Raw diet, making a switch

[Deleted]

Hi guys. I'm new to the forum, I hope this is the right place for this post, I'd be happy to move it to another place though if not.

My ferret Pippin is four years old and she has had stomach issues since she was about a year old. I've had her on multiple healthy kibbles, but I'm afraid she has bad genetics and won't live as long as other weasels (I got her from Monster Pets).
I'm wary of a full raw diet only because of my current living situation -- I recently had to move Pippin and I put of a place where she had free roam and unfortunately that's not an option we have for the upcoming months. However, in the future I would definitely consider trying to get her into a full raw diet.
For now, I want to be giving her as healthy of foods as I can. I'm wondering if there are any freeze dried mixes I could use that you add water to, that are still considered a raw diet.
What are some raw snacks she could have, either freeze dried or organs to eat every few days? (she's gonna be so picky I'm sure lol)
And what's the stance on raw eggs? Scrambled, egg whites only, etc. I'm just really unsure of all these things and I would appreciate it so much for some guidance.
I'm really not looking for any drastic diet changes right now though, just a boost for the time being until me and the baby weasel can get to our own place.
I want her to keep living happy and healthy and since she's in her cage more often because of the move, I feel terrible. I'm hoping this boosts her spirits

[LindaM]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!

Hm, to answer about other options for raw. Yes, you can use freeze-dried raw and rehydrate using water. It does work out quite a bit more pricy than other methods, but ferrets will generally accept FDR pretty fast compared to starting off with raw right away, so it's great to help transition. I use Stella & Chewys, NV Instinct Rawboost Mixers, and PureBites, I've not tried some FDR from Orijen, but that would be good too. Stella & Chewys and NV Instinct are more like 95% meat and 5% indigestibles (vegetables and the like), PureBites is 100% meat.

As for treats, you can do a dab of salmon oil on the finger, total oil limit is 1tsp per ferret, per week. I also use PureBites and NV Instinct Rawboost Mixers as freeze-dried treats, as is, or with a little water to rehydrate beforehand. Do not give a lot of liver (for example PureBites Duck Liver treat)... it's high in Vitamin A and can cause an overdose. They can also happily chew on raw gizzards.

You can scramble together the raw egg white and yolk, or give just the raw yolk. Never give just egg white. For chicken eggs, one egg per ferret, per week. Double in the shedding season.

Another good intro to raw that I had success with, as did some others here on the forum, is to use some of NV Instinct's Rawbites, they're frozen 95% meat grinds and usually kept in a freezer section of either the feline or canine section of pet stores. Trial bags are like $3.99-4.99 a bag, so make for a great start if you are unsure.

[Deleted]

Thank you so much!! That really helps me out! I will implement the Raw Food Plan soon and keep everyone updated with some pictures too

[Aftershock]

Any updates or questions @brittany32194?