted a while ago about commercial grinds and also applied for a mentor, but we have decided to fully switch! We have been feeding soupie since the day before yesterday and it's been going pretty well but I have a few questions 1. I noticed that my ferrets drank little to nothing today. I know they are getting their moisture from their food but I figured they'd still drink? 2. The most concerning thing to me is that they are having very small poops. Some of them are dark green and some are grainy, is this from too much organ in the soup? 3. Do I need to be feeding them a specific amount of soup? I've been putting the bowl in the cage and letting them eat as much as they want and then trying to spoon feed the rest to Tyrion |
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Post by Heather on Sept 11, 2016 1:17:50 GMT -5
1. They won't stop drinking completely but a ferret like a cat isn't supposed to drink copious amounts of water, they will absorb it through their diet. That is why kibble is so detrimental to their health.
2. They're actually absorbing their food. They huge, disgusting amounts of stools was caused by the amount of food was not being absorbed. Raw stools are not consistent in colour and textures and switching stools can be really weird. Dark tarry stools can often mean too much organ (blood) in the stools. Are you following the recipe? Grainy are usually improperly absorbed fats. Not uncommon in a ferret that's system is entirely accustomed to trying to absorb fats out of biscuits.
3. Amounts are variable....they depend on gender, age, season and health. On average a jill/sprite should be getting 1 to 3 oz of food a day, a hob/gibb should be eating about 3 to 7 oz per day (if your soupy is like a broth, you will have to feed more to meet nutritional requirements). If you're feeding kits, they're furry tummies with teeth and will eat 3 to 4 x that amount. Newly switched ferrets also eat more than ferrets who've been fed raw all their lives because their bodies are trying to make up for lost nutrients
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 11:49:32 GMT -5
I have been using chicken gizzards in the soup but will be getting thighs soon, could this be causing the grainy poops? And so should I let them eat as much as they want? Thanks for your help Heather |
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Post by Heather on Sept 11, 2016 13:07:01 GMT -5
I would be allowing them to eat as much as they want. If they're consuming lots of the soupy, I would be starting to thicken it up. Gizzards are a bit harder to digest so that might be part of the reason why they're having some funky stools.
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 20:44:31 GMT -5
Okay I will be getting chicken thighs tomorrow. One more question! Is it okay to make soupies out of other meats? (like using pork instead of the chicken thigh) |
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Post by Heather on Sept 12, 2016 0:12:55 GMT -5
Oh, most definitely. I would suggest that you feed the same protein for about a week to see if there is any reaction to the meat. I would also suggest keeping a log...what meats, likes, stools, reactions, even keep track of where the meat was purchased as this too can be different and ferrets have been known to refuse a meat when you change a store.
Just some thoughts
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2016 18:12:22 GMT -5
Do these poops look normal? I'm just worried about the green   btw, the red dot is part of the litter |
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