Olenka's Switching Thread / Sherry

[Sherry]

Perfect! Every couple of meals increase the number of small bits of actual meat you add to the rough blend and decrease the amount of soup.

[olenka]

Thank you, Sherry! Will do that today. Meanwhile I reduced fish oil intake to a couple of drops per 8 oz bawl. Our ferrets used to get lots of oil. Even before we started raw switch, each of them was given a tsp of oil every day. Did it have some kind of side effects besides a loose poop?

[Sherry]

Depends on the type of oil. Short of ferretone and cod liver oil (vit a toxicity), most will only cause loose stools and/or upset tummies.

[olenka]

All 3 are eating. Ruby caught up with the boys. She eats whenever she is hungry. They boys would rather wait for a fresh mix. I have been serving knife cut meat, tendons, and cartridge with tiny bits of bones attach to it. And a fine mix of soup on top of that. They leak off all the soup ans leave those bigger pieces. Some times they chew on meat and tendons, but refuse bones.
Ruby does not loose weight any more. She is about 750 g.

[olenka]

Jan 19, 2018 6:42:45 GMT -5 Sherry said:

Depends on the type of oil. Short of ferretone and cod liver oil (vit a toxicity), most will only cause loose stools and/or upset tummies.

We use wild atlantic salmon oil for dogs. They LOVE it.

[Sherry]

They are doing well right now And try giving less soup and more bits so they are hungry enough to eat some of the bits.

[olenka]

Yesterday I gave them just diced meat (hearts, gizzards, and chicken itself with some cartridge and tendons included) They ate it! From yesterday no soup at all!!! All of them maintain same weight.
And they started hiding meat slices around the house. LOL I knew that it was coming, but was very much surprised to find one in my drawer:) What happens if they eat that rotten "food supply"?

[Sherry]

Not a thing beyond maybe a funky stool Ferrets appear to have an ingrained sense as to when the bacterial count is too high for them to handle, so they simply don't eat it at that time. The bacterial count appears to decrease as the meat "ages" and dries out, hence the term "ferret jerky"
And as they ate all the bits, start increasing the size of them. You can put a bit of powdered eggshell on the meat to help with stools.

[olenka]

Yes, I am increasing the size of meat chunks. So far so good. As for eggshells, I brush their teeth with a mix of fish oil and eggshells. They swallow a lot in the process:)

[Sherry]

Excellent! And just think- once they are on full bones you won't have to brush anymore!

[olenka]

How soon may I start introducing bones? they have been on diced meet for 3 days already.

[olenka]

Sherry, I have a question on contamination and bacteria. Since my fuzz butts started eating diced meat, they drug it out of a bawl and eat off the floor. How often do I have to wash a bottom tray in their cage? I feed them only in the cage. So far I have been wiping their "eating section" with wet paper towel, no soap.

[Sherry]

I use a spray bottle of half and half vinegar/water mix. Remove old meat, spray, wipe down and it dries in a couple of minutes.
For bone in, they need to build up some jaw strength. You can always try, but they should be eating chunks of meat of at least 1/2' across and a couple of inches long. Chicken gizzards are great at helping build up strength.

[olenka]

Thank you, Sherry!
I feed them a mix of gizzards, hearts, livers, and chicken. Here comes my next question: may I do one type of meat per meal? I remember a proportion: 80% of meat, 20% of gizzards. And they get bones in form of egg shell powder.

[Sherry]

Start increasing the size of the pieces. And try to stay with long and skinny when you do. The same size around as you do now, but go for an inch long. Give them a couple days on that and it will be time to introduce another protein