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Post by bishop24 on Nov 5, 2017 23:49:45 GMT -5
1. Name: Missy 2. Weight: 965g 3. Ferret has eaten “1.5-2.5oz” per meal. She seems to be eating a lot less now. She has days were she will only eat a few ounces all day but the next day she will devour 3 oz in one meal. She still needs help to start but we are showering her in “good Missy’s” as she eats 4. Stools: Still loose and pretty small. Kinda sticky and goopy 5. Activity levels: She is sleeping about 20 hours a day now. I think that’s normal for winter time but it sucks that she sleeps so much now. She is active when she’s awake but it’s only about 2 hours twice a day now 😔 6. Weekly menu: Chicken soup. Got her eating slivers today! 7. Picture:
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 5, 2017 23:54:36 GMT -5
Oh no! I’m sorry, I hope you get some much needed rest and relaxation! 🏖 ☀️ 🌈 🍭 And ferret cuddles ❤️
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 6, 2017 2:11:27 GMT -5
1. Name: Flint 2. Weight: 1040g 3. Ferret has eaten “2oz” per meal. He will start eating on his own now. He is still hesitant, especially if the food has been sitting for a bit but as soon as we mix it up he’s good. Stools: better than Missy’s. They are actually starting to look normal again! And his urinating seems good too! 5. Activity levels: More active than Missy and always willing to wake up to check out whatever we are doing. He goes through days where he sleeps more and days where he always seems to be awake. 6. Weekly menu: Chicken soup with slivers for the last 2 days. He knows that his food is different now and seems upset about it. He will lick the side of the bowl and look at us and then smell it and look at us and then lick the edge of the soup and look at us and then he will start eating normally... and look at us etc 7. Picture:
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Post by Sherry on Nov 6, 2017 8:23:54 GMT -5
Hi Nicole I'll be stepping in for a week or so as Kelsey needs a bit of a break. Give me a chance to catch up and I'll post in again in a bit.
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 8, 2017 1:05:03 GMT -5
Hey Sherry, so we’ve encountered a bit of an obstacle. Missy has been fighting all attempts to get her to eat for the last few days. She would start out ok but after a few licks she would run away. I was at a bit of a loss until tonight. Missy is a bit of a scaredy cat and the weirdest things seem to freak her out. We got a placemat last week to go under their dish so meat drips wouldn’t get all over the floor. But on the weekend, on our first attempts at introducing slivers, she was doing her weird thing where licks her legs/chest when she eats and she slipped and went face first into the dish. I just thought it was kinda cute and funny but I think it really freaked her out. I got a bit frustrated tonight and was getting pretty desperate to get her to eat more than a few licks at a time. She seemed better eating off of the spoon in my arms but even after taking the placemat away she still wouldn’t go near her bowl. I got about 2 oz in her but she still seems pretty on edge tonight. How can I undo the trauma of mealtime? And I feel so lost when she gets super stressed out because I just can’t seem to calm her down. I’ve tried cuddles, soothing words, hiding spots, dark rooms, Flint (he is clueless sometimes), and even scruffing with cuddles and soothing words. But all she wants to do is run frantically! 😣
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Post by Sherry on Nov 8, 2017 11:02:00 GMT -5
Oh no lol. Poor mite. She's blamed the food/bowl for her trauma. It will take a bit but you will get there. Try using a small flat plate like a bread plate and see if that makes a difference. Make it a different colour as well, maybe something light. For the interim, all you can do is reassure her that the food and dish won't attack her again lol.
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 8, 2017 13:33:57 GMT -5
My poor little girl, just another random thing to add to her list of fears. But she seems much better today 😌 She ate another 2 oz before we went to bed and having our hand under her tummy when she eats helps. We are also using a little tan plate for her now.
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Post by Sherry on Nov 8, 2017 20:39:39 GMT -5
Oh good! Hope it's just going to be a short term issue then
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 9, 2017 11:37:44 GMT -5
Update: Missy is still sort of traumatized. She taken a few steps back in the eating department. She won’t eat by herself and isn’t keen on the dish. She will eat out of it if we force her but she tries to run away as soon as we take our hand away. So I’ve been holding her in my lap and spoon feeding her again. She is eager to eat but as soon as I try to put her on the ground she looses her appetite. We will keep trying to work on getting her comfortable again but do you have any ideas on what could help? The new dish didn’t seem to make much of a difference and neither did feeding her in a different area. I do shower her in compliments and congratulate her when she is done but I find that doing anything with Missy is a slow and cautious process.
Flint, on the other hand is doing fabulous! He has moved from eating a ton a few times a day to eating smaller amounts more frequently. He is even braver with eating food straight from the fridge and food that’s been sitting for a while! So he doesn’t need any help at all! He even seems to be enjoying the slivers and rarely tries to run away with them.
At least the ferrets take turns with being difficult 😬
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Post by Sherry on Nov 10, 2017 10:13:18 GMT -5
With Missy all you can do is take her at her own pace. I don't know if this will help, but I use a towel under the dish for my oldsters who don't have the greatest balance. It helps them feel like they have some traction. For now, I'd try feeding her in the area you want her to eat, with a towel under. Keep your hand on her back, and finger feed/spoon feed to prompt where necessary. Don't bother pushing her to go ahead too fast right now. She needs to gain confidence in herself again. With Flint keep pushing him with his food. What is the ratio of slivers to soup at the moment?
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 10, 2017 16:18:51 GMT -5
The towel sounds like a good idea. It will be easy to wash too if it gets meat drips on it 😉 I think her problem lies in when she tries to lick herself because she was doing it in my lap again last night and she almost tumbled over. So I’ve been trying to break her habit by distracting her with the spoon. I also gave her a drop of rescue remedy 20 minutes before meal time. It seems to be working so far and I even got her eating by herself last night! So hopefully we can get her comfortable soon and we won’t need the rescue remedy or the spoon.
As for flint, he’s doing about 50/50 slivers and soup. I think we can do more too because he seems to go for them. Is the next step all slivers?
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Post by Sherry on Nov 11, 2017 11:12:56 GMT -5
It sounds like you are making progress with her For now keep doing what you are doing as it seems to be working! For Flint, start increasing the size of some of the slivers by double. Just 4 or 5 and see how he does with that. As soon as he is eating the larger ones, increase the number of those, as well as making it all slivers topped with soup. Think fries and gravy sort of thing.
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Post by bishop24 on Nov 11, 2017 13:39:58 GMT -5
HAHA! It’s been a good morning. Missy was actually interested in food. We started out in my lap with the spoon, then slowly graduated to the floor and then closer to the dish and then without the spoon! She only tried squishy face a few times but quickly forgot when I brought the spoon back. She finished off the whole dish too! She has a lot more energy since she’s been eating again too 😊
We tried the equivalent of chunky chicken stew with flint. He was a bit nervous at first and tried to go for Missy’s food. But we took both dishes away and then brought his back and he chowed down! Such good ferrets! I’m so proud 🌈❤️
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Post by Sherry on Nov 12, 2017 10:16:05 GMT -5
Sounds definitely like progress on BOTH fronts! Keep pushing Flint a step forward every 2 or 3 meals Missy will catch up never fear.
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Post by Aftershock on Nov 12, 2017 10:17:05 GMT -5
*does a dance* Hey hey hey! I'm back! Sherry, THANK YOU. You are FABULOUS. Poor Missy lmao 'The dish attacked me, I swear!' Keep up the slow and steady with her! You are doing great! Flint- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! He is such a good boy! Let me know how he takes to the next offering of bigger pieces and we can go from there. Just as a heads up, this process can go a bit fast. Once ferrets get that click they are usually unstoppable
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