Raw AND kibble 24/7?

[psafira22]

I just got my boy a few days ago (female coming home in a couple of weeks) and was planning on keeping him on kibble. However, Gwin has been extremely aggressive and part of working on it was trying to switch him to raw meat, to see if it was hunger. Well I tried it last night (right after the vet suggested it) and he ate like he never had before, he loved the chicken. If that's gonna help the aggression, I still need to see that, along with bite training, however it's clear to me that he 100% should be kept on raw meat, but I really want to keep the kibble aswell. I was wondering if it would be okay to offer kibble 24/7 and at a designated time (like 8pm or something) offer him a big bowl of meat. This is how I feed my dogs essentially, but since this is my first ferret and I'm already having quite a bit of trouble, I figured I'd look for help on a dedicated forum. Thank you for any feedback!

[Corvidophile]

The problem with mixing raw and kibble long term is that they have different gut transit times, and it can cause bloating, constipation and diarrhea back and forth. The gut gets used to working efficiently either dry or very wet. If you do plan on feeding both, leave a period of maybe three hours where he has no kibble before offering the raw to ensure that it’s on its way out of his system by the time the raw starts being digested.

[unclejoe]

Hi and welcome.
Aside from digestion issues, if you can switch to raw right away, just do it. You can feed 2x a day and not have to spend money on kibble. After a short time you can determine how much to feed. Just keep the diet balanced. Ferts are small and diet deficiencies will become apparent quickly.

[Sherry Stone]

By continuing the kibble, you are defeating two of the main reasons for feeding raw. Hydration, and preventing insulinoma. Kibble keeps them borderline dehydrated since they are physiologically designed to get the vast majority of their moisture from their food. And the carbs in kibble continuously hyperstimulates the pancreas resulting in the formation of tumours.

[caitmonster]

Hiya, welcome to the forum!

That's interesting that your vet (I'm presuming) suggested a raw diet to help with aggression... normally us raw feeders have to counter the claim that a raw diet *causes* aggression, so it's nice to hear! Not sure how old Gwin is, or his background... young ferrets are very mouthy by nature and have to learn that humans don't have as a thick a skin as they do, so some correction for teething is normal. Scruffing is no longer recommended due to the psychological connotations it has for ferrets--corrolated with dominance, and not in a good way--so usage of a timeout in a "sin bin" (empty carrier) is your best option. Ferrets can learn that when you do a high-pitched yelp, it means they've hurt you. If they ignore that, into the sin bin for 2 or 3 minutes they go. As always, it may take time.

If he is older, and especially if he hasn't been handled much--or handled wrongly--then you may have that additional hurdle to overcome. Time and patience, and maybe some bribes/treats are your friend.

The Holistic Ferret website has an example raw diet plan, if you need one: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/basic-frankenprey-menu/

Is there a particular reason you're inclined to preserve the kibble in his diet? If it's the access to food, you can give him a large enough portion in the AM or PM to last till the next feeding. It may take some tweaking of the amounts, but it's very doable, and raw meat really doesn't spoil at room temperature in that timeframe. Raw also helps balance their blood sugar and hydration levels, so sometimes they decide to go most of the day without needing to eat, on their own. *Adults, anyway--kits and young adults will eat every couple hours and may convince you they have a black hole for a stomach.

There's also the option of commercial freeze-dried raw, but that is quite pricey if fed alone.

[unclejoe]

good point, which I failed to mention, that your vet recommended raw. So many vets are like so many hooman drs that get kickbacks from big pharma and vets get it from pet food cos. as well. Many vets are afraid the pet owners will get sick from handling raw meat, not considering that we have to handle our own food, so why would we be less careful with it feeding a pet?