Diet Transition

[suna]

(If any of my questions have been answered please link me to the threads! I was unable to find them!)
Firstly, I’m an unemployed student with severe anxiety, I’m looking to switch my ferrets from Marshall’s(i hate them!!!) Ferret Food to a better diet. I was planning on switching when them earlier in their life(Imani is 2, Isaac is 1) but Isaac came with bad diarrhea that was treated but flared up again and caused his stool to be bloody, it just wasn’t good. Nobody wanted to “rock the boat” so they suggested to stay on the same food so it didn’t cause any other intestinal issues. Both of them were on medication for the ECE and Helicapacter(I probably spelled this wrong) were doing better. Recently the diarrhea has been back but not as bad as it was, now I think it’s time to make the switch as I’m sure this terrible food is causing issues as well. The thing is, I’ve tried given both of them chicken, egg and other treats ferret owners said were good for them but neither of them would eat them!! I’m looking for a way to get them to try new foods as a start. I also would like advice on what to shop for, I’m only 18 so I’m at a loss at this type of stuff! What do you guys think the best inexpensive diet is for these guys? I want the best diet possible for my babies but I’m on a tight budget at the moment, I will do everything I can though. If you can help me I’d really appreciate it! (I briefly looked at the mentor program but at the moment my anxiety is too bad to do it, i will deeply consider it in the future, I hope you understand)

[Sherry]

The best(and can be done fairly cheaply if you are a good shopper) is raw meat, bone, and organ. As for kibbles, not a clue as I haven't fed them in a decade. I do know that all kibble can cause serious health issues(insulinoma, etc) but the cheaper ones even more so as they are all filler and little meat. Katt has pulled all the info on here into a more organized grouping on our website. This link will give you a better idea what I am talking about holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/

[suna]

Jan 12, 2018 7:59:51 GMT -5 Sherry said:

The best(and can be done fairly cheaply if you are a good shopper) is raw meat, bone, and organ. As for kibbles, not a clue as I haven't fed them in a decade. I do know that all kibble can cause serious health issues(insulinoma, etc) but the cheaper ones even more so as they are all filler and little meat. Katt has pulled all the info on here into a more organized grouping on our website. This link will give you a better idea what I am talking about holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/

Do you think it would be fine to start with the Wysong ferret food transition with meat as a treat? My mother is worried about switching too fast to just meat with all the health problems Isaac has/has had. Also do you have any tips to get them to try the meat treats? My babies are sooo picky... I’ve tried sooo many treats and they won’t even try them!! Thank you so much!

[LindaM]

Personally, I'd start with the raw transition, and start at the soup stage, especially with picky/older ferrets. Switching from one kibble to another kibble and then to raw.. that by itself can cause stress and stomach problems. It tends to be easier switching from a kibble (even a poor one) just onto raw instead.

I'd start by going through that link Sherry posted to get yourself a bit better acquainted with the diet and process of switching them ahead of time.

As for treats, my furkids all get FDR (Freeze-Dried Raw) treats, when introducing a new one, I'd crumble a bit of it into their food they already eat. One thing to keep in mind with treats, especially FDR, there is such a thing as too much. FDR absorbs moisture from whatever it touches, so do not feed many of this to your ferret in one go. And be careful of Liver-based treats, too much can lead to a Vitamin A toxcity.

Reason why yours seem like they won't try anything, is because they are past the age of imprinting on foods, this makes them a bit harder to teach new foods to than for example, kits who haven't finished imprinting. But any ferret, no matter how old, can be switched to a healthy, raw diet. You just need to be willing to work with them.

[suna]

Jan 12, 2018 16:56:09 GMT -5 LindaM said:

Personally, I'd start with the raw transition, and start at the soup stage, especially with picky/older ferrets. Switching from one kibble to another kibble and then to raw.. that by itself can cause stress and stomach problems. It tends to be easier switching from a kibble (even a poor one) just onto raw instead.

I'd start by going through that link Sherry posted to get yourself a bit better acquainted with the diet and process of switching them ahead of time.

As for treats, my furkids all get FDR (Freeze-Dried Raw) treats, when introducing a new one, I'd crumble a bit of it into their food they already eat. One thing to keep in mind with treats, especially FDR, there is such a thing as too much. FDR absorbs moisture from whatever it touches, so do not feed many of this to your ferret in one go. And be careful of Liver-based treats, too much can lead to a Vitamin A toxcity.

Reason why yours seem like they won't try anything, is because they are past the age of imprinting on foods, this makes them a bit harder to teach new foods to than for example, kits who haven't finished imprinting. But any ferret, no matter how old, can be switched to a healthy, raw diet. You just need to be willing to work with them.

Thank you!! I’m going to look more into it! One thing I’ve been confused about is ive always been told they’re grazers and need food out all the time but that isn’t the case with a raw diet, what happens when they get hungry and it isn’t feeding time? My little girl is super small(to me atleast) she’s about a full pound lighter than her brother and I don’t want her to fall in weight. She eats big “meals” I call them she’ll eat a couple large meals of her kibble in a day while my male will eat a little all through the day. I don’t like that they’re eating kibble but I was uneducated when I first got them(I was about 15-16) so they of course imprinted on to it Thank you for all your information!

[suna]

Oh! Also, Isaac has intention tremors(his head shakes when he’s focusing) so I’m really worried about him eating bones as I read they could chew them wrong and get hurt, i think those chances would be doubled because he can’t really control his head while eating I’m sorry if my situation is difficult if you have tips or advice I’d love them but if not that is fine too!!

[LindaM]

There's some truth to that. Kits and sick (eg. insulinoma) ferrets do need food always available to them, that, or they get fed about 4 times a day.

Personally, I feed a morning meal and an evening meal to my ferrets, but I also "free-feed", meaning I put out their meal and leave the bowls down until it's time for the next meal, at which stage I put that one down. Some raw feeders, like the whole prey feeders, even feed just once a day depending on the amount/size of food given.

It's not uncommon for girls to be lighter and small than the boys, my female ferret is MUCH lighter and smaller than our three males. An easy way to see if a ferret is over or underweight is to dangle them. They should look like a straight tube sock, if their sides bulge out below the ribs, they're overweight, if they dip in they are underweight. Do keep in mind, in the winter ferrets do pick up extra weight and eat more. Come spring and summer, they will eat less and drop weight again.

Sherry , Heather , katt Any idea about or tips on the tremors mentioned above?

[Heather]

I don't think that eating bone should be an issue. The tremor is a problem he deals with, eating bone in meats shouldn't be an issue. Often in cases like this it's us that have the problem not the ferret. Boris one of my fellows, had a mouth that did not close. His skull was so badly deformed that his mouth couldn't close. I made sure he always had fine ground meats and brushed his teeth. Now he ran with his friends who were all raw fed and ate whole prey. One day I came in to him consuming a whole rat. Bones, meat rip and tear...he did it all. So, he got it all. He couldn't crush larger bones but small prey, cornish hens, pheasant, frogs legs, he ate them all. Even got into ferret food fights.
ciao

[Sherry]

They are capable of doing a LOT more than we give them credit for Remember- an adult ferret is capable of crunching through the skull of something the size of a rabbit They are generally just too danged lazy to do so!