Diarrhea help!

[Deleted]

So I have just recently brought two ferrets into my family and wanted to get them off of Marshall's food ASAP.  I bought Kaytee Fortified Diet at the pet store and they took to that without issue.  But after reading into different kinds of kibble I decided that the Epigen 90 Digestive Support mixed with NV Instinct Raw Boost are the best kibbles out there (I would like to go raw but need to do more research).  I have been transitioning Capone and Pipino to the new kibble since Saturday (80 old/20 new, 70/30, and today probably 50/50).  They both seem to be taking to the new food without issue, however Capone has had diarrhea for the past two days..

They both are still very active, and don't seem to be having any other symptoms besides the diarrhea.  They are drinking plenty of water (I know dehydration can be deadly for ferrets) and I have been mixing in water with the new food in the morning as well.  Am I switching over foods too soon?  When I switched from Marshall's to Kaytee I just swapped out the foods completely without any diarrhea.. Any help would be appreciated!

[unclejoe]

On this site, it's recommended to just dump kibble for raw On another site that I moderate, it's recommended to switch kibbles gradually to avoid digestive issues and switching issues for pickier ferrets. It's possible that Capone has an allergy to one or two ingredients.
Digestive Support is a remake of Epigen 90 original formula. There were many ferrets that had issues with the reformulated Epigen 90, which were blamed, I believe, on chia seeds? This was a couple years agom, and I haven't heard any problems with the new, updated old, formula.
You can take out one new food for a few days to see if the diarrhea improves, and if not, replace with the other.

[Deleted]

Okay I will try just one of the new foods tomorrow to see if he is having a reaction to it. Thanks for the input

[Deleted]

So just an update- Capone's diarrhea has all but stopped the same night I posted this.. either way I still just fed them Kaytee Fortified Diet yesterday morning. I have since slowly been adding the ratio of NV raw boost without anymore runny poops.

Could it be that the Epigen 90 Digestive Support was too rich for them and that's why Capone was having diarrhea?

[Corvidophile]

NV Insinct's raw boost, freeze dried, and frozen raw products all contain a certain type of clay, which helps reduce bacteria overloads during food switches, because it keeps things moving along at a steady clip due to the non soluble fiber that clay acts as.

[Deleted]

huh... that is really interesting. Thanks for that information Corvidophile

[Blue]

Apparently Epigen Digestive Support was never as good as the original version, and some ferrets were still having issues. It sounds like Capone might be one of them. In any case, I'm glad it's cleared up!