Stinky Everything Questions

[ttfr]

I was feeding raw so they wouldn't stink and yet....their poop smells HORRIBLE. One little poop can clear my nose right up. I started to clean with bleach water just so that I could really sanitize everything.

Basically their poops are mushy nasty stuff sometimes with what looks to be bone fragments in it. I've had them bone days and organ days no sign of getting firmer. The poop on badder days can be played with like snot.



Please Help?

I feed 11 ferrets raw. Mostly I take chickens and cut them up for meals as like my stable and than use pork, turkey, and beef as my other meat that is put into the schedule how many ever times a week I can make them last in. Right now I have chicken & turkey being the main twice a day dish and pork being once a week to last, and they had goose meat, and Cornish hen this month as well.

Organ days are every sat where liver (beef), gizzards (chicken, and Heart ( not organ but It still has Taurine which is what I need) mixed with soup, squash, 600mg capsule of Taurine, and a few squeezes of olive oil, veggie oil, fish oil mixture.

What am I doing wrong that would make their poop stink worse than a dead skunk on the side of the road? The ferrets don't stink...their poop does!

No one is having any kind of medical problem like ulcers, throwing up, listless, etc etc. They tripped me yesterday for heavens sake and made me fall with the gate between my legs. (gates 2 inch's too tall for me to step over comfortably. ouch..... )

[ttfr]

Also....What type of extra vitamins and such would you give to a insulinoma ferret? Before I learned nyu was insulinomic, I had been trying to switch her over. Now...I am hesitant. Monster was partialy done too but insulinoma just scares the crap out of me when dealing with raw!

[Deleted]

www.entirelypets.com/ecsiznucbyve.html these are the ones I use, contains no sugar. I cursh the tablets to a powder and use about 1/16 per oz of food. very palatable-ferrets like it-check with your mentor to be sure. I introduced it gradually because I was told it could upset their tummies, and I don't like too much tummy troubles for my babies

[Sherry]

Is it possible someone has a sensitivity to chicken? That could conceivably cause stinky, loose stools.

[ttfr]

All 11 ferrets? Lol its like all of the poops. Maybe they are just detoxing? I switched fully like 3 or4 months ago.

[Deleted]

They are black and have the consistency of really sticky jello? Mine had those kind of poops too until I started adding pumpkin to every meal

[Deleted]

I suggest a little pumpkin in their meals. Also my mentor (HurricaneKatt) said that you could also use iceberg lettuce, it has the lowest amount of sugar (it was suggested for my Insulinomic boy). You could blend it up then mix about a teaspoon in with their meals, you could try that as well. Good luck.

[Deleted]

Definitely try adding the pumpkin. I had the same issue as miamiferret and now use pumpkin with every single meal (if I skip a meal the poop goes gross).

Also adding a layer of baking soda on the bottom of the litter box does wonders.

Also, is it possible you're using too much oil? I tried fish oil the other day and my girls poop was nasty! I use 1/2 tsp olive oil per ferret per day and their poop is fine with this amount.

I guess the only other thing is are they actually eating all the bone on the bone-in days? It's gotta be hard to tell with 11 ferrets who is eating what, but if all their poop are always bad, maybe they all aren't getting enough bone?

[Sherry]

Fish oil I only use once every third day.

[ttfr]

They get bone in meat..ribs back bone leg wings etc pretty much every day with no left over large bone. Usually only fragments and crumbs are left.

Which works betgter squash or letuce? Mix both into a paste?

How would you use a filler with bone in days? Just make them a side dish with the liquid blood?

I could mix it with soup everyday but that's not added to their chicken amounts in oz per ferret and I hate wasting food.

[Deleted]

I take the pumpkin and smear it all over the bone-in meats. It actually sticks to it quite well and it doesn't take a lot of pumpkin to firm up the poops either. Actually I usually completely cover any food I am feeding them in pumpkin because so much of it ends up falling off, getting spread around and not eaten and that way they get some in.

Pumpkin or squash can be used for the filler. Not sure about the iceberg lettuce...

[miamiferret2]

Sonny had awful horrid FOUL smelling poops when we took away his kibble. It seriously smelled like the monkey cages at the Bronx zoo in my house. Gag. Now they don't smell at all. I feed mostly commercial raw (Stella & chewys and wysong). I get somewhat stinky poops with the beef. But no where near what it was before. Poor little guy. Give it time. I think Sonnys poop slowly stopped stinking after about 2-3 months.

I'd lay off the oils for now. And while you're at it, check the dates on them. Some of those oils can go rancid. maybe it is best to chuck those oils that you have and buy fresh ones. Its good to keep them refrigerated.
It's not necessary to give the oils every day especially since its not shed season. Sonny gets pumpkin 1/2 teaspoon 2 x a week. During shedding I was giving him pumpkin every day. I add a few drops of Lambert Kay linatone "Shiny Coat" every day. btw, I add a few drops of Totally Ferret Vivify to his soup now. Sonny LOVES it! the ingredients in Vivify are poultry fat, emu oil, olive oil and the other ingredient is I think lecithin.

[miamiferret2]

I said "they don't smell at all" but I don't mean that literally. They do have a smell when you get up on purposely smell it. I dissect the poop, smell it, etc. What I mean is that the turds don't make the whole room smell like the Bronx zoo monkey cages. I do think they go through a period where their bodies are detoxing.

[katt]

It took Kenai several months after getting off kibble to stop stinking to high heaven every time he pooped.

Definitely add pumpkin. What I do is when I get my meats and prepare them, I also get cans of pumpkin. I put the meats in ziplock bags, along with a scoop of pumpkin, and mush it all around. (Just be careful with your mooshing to not poke holes in the bags with the bones lol). I do this until everything is coated in pumpkin and then freeze it. Works like a charm.

Also, I personally think you need more variety. What kind of litter do you use? That can help reduce the odor as well.

[ttfr]

Right now they have potty areas with newspaper. I've been using this method since the hay day of me taking care of ferrets.

Also..I know I know I need more variety. Atm I am waiting on my rats to start bringing in meals. Would it be wize to maybe breed rabbits as well?