Mentor programme? Feel like giving up a little

[chiara]

Hey guys,

Lola has been fed raw for around 2 months now, and sometimes I think things are going OK and then others not, stools are just not the best but I don't know as I have never done this before. Is the mentor programme ever going to start again? I have been emailing Frettchen4you and very tempted to buy their revolution kibble, I just want consistency and to make sure Lola is getting everything she needs, I feel like I am always googling things about ferret stool but it's hard to know if things are going as they should or if I need to change anything, but understand it wouldn't be helpful posting a thread here every day I have a question as can take some days to get a response. Here are some faeces from the last week, some OK but seedy, some mucous, each photo is from a different day

photos.app.goo.gl/rEm23mzGXmSJWQ4BA

photos.app.goo.gl/eJ5x4jNi9iMyq3S26

photos.app.goo.gl/UiuaDSFHDeUhha7H9

[Corvidophile]

All of those stools are normal for raw fed ferrets, no need to fret over them. There’s gonna be large variation as the diet is not 100% of what they’re supposed to get in their diet every meal, it’s spread out over a few days to a week. Unless you feed whole animal grinds daily, then the stools would be the same all the time.

I don’t think the mentoring program is ever coming back, sorry to say. We don’t have the zealous experts we used to. Closest we can manage is the slow trickle of regular raw feeders coming on throughout the week to answer questions as they see them because the forum is so slow at the moment.

[unclejoe]

I don't feel qualified to mentor on raw diet, because I've never been 100% successful transitioning. But I can answer generally from what I have learned here. I am on every day and will do my best. I will help with general ferret care but if there is a diet question beyond me I will let the experts answer.

My ferrets have eaten a mix of raw mince and kibbles. They eat the same mix every day, and their poops vary a little, but generally I can tell who dropped what, lol.

[chiara]

Thank you very much for your replies. The transition part is fine Lola eats 80 10 10 minces every day, sometimes only around 40 grams, sometimes 80 grams, I also give her some chicken wings once or twice a week but I do have to chop them up, and I give her a portion of beef heart once a week just to make sure she is getting enough. It's more the stool always confused about, I've analysed the poop charts but some poops aren't on there, like the last photo I uploaded where its kind of like a blob, she has those ones quite a lot, are they a normal raw ferret poop? Also the fact that she still has seedy poops most days, I know what they mean, but I don't know how to fix it or what timescale it is for them to get better. I know i shouldn't over analyse the poops as they change all the time, I just don't know what is normal and what to ignore, I'm happy to hear that you think all of the photos are normal for raw fed, as I really wasn't sure. Thank you all.

[Corvidophile]

My own ferret eats mince too and lets blobs like that last one loose on the regular, means I mixed too much water into his food and he didn’t absorb it all from the intestines before the stool made it out. Could mean the same thing in yours, just a bit too much liquid. It can be firmed up by mixing some bone meal into the mince. It’s great that you’re feeding bone-in meats like wings too, really good for their teeth. Beef heart should be sufficient, but chicken or duck hearts would be better- the smaller the animal, the higher the taurine content in the heart because the faster it beats.

[chiara]

Thank you so much that is so helpful to hear, and that makes sense, these minces are quite mushy so do have a lot of water content, could this also be why it is passing through too fast causing undigested fats/seedy poops? I will order some bone meal and experiment with that. And thanks for the tips of the chicken heart instead, I will order that when the beef heart runs out 😊

[chiara]

I just had a search and wow it is difficult to get bone meal, all out of stock. I guess because I am using 80 10 10 minces that I could add in egg shell powder instead? as no need to worry about minerals, would this do the job at firming it up have you tried it before? thank you!

[Corvidophile]

Yes, egg shell powder will work too.

[chiara]

Great I have just ordered some egg shell powder, is there a recommended amount to give per meal for ferrets? I am really glad for this forum, I was ready for ordering kibble as I thought I was failing and worrying myself and I feel a lot better now!

[Corvidophile]

Just a little sprinkling at first, the recommended amount per pound is half a teaspoon.

[Charlie]

chiara, you will find that when it's just an organ meal like liver and kidney and heart for that particular meal, the stool with be more like the blob you posted as you last picture. It will even be a very dark colour because of the blood in the organ. When there is more bone in the meal the stool will be more formed and with whole prey it will be completely formed. If it looks dry and chalky then there is too much bone. So when using the egg shell powder, you will base it on how your ferret's stool is formed. Each ferret is different so some may not need as much as others. You will get to know what Lola has eaten based on her stool. lol

[chiara]

Thank you for that, I feel a lot more confident going forward now, I think I'm finding my balance, really grateful for the support of you guys. And that does make sense as I was giving her some extra heart those couple of days, yay!

[lyles]

Hello! The stools look great, also what I found with helping their GI on organ days is to mix in some bone meal. The bone meal will help in both thickening the organs and harden the stools due to the high absorbency. Also, being a powder form of calcium, it will also act as an acid buffer so if they have any tummy aches it'll help out as well.