Looking to switch to raw!

[Deleted]

Let me start off by saying.... wow... what a journey this has all been!!

About a year ago, maybe a little over... I got a call from a friend saying she knew someone fostering ferrets she'd recused(old owner fed them bird seed!!!! ) after hearing their story and being left in shock, I didn't even consider it and just went asap to pick them up. Even never having owned a ferret before I knew how they were being treated was far from okay...

Both were sooooo skinny... you could see their hips when they walked and could count all their tiny bones... that night I jumped into research mode and figured out all the ways to help ferrets gain weight . Little did I know at that time one of the two had insulinoma... and sadly it was the later stages and being older all we could do was manage it.. sadly this last weekend he crossed rainbow bridge wrapped up in my arms... even after getting them on a higher quality kibble... I've decided with my surviving ferret who is healthy that I want to go completely raw with him and cut kibble out 100% if possible... I've been reading and reading for months and trying to introduce more and more meat options into his diet... so far he loves egg yolks and chicken liver but without bones, and muscle meat  or supplements I know it's not enough to remove kibble.

My questions are:
What are the best meats and cuts of meats to feed him ?
What kind of bones are considered edible ?
Is there a raw diet that doesn't include supplements?

And of course any other tips would be so helpful..

I know insulinoma can be linked to a kibble diet more so if it's not the bestttt kibble and with his past I want to give him the best chance...

I CAN NOT handle what happened with his brother to happen again.

Sorry this is so long!! And thanks in advance
😊

[LindaM]

Hi there and welcome to the forum! It's wonderful to hear that you want to provide your ferret with the best life you can. Raw is definitely the way to go.

Generally a proper raw diet doesn't need to include any supplements, they will get all they need from their food. Only times someone might use a supplement might be Taurine powder for when they are unable to get any hearts for the heart meals. And it is entirely possible to cut out any kibbles 100% and just feed raw, even with older ferrets, all it takes is time, patience, and persistence. Kibble should remain available at least until the ferret eats the basic raw soup of their own volition, since some ferrets will just starve themselves if their old food is taken away and only new food given without a transitional stage.

This link will give you a better idea of what their menu should contain, it also lists what types of meats are acceptable:
holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/146/meat-bone-organ-weekly-menu

Once you've reached 15 posts on here, you can apply for a mentor to help teach you more about raw and help you with the transition to raw. And until then you can even start an unofficial switch thread on here and everyone will jump in to check up on how it's going and help offer advice.

How much egg are you giving him? A ferret should get 1 raw egg (either white and yolk whisked together, or only the yolk) per week, and double that in the shedding season. Feeding more than that can upset the balance of their diet and will lead to some nasty poops.

And how often do you give liver? Too much liver can lead to a Vitamin A overdose in their system, liver tends to only be about 5% of their total diet.

You can also see about getting him started on a raw soup: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/145/raw-soup

[Deleted]

Thanks for the info! Ill check those links out right now!

As for your questions about the egg and liver, as of right now i've only fed them to him a handful of times since ive gotten them. when his brother was still alive (up until last weekend) he got eggs a little more often maybe once a week to help bring more protein into his diet... and with my one that I still have, I've given him liver a couple of times... but he loves it.. he's kind of into chicken hearts as well... so it excites me that he ate them the first time i introduced them. His bowl of kibble is still in his cage and will but until he's completely switched..

[LindaM]

You're welcome. There's also lots of information available on the Raw Feeding section of the forum.

I think it's wonderful that he's taken to the organs so well then, a lot of ferrets are a bit iffy about first starting on the organs, they smell much stronger than the muscle meats. So you're off to a very good start, I'd just be careful to not give too much liver.

If he likes getting his weekly egg, you could also use a little bit of that drizzled over the raw soup from that recipe to get him to eat it, or if you feel the two of you are ready to try, you can also try it over some small slivers of muscle meat or a chicken wing (you might wanna smash the bones with a mallet first) to see if he'll eat it.

[Sherry]

If you like, join the mentoring program, and in the interim start a thread in Diet Transitions Mentors can step in and help guide you there.

[Deleted]

Thank you both!

I'm so excited to start this journey with my little guy and i'm excited to know i have someplace to turn and people who don't think i'm crazy! haha