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Post by Heather on Nov 14, 2011 22:14:25 GMT -5
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? The old holistic ferret forum actually. 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 switching them to a 100% raw diet with some whole prey.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
It is what is best for them. They used to be on a raw diet (2 years) but we had to stop due to finances. Now that we have the money to do so, we want to switch them over to raw again.
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 switchng your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as commited. 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?
Yes
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?
Name: Twitch Age: 4 years Gender: Female Current Weight: 1lb 8.5 oz Health Problems: Fur loss on lower back I've had Twitch for 4 years this December
Name: Damien Gender: Male Age: 3.5 years Current Weight: 2lbs 12oz Health Problems: Little pudgy I've had Damien for 3.5 years
Name: Kale Gender: Male Age: 3 years Current Weight: Not weighed (estimated 3lbs. Will get weight later today) Health Problems: Overweight I've had Kale for 3 years
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
Before Grain Chicken Dry Cat Kibble - main diet Pinkie Mice - 1x a week Rat - They had a rat recently but I don't give it to them often.
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
Yes, all 3 ferrets were on raw for about 2 years. Due to money issues we had to put them on kibble because we couldn't afford the meat.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
None that I can think of.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Daily.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
I only have a picture of Twitch right now.
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Sherry) 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. Also note there may have been some changes in the application and how you should post so please review these before proceeding. If you have any questions feel free to either ask your mentor or any of the admins. 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
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Post by Sherry on Nov 16, 2011 0:03:10 GMT -5
Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch First, a little about me. I'm 51, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 6yrs, to 17(only one would eat raw, unfortunately ). I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead(rip). I got her when she was 4. She passed at almost the age of 8, had adrenal for 3 years, treated with lupron for 2 of those. After that came my first deaf ferret, Lucrezia. A marked DEW. Then two foster ferrets, whom we fell in love with and adopted- Zeus and Athena, both two years old at that time. Also both adrenal, and on lupron. After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's becoming a sweetie . Then, Emily. 1 month younger than Willow, and those two have bonded strongly. She's the only one Willow wasn't terrified of.Suki is the last one, I swear! She was a little 8 month old darling the pet store was having a hard time selling, so were getting ready to send her back! While transitioning the first four, Boris was my hold out. EVERYTHING I gave him was poison, in his mind . Worst little drama queen I've seen yet . Twisting to get away, gagging, retching- he did all of it! Then one day- he ate it! Every single piece on the plate ! Those four haven't looked back. The next two for transitioning were the fosters. Until we adopted them, I could only supplement with raw. So in order not to cause unnecessary tummy upsets(mixing kibble and raw too closely can cause some problems- more about that later), I'd give them raw one day, and kibble on a different day. So, by the time we adopted, they had no problem with 100% raw diet. With Willow, I brought her home, and she flatly refused to eat the totally ferret kibble, so I went back to the pet store and got her a small bag of the crap they were feeding them there, and brought it home. I tried to give her some, but she just upset the dish. So- I tried her with some chicken breast. She ate it up! Hasn't had kibble since . Emily came to us as a raw fed ferret, so no issues there. Suki was another kibble head, but caging her in the daytime with Miss Emily showed her how to eat raw. And now- we've added Mr. Frodo, who essentially switched himself second day he was here That's me and mine in a nutshell
The reason I started looking a raw feeding was something my vet said to me. I was, at the time, giving them small pieces of fruit for treats. She told me that was VERY bad for them, and in fact, some studies have started to link early feeding of sugars with insulinoma later in life. So- I started thinking. Kibbles are full of carbs. It's all those grains/veg/fruits in them. Those are converted to sugars by the body. To me then, sugar= potential insulinoma. So, I started checking out various diets. I had no idea what an obligate carnivore was at the time. I found out! Not much wonder there was soooo much poop in the box! I may as well have been tossing my money in there. They can't process anything that's not meat based! So I feed meat Their fur is softer, their energy levels are amazing- no mad rushes then crashing. Even my three year old's teeth are amazing. No plaque whatsoever Healing is faster, and if they do get ill, they have more reserves to rely on than when they were just kibble fed! And there is a LOT LESS POOP!!!! Yay! I'm looking forward to helping your little ones get on a much healthier diet, and having fun while we're at it
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2011 7:33:05 GMT -5
That's quite a few ferrets. I have my hands full with 3. So far I'm feeding them kibble in the morning and raw at night. I know it should probably be switched around or in all honesty, I could simply take them off kibble altogether. They are loving the raw and the kibble was only there because I wasn't getting up early enough to prepare a meal. Starting tomorrow I'm going to get up early enough to prep a raw meal (or even have it thawing overnight so its ready by morning) I'm keeping a journal of what I feed them so I can make sure I'm not feeding two much of one thing and too little of another. Saturday (11/12) PM - Beef Chunks (had to cut into small pieces but big hit) Sunday AM: Kibble Sunday PM: Pork chunks (will be given sparingly) Monday AM: Kibble Monday PM: Chicken Liver (I need to find more organ meats locally. Hmmm.) Tuesday AM: Kibble Tuesday PM: Chicken Thigh and Leg (They ate an entire thigh and half the leg) Wednesday AM: Kibble Planned for Wednesday PM: Chicken Gizzards On our next shopping trip I plan on trying to find more organ meats as liver can't be their only organ and heart doesn't count. I also need to pick up some turkey necks and turkey meat. I will also slowly begin adding more whole prey to their diet. I need to order rats and mice for the snakes, so I figured I could throw in an extra bag of something just for the ferrets. I was thinking mice to start off with and eventually move onto rats, quail, rabbits, etc.
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Post by Sherry on Nov 16, 2011 10:49:22 GMT -5
That's fantastic! And yes, I'd simply eliminate the kibble entirely. What I do since mine eat more at night/dawn is just put more than I do in the morning. It will hold over, no problem. That way, they can eat before I get up in the morning, come out to play, and then before I go to work, I check to see how much is left, remove anything really old, and add new accordingly. Large, whole pieces of meat, meaning 2"-3" chunks, or wings, etc. will stay fine for up to 24 hours And I noticed you mentioned the pork sparingly. Any particular reason? Mine adore it ;D And yes, you really need to get some heart in there for them. Because once they are off the kibble, they'll not be getting enough taurine otherwise. What I've also done with organs is give liver one week, and a different organ the next. On those times where fresh/frozen organ meats are hard to find is to feed some freeze dried lamb lung I can get at my local raw feeding pet store
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2011 8:15:33 GMT -5
I was told to feed pork sparingly the last time I had them on raw because it is such a fatty meat. They do love it though. Wednesday PM: Chicken Gizzards - kids went to town on them. One of my cats ate a few bites but the other 3 were not impressed. Thursday AM: Chicken Wing/Thigh I need to find more organs but I have no idea where to look. I can easily find liver but other organs I've never really seen for sale at my local Walmart or Martins grocery store. If I include more whole prey in their diet, will finding organ meat be necessary? Twitch already eats mice and rats like candy. I was going to see how much whole prey they needed and if Kale and Damien were game, see how much it would cost to switch them over to 1/2 raw 1/2 whole prey. I buy whole prey in bulk since I breed snakes. I just don't know how much whole prey they would need. Planned for tonight is beef chunks, then chicken legs in the morning. Thanks for your help and advice. I never did get a mentor the first time I switched and I really do find it to be a big help.
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Post by Sherry on Nov 17, 2011 10:29:44 GMT -5
Do you have any asian/ethnic markets around? Even some grocery stores will sell things like beef kidney, or pork kidney. A decent butcher shop should have them as well. And although they really should have other organs, some do quite well on just liver with something else supplemented when you can find it. Ok, for 1/2 raw, 1/2 whole prey, you'd do the same thing I do(but I use commercial raw). Since 7 meals a week are the "ideal", the rest of the meals would be balanced amongst themselves. So-2-3 meals bone in, 2-3 meals muscle, one meal a mix of heart and liver That's as long as the whole prey you are feeding are mostly adults.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2011 9:47:09 GMT -5
Yes, there is one about 20 min from me that I can go check. They sell all sorts of things. I'll be ordering my whole prey in about a week so hopefully I can pick out some yummy things for them. I'll also be stopping by the Asian market, and swinging by a wholesale store to see if I can pick up some meat in bulk. Thursday night was beef chunks (they had kibble for the morning because I forgot to thaw out breakfast) Friday night was chicken leg (there was still some left so they'll be eating the rest of that this morning and my hubby will take it out in a few hours. We fed them very late last night and the kibble probably made them full) Planned for Saturday night is Pork chunks. We are noticing they are not really digging into the bone-in meats. They kind of just nibble. Its probably been so long since they've had bone and they just need to get used to eating it again, but we'll keep an eye.
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Post by Sherry on Nov 19, 2011 11:40:57 GMT -5
A good idea for the bone in meats for a while anyway is to smash them up with either a cleaver or a hammer. Breaks the bone up, mixes the marrow in with the meat. And odds are they have to build up jaw strength again to be able to crack the bone on their own. What you CAN do to help that is give them something like chicken necks(if you can get them, they are the best for this), or wings. Smash both up really well, and just give them that for 3 or 4 days. As for thawing, try to make sure you prepare and baggie what they are going to have well ahead of time. That way even if you forget to defrost you can just put the portion of frozen meat in the cage They'll pick away at it until it's defrosted.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2011 7:00:59 GMT -5
I didn't know putting frozen in the cage was okay. I'm adding chicken necks to my list. So crushing them up won't cause a choking hazard?
Saturday PM: Pork Chunks
Sunday Am: Chicken Leg
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Post by Sherry on Nov 20, 2011 11:51:34 GMT -5
No, no more than them breaking off chunks of bone on their own. Have I ever had a ferret get a bone stuck? Yes. They are able to clear it on their own. Once in the three years of raw feeding have I ever had to help a ferret get a stuck bone out of their teeth. And she likely would have worked it out had I not been home. I have, however, had several choke on kibble before their switch to raw
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2011 7:57:39 GMT -5
Yea, my little Twitch would choke on kibble often. She'd be so excited to eat that she'd wolf it down and start to choke. They are doing so great with the raw. I'll crush the bone up for tomorrow morning's meal. This morning was chicken leg and tonight will be chicken liver. They've been getting pinkie mice for snacks since a few of my hatchling snakes are not eating on a regular basis. Only Twitch really gets them because she loves them and will eat them in a single bite and then chase down the boys for theirs and steal them. Damien is a little less interested in whole prey. He'll sniff it and maybe even grab it but all he will do is go put it somewhere and then come back as if to say "Ok, where's the real food?" Twitch is my expert whole prey eater. She'd eat an entire jumbo rat if I let her. She LOVES the stuff. Used to hunt live mice as well. How should I go about really introducing whole prey to Damien as a food source?
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Post by Sherry on Nov 21, 2011 9:34:09 GMT -5
Since he's already shown an interest, start with the pinkies. Chop them up and mix them up with his meat. Move from that to giving them whole in his meat, then whole by themselves. Work up the food chain from there And that's fantastic that they already love the raw What size chunks are they getting right now for meals?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2011 8:07:10 GMT -5
I'd say about the size of a quarter, sometimes larger. They tried a little more bone. Hubby fed them chicken leg without crushing it and they ate about half of the bone. Last night they had liver (I gave them a little more liver than last time and it was still gone by early morning. They love liver!) Tonight is more chicken leg (there was a giant thing of them on sale.) and this time I will crush the bone up a little.
When we get paid on Friday we are going to get more variety for them. I'll try that with the pinkies.
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Post by Sherry on Nov 22, 2011 11:51:19 GMT -5
Wow! They actually ate 1/2 the leg bone without it being crushed? That's fantastic!!! With the liver, try to make sure they only get approx 2 oz each per week. If that's not enough to fill them, you can flesh it out with meat.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2011 9:11:30 GMT -5
Sorry! I know that I am supposed to be updating as much as possible, but this holiday was just crazy. We were housesitting for two people AND we no longer have internet at home. I can still update daily as I have internet at work (but I wasn't at work for 5 days for the holiday, hence the no show here for a few days)
The ferrets are doing well on the raw. We had to give them kibble a few times over the past few days just because we simply were not home to thaw out their food. As of tonight they are back on the raw.
Over the weekend, they did have a small rat and a mouse between them. Twitch and Kale went to town on them, and Damien took a few bites.
Tonight's menu is beef chunks and in the morning chicken wings.
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