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Post by Heather on Feb 10, 2011 0:04:36 GMT -5
You will see that these episodes with Huck and your littlest brat Fog will get farther and farther apart and the times where they eat their food will become more often . They are being brats, and because letting them go hungry doesn't really fit into our vocabulary, they continue to play us. Way to go Sid....you're such an awesome little furbrat Keep pushing onward and upward....you'll win. I'm glad to hear that Huck doesn't have insulinoma and that he's just being Huck ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 10, 2011 15:28:02 GMT -5
Everyone is being jerks today. I don't know why. Nothing has changed in the food. Grrr!! I am just wondering if maybe my chicken liver was a little off. It smelled fine, but they would have a better nose for that. Lily had a little blood in her poops this morning, fresh blood. They were watery at lunch, but no blood. I gave her a little pumpkin so see if that helps if she has another hairball or something. She is a coccidia carrier, so even the littlest stress can bring it on. So I will watch her for the next day or so, if it doesnt get better to the vets we go. I just wish they would be consistant with their eating habits. Even Zoey my best eater is being picky. I think I am going to make another batch tonight and see how that goes. Little brats. But then again if the liver was off they wouldn't have eaten it to begin with you would think. It was only in the fridge for 2 days.
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Post by sherik on Feb 10, 2011 19:54:08 GMT -5
I just don't know what to do about Huck. He is getting me worried. He just refuses to eat the raw soupie. Is there any other way I can try with him? He is grooming himself an aweful lot these past few day. So I am hoping it's just a hairball, so I gave him vaseline this afternoon. Lily seems better. I think she found a piece of dog food and it may have just scratched her bummy on the way out. But she ate. Fog went to the kibble bowl, so I did a switch, and then he ate some raw soupie out of the bowl by hiself. Why is Huck so difficult....
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Post by Heather on Feb 11, 2011 2:12:17 GMT -5
Huck must have found a soul mate with Yuri I'm now force feeding the brat....frustrating. He was eating on his own until Napoleon passed on, now he's refusing to eat. He's doing nothing but sleep. I'm dealing with a depressed fuzz . Have you tried the scruff and stuff with Huck. I don't like doing it...it's force feeding and very stressful to you and Huck. I could ask Sherry, she's got a problem eater too, her Boris. I have a feeling that being consistent is about the only thing that really works. Is Huck still eating kibbles? or is he entirely on soupy? Keep me posted ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 11, 2011 10:51:58 GMT -5
I don't think Huck is eating kibbles, but not entirely sure, I don't see him doing kibble poops. but he may be. I think I've just given up the fact that he is going to eat it on his own. I've resorted to spoon feeding him. I sit him on my lap and feed him. Atleast that way I know he is getting what he needs. 4 tablespoons equals 2 oz, 4 times a day, as it is soupie and watered down. Same goes with Lily now too. Siddy easily eats 8oz in one sitting. I'm sure Fog will come around, cause he does eat a little here and there. I'm sorry about Yuri being depressed. I hope he starts eating on his own again soon. Sounds like if you got Huck and Yuri together it would be a recipe for grey hair. Lord knows I'm stressed out with just Huck. It can't be the soupie cause Indy and Siddy still eat it like crazy. Indy is a big fatty. I sure hope he slims down in the spring. He drags his poor little belly along and pees all over himself cause he is so fat. He weighs 3lb12oz. He could probably lose a pound and still be considered fat. He is also only just over 6 months old.
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Post by Heather on Feb 11, 2011 11:55:42 GMT -5
Don't be too surprised if your Indy slims down to what seems like nothing. It probably won't be this shed though he will loose some weight. It seems to happen after their first birthday. Rather scary really when you think of all the horrible diseases that cause wasting in ferrets but it's usually harmless. Just very scary. I've had a couple of 9 month old to a year old brats get turned in. On the raw and the new fats they chunked up really fast and very large. Once the spring shed came around....lean, mean fuzz machines. Sounds like you're getting the right amounts of food into Huck and Lily. Whats rather cool is that once they get into it, it comes as a total surprise. The other thing that I found was to watch their weights closely (keep a log). Once they start eating really well, for you ...cut out one of their meals and see if they pick it up on their own. I remember Loki Bears. Here I was hand feeding the bum because he wouldn't eat, never, ever saw him at the food bowl but he was putting on a good amount of weight. I don't remember quite what happened (probably had to work). So, I rushed around fed him went to work. I get home all worried that my poor boy was going to be starving....and was told by my dear hubby that Loki Bears had been stuffing his face off and on all day So for the next couple of days I made a point of keeping an eye on the brat (hard when you've got 16 ferrets roaming in house) and sure enough he was eating. He was one of those furkids who never really sat at the bowl, he'd grab a bite run off and chew it but he never hunkered down at the bowl. It was also what made it so difficult to hand feed him. He kept getting up and leaving. Good luck and keep me posted ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 11, 2011 22:40:59 GMT -5
So far so good. I am going to make a new batch of soupie tonight. New livers and gizzards. They didn't have hearts this time. So I am hoping gizzards in place of hearts won't change their appetite again. I am thinking that the liver I had before was off a little. Cause I am having a heck of a time getting Zoey to eat today and her poops are a little off. So I am gonna cut my losses and chuck the rest out. I was wondering if you noticed with the higher protein if your fuzzies had gas. Cause boy does Lily, Zoey, and Sid fart. It doesn't smell or anything, but it is louder than most people can do.
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Post by Heather on Feb 11, 2011 23:34:59 GMT -5
Do you mean in the litter box?...the farting Sometimes, if the meat isn't quite agreeing...or it's too rich for them. I used to laugh at Napoleon, who loved raw eggs. He would wiggle himself into the litter box and the farting was worse than the dog I don't think it would have been so bad if he did make a big show of it. Let me know how this new mixture works for you. I find that the gizzards provide a chewier mix than the hearts. ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 12, 2011 1:03:16 GMT -5
No kibble in the cage tonight. We'll how that goes. Everyone has full bellies, and there are 3 bowls of soupie in there. Yeah I don't think my last batch agreed with them. They were all kinda slugish today and Zoey just doesn't want to eat, can they over eat? Maybe that is what is up with Zoey. She was eating so much for so long. I'm keeping an eye on her, may have to start the pred again. I'll check her BG in the morning. Siddy ate a whole bowl full on his own, so he doesn't mind the gizzards, so did Lily and I gave it to her pre-thinned out. Fog ate it as well. He never touched his kibbles today, YAY!! So I guess all is good, just gots to keep and eye on Zoey.
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Post by Heather on Feb 12, 2011 2:32:44 GMT -5
Good luck ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 12, 2011 16:43:52 GMT -5
Well so far so good I guess. They ate well today. Huck off a spoon, but still good. I will spoon feed him til he fights to get down. He had 3 1/2oz this morning. Another 2 1/2 oz at lunch. Lily about the same. Some one is shedding, I think Fog. I've found 2 hairballs in their poops. Kinda hard not to find, cause when you pick them up they are hard like a rock. I don't know who did them, I'm guessing Huck cause he was in the area of one. The other was last night. So I gave all of them some vaseline/ferrtone mix. I am hoping that is all that is up with Zoey, as she is adrenal and is grooming everyone like crazy, she got a little extra vas/ferrtone mix. Her BG is fine, so I don't see the need to put her on pred again. Huck always has a hard time with hairballs and it always makes his appettite decrease. Sid and Indy just seem to eat when they want to. I'm going to the market and going to see if I can find some fresh chicken and organs and such.
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Post by Heather on Feb 12, 2011 16:56:13 GMT -5
I know it can be frustrating to think that you're not going forward but just maintaining can be equally good. You are actually moving forward. More and more your little ones seek out the raw food. Your little girl doesn't need pred because the meat holds her BG steady. This is excellent work. ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 13, 2011 1:56:16 GMT -5
I am 100% sure now though that it was the fact that the liver was off that I had in their soupie. Everyone was kinda green today. I did get rid of all the other stuff. By tonight they were a little less green. Zoey actually willingly ate again, not from the plate though, from a spoon on my knee. But yesterday it was a fight to get her to eat. Plus you know something is not right when Siddy and Indy are resistant to eating the soupie. They are usually right in there. But I don't blame them, if something made me feel sick I wouldn't want to eat it either. I have some "fresh" livers and hearts thawing in the fridge right now. I bought some fresh chicken thighs and used the gizzards in the mix again for now. So I will make it the way they like tomorrow. I don't want to force thaw, hence the gizzards. And hopefully tomorrow all the icky soupie is out of their system. I think they are moving forward, just not as fast as I'd like. But with switching 6 fuzzbutts, 2 of which are a total PITA, I guess it takes time. But atleast Huck is not squirming to get away when he eats. He just eats and lets me know when he's had enough.
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Post by Heather on Feb 13, 2011 2:06:09 GMT -5
You're doing good. I does sound like the meat may have been a bit off. If they were eating on their own, they wouldn't have eaten it. Thats one of the problems with hand feeding they often just eat "off" food because we're feeding them. ciao
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Post by sherik on Feb 13, 2011 15:02:41 GMT -5
Well they ate pretty good this morning. I didn't push it on them as they had kibble in their cage last night. Didn't look like they ate much of it though. Zoey ate on her own this morning, and she ran around well this morning. Huck ate on his own, from the plate this morning. Then I spoon fed him the rest to make sure he got enough. Lily ate on her own this morning. Indy was spoon fed, Fog was spoon fed and then ate a little more on his own. Siddy polished the bowl off. Then I put some more in the cage with them. I wouldn't say they were enthusiastic about it, but I did add some pumpkin to it cause they had some icky poos. They are feeling better today though. They ran around for an hour and a half before putting themselves to bed. I'm sure they will eat even more later, now that they know it is not going to make them feel icky.
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