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Post by Sherry on Jun 6, 2011 13:57:52 GMT -5
Oh, they really are ;D . And we'll get them there. It's just going to be a couple steps back from time to time, then slowly work them forward again
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 13:01:08 GMT -5
Hi I've gone back to the ground meats but they are still not reliably eating them. I do not feel confident enough to remove the kibble completely as I'm afraid they'll starve themselves. They went 24 hours without eating when i last stopped the kibble. I hav been considering getting some ziwipeak to leave in the cage instead of the kibble but it's £7for a week's worth and that's too expensive. What do you think of this for commercial raw? www.naturalinstinct.com/products/Cat-Food-%28Chicken-%26-Beef%29.htmlTheres only one variety for cats. A couple of the dog ones have butternut squash in too but they also have apples and carrots. Would that be ok for ferrets? Evo ferret food seems to have some fruit in it. I think the quality of the last lot of ground meat isn't very good. It's very slimy looking and smells funny. Maybe that's why they won't eat it. Also, hurley started choking on a shard of bone yesterday and scared me half to death! I've just put some shredded turkey in and hey seem to like that ok. Maybe I should just get some better quality meat instead of the cheap stuff. Can ferrets tell the difference?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 20, 2011 13:49:44 GMT -5
Yes, that meat was def. bad if it was like that. And yes, they'll starve themselves before they'll eat it. What I need you to do is tell me exactly where you are at with each ferret. Purée, ground, chunks, hand feeding, how much they are eating of the various meats, etc. That's the only way I can think of to know where to go forward from right now.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 14:20:40 GMT -5
Kiki: she mostly tends to stash things but ate small amounts of the ground and she will eat small pieces of raw chicken and turkey. She will chew on the end of a chicken wing Miya: always the first to try something new. She will eat ground, raw chicken chunks and will have a good gnaw on bone in rabbit and the end of a wing. Hurley: seems to only eat ground raw if it's got ferret one on it and if he's sat on my lap. If he were a child he'd have tomato sauce on everything! I've seen him attempt to gnaw on a wing but doesn't keep at it for long. He's eaten a turkey strip today. They all seem to like the ground rabbit I got from woldsway which was really good quality so I might get some more of that. the problem is the shipping of frozen meat is so expensive you have to order a lot to make it worth it and I only have one drawer in the freezer None of them seem to like putting any effort into eating yet. The wings I have are the cheapest, if I bought some better ones from the butcher do you think they would be more likely to eat them? I don't know if I'm just expecting them to need to eat more of the raw because I'm comparing it to the amount of kibble they eat. So do you think that commercial raw looks good?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 20, 2011 14:28:12 GMT -5
Only thing I'm not partial to in that is the brewer's yeast. But that could be because I'm not overly familiar with it. Otherwise, it looks good. Alright, for now, leave out the bone in meats. Let's work on getting them to eat larger chunks first. And on getting Hurley to eat on his own. They really are doing well, you know. And yes, they'll eat MUCH less of the raw than kibble. Figure on 4-6 oz a day for them all. And try giving Hurley some small bits of meat instead of all ground. See how he handles that.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 12:55:38 GMT -5
They pretty much told me today that they prefer meat chunks to ground bone in.
I put down some ground duck and they all had a sniff then they all disappeared into various tunnels/boxes and emerged with a strip of turkey each. Once theyd eaten them they were all checking their stashes over and over again. Shame I don't have any more.
Can you buy powdered bone or anything that I could sprinkle over meat chunks or is calcium supplement good enough? Just until I can get them eating bone in meats.
I'm going to try them on sliced up liver and heart as soon as i can get to a butcher. Do organs last well in the cage during the day or do they go bad quickly?
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Post by Sherry on Jun 21, 2011 13:04:44 GMT -5
You can use bone meal, powdered eggshell, or calcium carbonate. And as cor organs lasting- depends on heat and humidity. Heart generally fares a bit better because it's so dense. Def. start working them up in size of chunks. And if they are eating approx. the above amount, you can ditch the kibble. That will also give them an increased appetite
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2011 15:14:26 GMT -5
Is meat with bonemeal sprinkled on as good nutritionally as the ground meat with ground bone in it? I know it's still not going to do much for their teeth but is it good enough to be their main source of calcium until i can get them eating wings etc? They have minced ox heart for tea today Hurley has eaten 2 table spoons of it so far (I had to put a drop of ferretone on it to encourage him) the girls have had a few mouthfuls too, I don't think they were too hungry though.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 22, 2011 19:35:00 GMT -5
Yes, it is good for calcium content, but unless it's raw, it does nothing for the trace minerals. Reguardless, if it's going to be a regular part of the diet, then the commercial raw would be better. If it's just for the switch, doesn't really matter. The main reason commercial raw would be better long term is the bone is not only raw, but it will also have organ meats in it as well. You only need to cut back on regular organ meals if they are getting the grind for about 1/2 their total weekly intake. And congrats on the success with the heart!!! Don't forget- one ounce of beef, or even ox heart is only about 1" square. It's a very dense meat, so doesn't take as much to fill them up
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Post by Sherry on Jul 3, 2011 11:49:22 GMT -5
Hi, any updates?
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Post by Sherry on Jul 11, 2011 13:45:03 GMT -5
Updates?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2011 15:13:40 GMT -5
Hey. Sorry it's been so long. They will now eat chunks but still no chicken wings. Milo has taken to it immediately and this weekend I'm going to get some chicken wings as I think he will absolutely love them and maybe it will stop him trying to eat all the mouse shapedd toys
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Post by Sherry on Jul 11, 2011 15:18:04 GMT -5
That's good! And just glad you posted back in do you have them eating heart and liver yet? Can't remember ;D If not, we'd better focus on those next.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2011 12:53:10 GMT -5
Hey
Just thought id let you know that little milo is LOVING the chicken wings!
I dont have them eating organs yet, they turn their noses up at liver but they will eat a little minced heart.
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Post by Sherry on Jul 17, 2011 17:50:43 GMT -5
Alright then! We are going to tick them off royally Take some chicken livers(those are the mildest tasting)- about 1/2 cup, and puree them. If you can't find chicken, use whatever kind you CAN get easily. Add in about a tbsp of pure pumpkin to firm up the stools. Use enough water to make a thick(ish) soup. Just before dividing it up, and about 1 tsp of heavy(whipping) cream per ferret. Put liver puree in a dish, and hand feed! They likely won't want to take it to begin with, but do the finger/spoon feeding til they've had about 2 tbsp each. You can freeze this like any other soupie. 1 ice cube of liver puree will equal 1 full serving per ferret Have you tried slicing the heart so they've got something to chew on? Some actually do better that way. Otherwise, keep mincing it up, and just offer that for the meal.
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