Post by Heather on Nov 16, 2017 13:28:05 GMT -5
Name: Stacy
HF Forum Username: stacylo
Please confirm that you are 18 years of age or older:
I am 31 years old.
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
I would’ve been a child. I watched animal documentaries as a child and it always seemed strange to me that we would feed animals anything but what they have evolved to eat.
2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.
I’d like to stay in the frankenprey or frankenprey mostly with little commercial raw area of raw feeding. It seems realistic for the rest of my family’s needs and doable for their health.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
Well I’ve begun a natural diet on my own since I got them 3 weeks ago. I didn’t want to get them started with bad habits with kibble so it seems like a perfect time to set up good habits for them.
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It requires a commitment of several months at minimum. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. The switch takes time and effort every single day. It can also be extremely frustrating at times. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc), or limited time due to work, then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing and realistically able to make the necessary time commitment?
Yes. I have the time to realistically commit the necessary time to getting a healthy diet established.
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? If so, what medications are they currently on? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?
Rogue – Female, 10 weeks. Weighed on the 12th at 554 grams. She’s been gaining about a 100 grams a week right now. Maybe more. No health problems though she did have a fever from the distemper shot that I believe she got too early. She’s been much better for the last two weeks. Rogue eats very well. She got off of Clavamox on the 14th.
Calamity – Female, 10 weeks. Weighed on the 12th at 476 grams. She too has been gaining about 100 grams a week right now. Maybe more. She has had chronic diarrhea for all three weeks I’ve had her. Pepto or Carafate has taken care of it but when I stop giving her medicine for it she goes back to diarrhea. She eats very well too. Calamity is also on Clavamox. .1 ML twice a day. UPDATE: She has been diagnosed with IBD. As a brand new ferrent owner I'm trying to figure it all out.
When I got both of them exactly three weeks ago they were underweight, dehydrated, and had fevers.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup?
They’ve taken very well to FDR, frozen raw, and frankenprey. They’ve had:
Natural Instinct Frozen Rabbit bits
Natural Instinct Frozen Chicken bits
Stella & Chewy’s FDR Chicken
Stella & Chewy’s FDR Duck
Raw RadCat Lamb
Beef stew pieces
Chicken wings
Turkey
Duck breast
A/D Chicken and Beechnut brand chicken & chicken broth baby food
I have tried to give the chicken hearts & chicken livers but they are met with resistance.
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
n/a
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
I’m a first time ferret parent and have a super type A personality. When I do things I like to knock it out of the park. I worry that I’ll accidentally do something wrong which will make them have not as good a life as they can so I do tons of research in hopes to make that learning curve only as steep as necessary.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Too much I would say. I’m pretty much never more than 20 minutes away from a computer.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
Rogue: imgur.com/a/bnjGw
Calamity: imgur.com/a/4TApM
11. Do you have a scale sufficient to measure soup ingredients AND to regularly weigh your ferrets?
Yes. Purchased on Amazon. Should be arriving soon.
12. Have you met the requirements for this program? Are you at least 18 years of age? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
Yes, yes, and yes.
13. Do you understand that if your mentor or an admin recommends seeking veterinary care and you refuse to seek appropriate care you may be dropped from the mentoring program?
Yup. I’d love having a second opinion on when to seek veterinary care.
14. We occasionally have a wait for a Mentor to be available. While you wait we encourage you to get started by creating your own switching thread under Diet Transitions where all of our mentors and members can help you while you wait for your personal mentor. See here --> holisticferret60.proboards.com/board/66/diet-transitions
If you create a transition thread, please copy the link below for reference: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/23599/rogue-calamitys-unofficial-transition-thread
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Sherry), will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun. Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao
HF Forum Username: stacylo
Please confirm that you are 18 years of age or older:
I am 31 years old.
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
I would’ve been a child. I watched animal documentaries as a child and it always seemed strange to me that we would feed animals anything but what they have evolved to eat.
2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.
I’d like to stay in the frankenprey or frankenprey mostly with little commercial raw area of raw feeding. It seems realistic for the rest of my family’s needs and doable for their health.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
Well I’ve begun a natural diet on my own since I got them 3 weeks ago. I didn’t want to get them started with bad habits with kibble so it seems like a perfect time to set up good habits for them.
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It requires a commitment of several months at minimum. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. The switch takes time and effort every single day. It can also be extremely frustrating at times. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc), or limited time due to work, then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing and realistically able to make the necessary time commitment?
Yes. I have the time to realistically commit the necessary time to getting a healthy diet established.
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? If so, what medications are they currently on? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?
Rogue – Female, 10 weeks. Weighed on the 12th at 554 grams. She’s been gaining about a 100 grams a week right now. Maybe more. No health problems though she did have a fever from the distemper shot that I believe she got too early. She’s been much better for the last two weeks. Rogue eats very well. She got off of Clavamox on the 14th.
Calamity – Female, 10 weeks. Weighed on the 12th at 476 grams. She too has been gaining about 100 grams a week right now. Maybe more. She has had chronic diarrhea for all three weeks I’ve had her. Pepto or Carafate has taken care of it but when I stop giving her medicine for it she goes back to diarrhea. She eats very well too. Calamity is also on Clavamox. .1 ML twice a day. UPDATE: She has been diagnosed with IBD. As a brand new ferrent owner I'm trying to figure it all out.
When I got both of them exactly three weeks ago they were underweight, dehydrated, and had fevers.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Do they already eat some form of soup?
They’ve taken very well to FDR, frozen raw, and frankenprey. They’ve had:
Natural Instinct Frozen Rabbit bits
Natural Instinct Frozen Chicken bits
Stella & Chewy’s FDR Chicken
Stella & Chewy’s FDR Duck
Raw RadCat Lamb
Beef stew pieces
Chicken wings
Turkey
Duck breast
A/D Chicken and Beechnut brand chicken & chicken broth baby food
I have tried to give the chicken hearts & chicken livers but they are met with resistance.
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
n/a
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
I’m a first time ferret parent and have a super type A personality. When I do things I like to knock it out of the park. I worry that I’ll accidentally do something wrong which will make them have not as good a life as they can so I do tons of research in hopes to make that learning curve only as steep as necessary.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Too much I would say. I’m pretty much never more than 20 minutes away from a computer.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
Rogue: imgur.com/a/bnjGw
Calamity: imgur.com/a/4TApM
11. Do you have a scale sufficient to measure soup ingredients AND to regularly weigh your ferrets?
Yes. Purchased on Amazon. Should be arriving soon.
12. Have you met the requirements for this program? Are you at least 18 years of age? Do you have your scale, a place to access meats, hearts, livers, etc?
Yes, yes, and yes.
13. Do you understand that if your mentor or an admin recommends seeking veterinary care and you refuse to seek appropriate care you may be dropped from the mentoring program?
Yup. I’d love having a second opinion on when to seek veterinary care.
14. We occasionally have a wait for a Mentor to be available. While you wait we encourage you to get started by creating your own switching thread under Diet Transitions where all of our mentors and members can help you while you wait for your personal mentor. See here --> holisticferret60.proboards.com/board/66/diet-transitions
If you create a transition thread, please copy the link below for reference: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/23599/rogue-calamitys-unofficial-transition-thread
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Sherry), will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun. Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao