eating way less!

[dreamsome]

my "little" london has been eating less than half of the meat he usually eats over these past few weeks.... i'm wondering if this is normal, that he's going to shed a bit of weight and go to "summer" weight? my other little girl pretty much stays the same weight year round. i've had to throw out so much meat because he hardly touches any of it (and it's all good meat, nothing's gone bad). i was used to actually having to refill his meat more and more, and all of sudden i'm having to give him little tiny bits at a time, otherwise it will all go to waste. he is otherwise normal- he will be 11 months old this july, is still very active and doesn't sleep anymore than usual. ;D

[Sherry]

First, how long have they been raw fed now? Once their bodies catch up to the nutrition they do cut back by quite a bit. It seems to take anywhere between 2 and 4 months, on average.
If they have been raw fed for quite a while, then yes, he's likely decided to finally go into summer mode.

[dreamsome]

he's been fed raw since end of november/december... and it's shocking me how much less he's eating! he doesn't feel any smaller to me yet. last time he was weighed he was 3 pounds and a few ounces. so i guess my big boy is going to get a lot smaller?

[Sherry]

For the summer, he should be "leaned" out a good bit, but I know what you mean about losing your "chunky" ferret. One of mine hits 3 1/2 lbs. winter weight, but leans right down to 2- 2 1/2 summertimes.

[katt]

Also since he is about to turn 11 months, he will be losing his kit flub as well. Kits eat a LOT more than adults. Your little boy is growing up. My Kenai just lost his winter weight and kit flub. He is significantly smaller. I miss the flabby flub.

[miamiferret2]

Sonny is still a porker. He's 11 months. We gave him a bath today...you know how when they are wet you can truly see their body shape, muscle, etc. He's a gluttonous pig.

[crazylady]

dont worry you little boy has simply become a man ! and they eat a lot less than kits lol some of my males only eat 3-4oz of meat per day yet they maintain summer weight of 5-5 1/2 pounds ( 7-7 1/2 pounds winter but they do eat more in winter ) where as my kits ( I have one litter of four 7 weeks old and one litter of eight 6 weeks old who are eating four pounds of meat per day ! lol ) yep its time to say good bye baby hello he man lol take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady

[shilohismygirl]

Mine eat a lot less during the summer. Sometimes, one full bowl of chicken does them for a day, and that's four. Sometimes it's two bowls, but in the summer they eat so much less. I was used to refreshing their bowl 3-5 times in the winter (I'm a feed as needed kind of girl. When the bowl goes empty, I fill it) and now it's a lot more relaxed in their eating schedule. I too have had some meat go to waste. This is their first full summer on raw!

[dreamsome]

thanks for all the replies! how crazy is that? i've read on here that it's kind of drastic, but i didn't expect it to be THAT drastic! my boyfriend picked him up today (he doesn't pick him up very often as he's a dirty little boy ) and he could tell he lost a bit of weight. he's seemed to have picked up eating a bit more since yesterday and i'm okay with that. it wouldn't hurt for him to lose some weight even though i'm going to miss it... maybe his belly won't touch the ground anymore enough to where his pee gets smudged all over it?! haha. i'm just surprised his body has decided summer is in the air and the 6+ ounces a day of food is done with.

and you know, if this saves me some money from the meat......

[Sherry]

Oh, just wait til winter rolls around again! Mine tend to double their appetites almost overnight before deciding to settle back to a bit less ;D