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Post by Sherry on Jan 9, 2018 6:51:59 GMT -5
Sounding good Especially the bg's! That helps change our "game plan" as it were. You will be safe taking the kibble out for a good 4 hrs anyway while offering the raw. And if you can get them eating enough of the raw soup it can be out all day!
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 9, 2018 8:42:25 GMT -5
Winston ate a huge amount of kibble in the middle of the night and then did what Rogue has done a couple times which is to run around for about 20 minutes throwing a bunch of it up. I think he over ate and seems fine. As active as he has been, eating, etc. Maybe the raw bothered his tummy but I think it was more likely he over ate.
This morning they both took soupy from the spoon with only a bit of hesitation.
Edited to add: They're only eating about half an ounce combined of soupy. But. That's more than day one.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 10, 2018 6:17:23 GMT -5
Yeah he was a piggie lol. And keep pushing the soup for them as often in a day as you can. The sooner they can get onto full raw the faster they will improve!
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 10, 2018 7:11:39 GMT -5
They ate about 2.5 oz of soupy total combined yesterday. And this morning Winston ate straight from the bowl with minor convincing so that's good. Echo is still with the spoon. Today is going to be a longer than usual work day so I may only be able to push soupy 3 times today.
It's also interesting to me for how little soupy they're eating just how much less kibble they're eating. Their kibble consumption has significantly lessened even though their soupy consumption doesn't seem like much.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 11, 2018 6:52:17 GMT -5
Look at it this way. Most ferrets thrive on 1-5 Oz a day. On kibble they have to graze all day, or at a minimum every 4 hrs around the clock. Raw gives SO much more nutrition. Something to do for them next time you are home for most of the day. Remove kibble for the entire day. Just feed the soup, and put a dish in the cage for them. Let's see how much more they eat with no kibble around, and if they will also help themselves to the soup if they are hungry.
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 12, 2018 8:08:04 GMT -5
I'll be home the entire day (with minimal errands) all weekend and Monday and will do the soupie thing and see how well they do without kibble.
My only reservation is that Winston has terrible teeth (well they both do but his is worst) and he goes in on Tuesday for dental work but in the meantime when I have pulled kibble up he then goes and chews on cords. I've since removed any cords that he can reach but I wonder if it's providing some type of relief? And maybe the kibble is too? So maybe he's chewing on cords because he's hungry but since his mouth is so messed up I worry he's chewing on cords because of pain. I gave him a flattened plastic pop bottle to chew on and he's less interested in it than his sister is. So do I leave some kibble out until Tuesday or just leave him be and hope his mouth doesn't hurt?
I also noticed that Echo is much less hesitant to have soupy when it's room temperature instead of cold.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 12, 2018 8:11:25 GMT -5
Maybe try putting in a part of a chicken wing in the hopes he'll chew that instead? The chewing is pain related I've no doubt. Kind of how you can keep poking at a toothache with your tongue. Somehow it relieves the pain while you are doing it. Might be an idea to talk to the vet and see if you can get him some mild pain meds until his dental.
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 12, 2018 14:38:34 GMT -5
I've called in a mild pain reliever and can pick it up this afternoon. I should be home basically now until Tuesday so I think I'll pull the kibble and see what happens! They'll eat out of the bowl consistently now with just a little dab on their nose from the bowl.
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 13, 2018 19:21:05 GMT -5
Winston today ate soupy without needing a dab on his nose. Echo still needs it. I weighed them today and Winston is 33 grams heavier (853 grams) and Echo is actually 10 grams lighter (660 grams).
Do you think her not gaining any weight this week is a bad sign or something to be concerned with?
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Post by Sherry on Jan 14, 2018 11:23:37 GMT -5
Not at all Many ferrets will lose the fat prior to adding on muscle.
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 14, 2018 12:52:50 GMT -5
This morning they both ate soupie completely on their own! I might have cheated.... After they wouldn't even sniff at the bowl for so long I just sprinkled like 5 pieces of kibble on top just to entice them to the bowl. It worked! They actually ate all the soupie and left the kibble pieces in the empty bowl.
As for Rogue and Calamity here was their menu this week. I tried to pay extra close attention to getting a full heart meal in and balanced organs. Calamity will now eat organ soupy all on her own. Rogue still needs a little encouragement but less than she did.
Sunday AM - Pork grind Sunday PM - Quail bone in
Monday AM - Pork muscle meat Monday PM - Rabbit bone in
Tuesday AM - Heart/kidney/liver (50/25/25) Tuesday PM - Chicken leg bone in
Wednesday AM - Quail bone in Wednesday PM - Lamb grind
Thursday AM - Chicken heart Thursday PM - Rabbit bone in
Friday AM - Pork grind Friday PM - Kidney/liver (50/50)
Saturday AM - Chicken leg bon in Saturday PM - Duck bone in
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Post by Sherry on Jan 14, 2018 12:56:56 GMT -5
That looks really good! For the duck bone in, is that neck?
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 14, 2018 14:12:28 GMT -5
I have some duck chunks. So I'm not entire sure what exactly it is. Seems like a variety of things? I smash it up with a cleaver. They're eating about 1 to 2 inch chunks these days. Though I have given them duck neck before and they did enjoy it though it seemed to be more bone than meat so I gave them more ounces of it than I normally do.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 15, 2018 6:42:58 GMT -5
Can they actually eat all the bone when you smash it up? As for necks- I find they are excellent following an organ meal And if you prefer you can also mix a bit of muscle meat in with a neck meal as long as they eat all of it.
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stacylo
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Post by stacylo on Jan 15, 2018 9:07:39 GMT -5
They eat almost the whole bone when I smash it up. Maybe just little slivers left sometimes. Good idea with the muscle meat too. Echo and Winston haven't had kibble since Saturday morning and seem to be doing well. Echo doesn't eat much and therefore doesn't poop much but I keep telling myself that adult female ferrets may only eat one ounce a day. I think she eats a bit more than that right now but not tons more. My six month olds eat at least three times what Echo is eating but they're also almost 2.5 lbs. Edited to add: Oh, and also - do I need to be balancing out my organ meals a bit better since they're getting a few grinds here and there? The grinds are from Raw Fed Miami (such as this one: www.rawfeedingmiami.com/collections/grinds/products/turkey-grinds) and are 80/10/10. I'm not sure how exactly to do those calculations to make sure they're not getting too much organ.
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