Tpallotta0107's Switching Thread/Hurricanekatt

[Heather]

Name: Tammy Pallotta
HF Forum Username: tpallotta0107

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
While researching ways to reduce ferret odor not sure of which website I was on

2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.
I am interested in a raw diet at this time with occasional whole prey treats. I would like to fully switch my fuzzies to a natural diet.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
I have always feed my dogs a raw diet and have seen the health benefits of it. When I first got my fuzzies I didn't know a natural diet was possible with them and if it helps reduce the odor and amount of waste than that is just an added bonus to the health benefits.

4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment?
I am willing to make that commitment, as a pet lover I feel it is my responsibility to do whatever is in the best interest of my family and they are family.

5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?
I have 3 ferrets. Jax is a big boy although not overweight. The pet store I got him from said he was born in December making him just 8 months old but I have my doubts about the accuracy of their records. He was just added to the family 3 months ago. Diesel is another male. He is 9 months old and healthy. Kashmir is his sister. I have had Diesel and Kashmir for 8 months
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
They are on Marshall Farms Premium Ferret Food. Occasionally Diesel and Kashmir will have Marshall's Bandit Ferret treats but Jax only eats his kibble.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
No

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
I have 2 human children, a girl who is 9 and a boy who is 6. I am also a full-time college student in my last semester of school for Early Childhood Education so I am student teaching this semester. While I am very busy I am very dedicated to switching my ferrets to a natural diet. I feed my children a natural healthy diet already and I love my ferrets almost like my children.

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Several times a day

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
Jax is the all white one in the middle, Kashmir is in the back with the blaze on her head, and Diesel is in front. This picture was taken just 2 hours after introducing Jax to the family.


Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Hurricanekatt) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao

[katt]

Name: Katt
HF Screen Name: hurricanekatt[/center]

Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Skpye name: hurricane.katt – I am on Skpye a lot so feel free to pop in and chat, or ask questions you want a quick answer to.

About Me: I just graduated in May 2011 with my Bachelor of Science in Biology. I’ll be taking a year off to enjoy myself, work on my application, and hopefully do some volunteer work in Africa before applying for Medical School for the 2010 school year. I love animals and kids and I am hoping to go into a medical field where I can work with kids - possibly pediatric cardiology or oncology, or perhaps general peds, or even family medicine. I really won’t know until I get there and try things out for myself – there’s so much you can do!


My favorite color is..... Green
My favorite food is.... Salmon! Yum!
My favorite holiday is... Christmas
My favorite hobby is... studying. Just kidding. I do love to read though. I like to do different types of art including drawing and painting. I recently started making dream catchers too. I enjoy horseback riding, playing with my critters, and enjoying time with my boyfriend. And the critters of course! Oh, and I am a bit of a forum junkie. Hehe I am on too many forums to count for a variety of things. Mostly animals.

I like to listen to... Almost anything. I like all genres of music (though I do have my favorites – like Rock, and less preferred – like rap/hip hop). My music is pretty diverse. There is no genre I dislike, just specific songs. haha

I collect... pets. Actually, I do collect foreign money. I used to collect stuffed rabbits and model horses and any number of other things too, but with how much I move and the limited storage in my old apartment, I had to slim down. I kept my favorites of course!

Something about me you might be suprised to know... Um…I don’t know that I am that surprising of a person.

I became a mentor because... I really like helping people (hence the whole wanting to be a doctor thing ) and animals. I am a strong supporter of a natural diet and probably bore most people that I meet to death ranting about raw diet and why it is the best way to go…this way I can rant to someone who actually cares!


About My Ferrets:
Koda – male, Real Canadian, I got him when he was about 8 weeks old when I bought him in December 2009, Sable. I gave him raw the second he came home and he immediately ripped into it and started hissing to keep me away from his tasty prize! Neither of us has ever looked back. He is a real trouble maker and is pretty well known around the forums as such. He is my first ferret and he has forced me to learn and learn FAST! He has managed to eat several foreign objects, and is constantly finding new trouble to get into (his nose has a rubber detector in it). He had to have an emergency blockage surgery, which (we believe) ended up being the catalyst that resulted in his IBD. He loves digging the carpet up, or more recently chewing it, has a very serious oral fixation (if his mouth can stretch wide enough for his teeth to touch it – he will chew it), he will rearrange the room to reach things, has learned how to levitate, and is an all around little monster. He is also very strongly bonded to my boyfriend and I, and can be a huge love bug. When the endless energy is finally burned off, he will curl up in our laps, give us kisses, and fall asleep. As you can tell, I have this problem where I can’t stop talking about him or taking pictures of him… He has IBD which we struggled to get control of (and finally succeeded!) with diet. Recently he started showing signs of juvenile adrenal disease and is currently getting Lupron shots while we wait for Des to arrive off of backorder.

Kneai: male, Silber/Black Roan Mitt. I brought Kenai home towards the end of November 2010 when he was about 7-8 weeks old. He is also eating 100% raw diet, whole prey, franken prey, meaty bones you name it! He was a tiny little bag of bones when I brought him home, but he eats like a pig and grows like a weed! He is now huge and rolly-polly! definitely a little porker - he can barely make it out of his rice box because he is so bottom heavy. lmao He finally started shedding some fur and a little winter weight and is slimming up, but he is still a clumsy critter. haha He loves, LOVES toys and is a loveable, goofy little guy and has been helping to keep Koda company and burn off each others energy! He's definitely a little spaz - I thought Koda was until I got Kenai! He's a bit of a simpleton. He has trouble finding the potty box a lot, and he doesn’t learn very fast. He also is much less physically adept at things – he has trouble climbing and getting into/onto/out of things. He is sloooowly figuring out how to control his floppy body, but he definitely has some developmental delays. But, we love him just the same.


About My Natural Feeding Experience: I've been feeding raw since December 2009 when I brought Koda home. Thanks to this forum, I was ready for a fuzzball to come home with my freezer stocked with meats! I gave him a raw chicken wing his first night home and that was the end of that! He is fed frankenprey, f/t roents, and live prey. Unfortunately, his diet is somewhat restricted because of his IBD, but we've finally got a bit of variety back in. I have been reading and learning since before I brought Koda home and learned a lot from the people here on the forum. I am always on the forum, and various websites trying to learn more about ferrets in general, and especially raw diet. My boys are healthy, energetic, have super soft fur, and smell so good that people regularly comment, asking me what perfume or spray I sprayed them (esp Koda) with! I love telling them: Thanks to a raw diet - he just smells that good naturally! When Kenai first came home he had been eating Marshall's kibble and his poops were HUGE and smelled...awful doesn't even come close to describing it! Now he smells much better and his scraggly coat has been replaced by a luxurious pile of fur.

Type of Mentor: In Training! I feed frankenprey, raw meats, bone-in meats, ground meats, frozen/thawed rodents, live prey, and recently added (for treats and supplemental) freeze dried raw and commercially ground raw. I have never fed kibble so I can’t help with picking a good kibble…


My Specialty: Trouble makers! Especially only ferrets, and kits. I focus on full switches to raw – no more kibble!

[katt]

I am excited to start working with you! Let's start off with a detailed run down of your current feeding schedule. Do you free range feed or feed meals/? What foods are you feeding, when, how often, etc. The more detail the better. Ince I have that we'll get started!

[tpallotta0107]

I am so excited to get started!

Currently my fuzzies are being feed free range feedings of Marshall kibble. I just fill the dish when it empty and let them have at it. I am a first time ferret owner and was told that this is what you do.

As I said earlier I started my ferret family with just Kashmir & Diesel. I got them from the pet store the day they were delivered. I was told that they were litter mates and just 8 weeks old. I instantly fell in love with them and ferrets in general. Jax was a surprise addition, I went to the store to get some kibble and saw this poor lone ferret just laying in the cage. He was a big boy and when I picked him up he just started giving me kisses and snuggling in my arms. It was my first ferret kiss and that was it, he had to come home with us.

I started researching the raw diet shortly after Jax came home. He is twice the size of my other male and is the smelliest ferret I have ever encountered. His poop can make a person gag and so I was looking for things that might cause that and if there was a way to fix it. I looked at the Goodbye Odor supplement that you add to their water but that didn't seem right. That is when I found out about the raw diet. I have feed my dogs raw before and had great success with that, it made sense to me that a more natural diet could help with the smell and the health benefits were amazing. That brings us to today, while I would love to switch my guys over to a whole prey diet I have 2 human children that would not be able to handle that emotionally so that is why I have decided that a raw diet is the best option for all of us.

[tpallotta0107]

So Exited!!! Was making chicken for dinner tonight and decided to take a few chunks and feed them to my fuzzies. All of them were interested in it. Kashmir ate a whole chunk on her own. The 2 boys just liked them a little and Jax chewed on it for a while but spit it out. That has to be a good start for never having anything but kibble from birth.

I did make a puree also of boneless, skinless chicken breast and water to try also. Jax at about a tablespoon of that. Kashmir would eat it off my finger but not out of the plate and Diesel ate about a teaspoon after getting him to lick it off my finger first. His side of the plate also had a little olive oil on it because I know he really likes olive oil from cleaning his ears.

Hope I didn't do anything wrong with giving this a try I was just curious to see what they would do and I had the chicken out.

[katt]

I just wrote you a nice long reply and it got deleted.

I have to get going soon so I'll sum it up. *shakes fist at computer* That is awesome that they took the chunks and soup - and the perfect first step actually. Start pouring the soup over their kibble and continue hand feeding it until they will eat it on their own. Once they will eat it more willingly, then we can remove the kibble entirely. Also, since they took to the chunks so well keep offering those a few times a day before making soup. If they start eating chunks willingly, we can skip a few steps.

Let me know how it goes! I'll be on again tonight and I'll try to add in the rest of my reply that got lost. That was the most important part though.

[tpallotta0107]

I am so glad that what I tried was ok. I will continue offering chunks and then soup.
I do have a question about the kibble. Should I be leaving it out all the time still or only for feeding times. I took it out of the cage yesterday until bed time and then put some in their bowl but I'm not sure if that's right.

[tpallotta0107]

Put just chicken chunks out today and Kashmir & Jax ate them right up!! Diesel licked them and was interested but would not eat them.

Kashmir will eat the chunks but not a big fan of the soup. She will eat it off my finger but not on her own. Jax will gladly eat the soup on his own. Diesel isn't interested in the soup either. He will lick it off fingers and sniff plate but not willingly eat it.

[tpallotta0107]

Ok, so apparently I have some very picky ferrets, all with unique taste prefrences. After reading some other switching threads I decided to try mixing some squash baby food with the chicken soup for Diesel, he is the only one that will not willingly eat anything but kibble (brat). What do you know, as soon as I put the plate down he ran over and started chowing. I still think that I will put the plain soup on the kibble as not to mess up the progress being made with Jax & Kashmir.

[katt]

Ok if Jax and Kashmere will eat chicken chunks, start giving them that - No more kibble. For Diesel, go ahead and feed him soup for his meals (2-3 times a day). For now if you can, keep a bowl of soupies (the way Diesel likes it) and a dish of chunks available to them, but you can now remove kibble from their diet entirely. Which is REALLY Good!

Meanwhile, let's start to even them up a bit. You ideally want all of them to eat soupies. If you ever get a sick ferret who needs soup, and/or has to be hand fed, it will be much less stressful (on both of you) if they already recognize the soup as food. So we're going to work them on a backwards switch in a way. Start out with the soup that you make for Diesel and put just a slight coating on their chunks. Keep increasing the coating until the chunks are covered in a slop, and then see if they will eat it without the chunks. If not, slowly remove the chunks.
For Diesel you are going to do the exact opposite. Start by making the soup really thick (if it's not already) by adding less water. Then, mix in very small chunks of chicken meat. Gradually increase the size and number of the chunks, and decrease the amount of soup. You'll probably have to scruff N stuff some chunks along the way.

Sound like a game plan? Give it a try and let me know how it goes! Also, for Diesel you might try putting a little oil (olive oil or fish oil) or ferreetone over a chicken chunk and seeing if he will eat it that way. Another thing to try is to use a Scruff N Stuff. Hold him in your lap in a gentle scruff, and hand feed him a Small chunk of chicken. They will usually yawn in a scruff (the ferret version of a dog's belly-up submission), which is a good chance to pop a tiny piece of chicken into his mouth so he will taste it. Be careful you just put it in his mouth of course - not back in his throat or anything, and be gentle - not forceful. You can hold his scruff and put his face to the food too. Koda for example will yawn, I put the food in his mouth, and he eats it. Kenai on the other hand, will spit it out if I do that - even if it is something he likes, or not yawn. For him I have to let him sit in my lap and I gently grab his scruff while holding the food up for him to eat - then he will eat it. No matter which way you try, be supporting their bottoms - it is easiest if they are sitting in your lap. This isn't a pick-up scruff so much as a grab-the-scruff. Try out different things, see if any of them work for you. And keep me posted!

[katt]

Any updates?

[tpallotta0107]

Sorry, my allergies are kicking my but right now. Yesterday I had all 3 ferrets eating soupie and chicken chunks willingly. Also, we were having chicken for dinner and I had the heart so I cut that up and gave it too them as well, they ate it fine.

They are continuing to eat both chunks and soup today on their own. They actually seem to like it and sit at the cage door when I start fixing their plate. I am so excited with how well they are taking to the chicken.

[tpallotta0107]

I have a question about their poop. They are all willingly eating chicken chunks, some hearts and gizzards, and chicken soup and no kibble. There poop is very runny at this point, is that normal as their body adjust to the new diet. I know it is with dogs and cats, not sure about ferrets

[tpallotta0107]

Last update for today, all 3 ferrets are eating soup, chicken chunks, hearts and gizzards cut up and small beef chunks as well. Hope this is a good thing, it seems like it is. I just don't want to add too much too soon, but they really do seem to like it all.

[katt]

Awesome news! Keep it up! Yes the weird and soft poops are very normal. For one they have to adjust to the new diet as you said, and also they are not getting any bones yet. Bones will help firm up the stools. Also, as long as no one has shown potential for insulinoma, you can offer up to 1tsp of canned pumpkin (NOT the pie filling, only ingredients should be water and pumpkin) per ferret per day. This will provide roughage and help firm up loose stools. Now hat they will eat chunks and soup and heart and gizzards we move to step two...bones! You will need a hammer, a strong pair of scissors or poultry shears, and a strong, sharp knife.
I'm almost home where I can type easier on my comp so I'll explain what to do in just a few min.