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Post by gnarlysalamander on Jun 20, 2011 18:32:41 GMT -5
all of my kids will eat whatever i put in front of them [FINALLY!] but bandit is having issues with digestion.
he seems to have loose stool with anything other than chicken, regardless of how much pumpkin or bone goes with it.
things like organs and hearts are understandable, but even turkey sets him off. even at one point when we were struggling to afford buying more meat, he had a solid 3 days of nothing but chicken [no bones] breasts and gizzards but no problem poopy.
does anyone have advice? when i say "loose stool" i mean liquid. i happened to catch a particularly unpleasant gassy/liquidy one last night and i feel bad for my little man, because he seems so excited to eat dinner even when it's something that will upset him later.
i've been trying to hold off, hoping he'd eventually adjust or whatever, but i don't know what to do now.
meats fed: chicken, beef, pork, turkey, cornish game hen, and venison [tried this only 2 times, someone was clearing out their freezer]
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Post by Sherry on Jun 20, 2011 19:24:20 GMT -5
For now, give him chicken, and get him stabilized. Then read this thread: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ibd&action=display&thread=2227It's a pretty intensive read, because it was just copy/pasted from the old forum. *IF* he has IBD, it's really unusual to be able to eat chicken like that! Although every ferret is indeed individual. In the interim, you could try using some probiotics mixed in to help populate the gut bacteria, since diarrhea will deplete it.
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Post by gnarlysalamander on Jun 20, 2011 20:00:40 GMT -5
the probiotics, which product would you recommend, and in what ratio to the food? ... reading the link *now*
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Post by Sherry on Jun 20, 2011 20:05:52 GMT -5
I use prozyme, but I'm in Canada. I believe Jennifer(mustelidmusk) lists a different one in there that she's had some really good success with. You might want to start a thread in the medical section. I picked up a different pancreatic enzyme than listed as well. It's "pancreatic plus" by Natural Factors. It's not the usual animal based one, but seems to work well for Boris. Until we started getting him stabilized on lamb, he had bad diarrhea, vomiting, and lost 1/2 his body weight. He's also on pediapred right now, to help reduce the bowel inflammation. You might also have to do a very slow switch between proteins for him. Koda(in the link I gave you) seems to do better with a faster switch. Boris, on the other hand, seems to need a very slow switch between proteins. You're best bet no matter what, is to start a diary up. What he's eaten, what kind of poops, etc. I list all supplements, what has happened that day that might affect his stools(ie, had to stay in cage in morning, because I had to leave earlier than usual, fights with his cage mates, etc.)
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Post by gnarlysalamander on Jun 20, 2011 20:43:45 GMT -5
bandit luckily hasn't lost weight, isn't showing any signs of dehydration, and is still showing the silky fur and shiny white teeth that the others are, but the first few poop pictures in that thread are exactly what i'm dealing with. i'll keep reading and go from there...
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