Wanting to do raw and have NO clue

[stormyserenity]

This is not my first ferret, but it's the first time I have thought about feeding raw. It's my daighter's ferret and she wants to be able to put it's little harness on and walk it on it's leash but it's so tiny and doesn't gain weight even though it eats a LOT. It's been eating Evo kibble since we got it back in October and my daughter has kept the bowl full of fresh kibble. I want to have the healthiest and happiest ferret possible. My husband would probably like the ferret to smell a little less strongly. The ferret (Abby) doesn't show any signs of illness.

We don't know how old Abby is but by looking at her teeth, I wouldn't guess she's more than 2, though I am no vet. We got her from a pet store where she was being sold cheap because someone took her there when they couldn't take care of her.

I began doing research and knew that when I had problems with one of my dogs gaining weight and having allergies and skin problems, it was because her food quality was poor even though she was on a "high quality food". Once I got the dog on a really good diet, she even had health problems clear up and she fattened right up. I began to think the same might be true for Abby. I have been reading on the "old" Holistic Ferret forum and on here about a soup and other raw things to feed Abby but I am not seeing amounts or recipes. I think I am missing vital parts to this picture. I tried giving the ferret some meat and she ate some cooked turkey but she will have NOTHING to do with raw chicken. We ran out of Evo kibble and I simply could NOT order more, I ordered Wysong Epigen. This little girl is LOVING the Epigen and the pheasant treats I ordered with it. I also got samples of the Archetypal-1 & -2 with it and gave her a taste of those and she likes those as well. I also found a Vet's office near me that sells Nature's Variety raw frozen diets and was going to buy some of that to try it. I read that you are supposed to feed 2% of the animals weight per day split into two feedings on one company's website. If there is any guidance that anyone can give me, I would greatly appreciate it.

I really want to do what is best for Abby (even if she isn't as enthusiastic about it). I was really concerned about it being cost prohibitive but from what I've read on here, it doesn't seem that's a problem.


~Robi

[Sherry]

Hi! Ferrets imprint strongly on food as I'm sure you've read. Why not sign up for a mentor to get her switched? That way, you can get some one on one attention in case she's extremely stubborn about it. In the interim, we can help you out in this thread. Or you can do the whole thing here
To get started, puree approx 8oz raw chicken meat any cut, along with a couple hearts, a liver, and 1/2 tsp powdered eggshell. I use a coffee grinder to powder it, others use a mortar and pestle. That will give you an basically balanced soup until she's eating chunks. You can freeze it in ice cube trays, and when frozen baggie the cubes. For now, just defrost one at a time.
Add enough water when pureeing to make a soupy consistency. When Abby is out playing, grab her and dab some on her nose so she has to taste it. Warning- she may twist, turn, spit, gag, retch, etc. To her this stuff is not food, it is not edible, and it is quite likely poisonous ;D
Do that several times while she's out playing. It is going to take a while most likely. When she starts licking it from your finger willingly, you can move to a spoon and feed on your lap. You'll go from the spoon to the dish, and finally to chunks etc. But that's likely going to be a bit down the road

[Deleted]

My recipe was 1 cup or more warm boiled water 3/4 ground kibble 1/4 ground beef or chicken 1 egg a scoop of powdered goats milk 1 tsp crushed eggshell. Decrease the kibble and up the raw each batch. I drizzled 1 teaspoon salmon, olive, or soybean oil over and swirled it in each serving. I started with a thin broth like soup and added less water over time replacing with raw meat slivers (think fingernail size.) Mine eat a really thick soup now but they dont like ground meat without water. Dont move too fast but the goal is cutting kibble out the soup before the slivers are added. It is good to get a taurine supplement too. 1 capsule per 4 servings.

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[Sherry]

If they already eat a kibble based soup, then yes, you can start adding the raw soup to that. That's what I did with mine, since they already ate a kibble/cooked meat soup.
If they aren't eating any form of soup, then start with the raw Much easier in the long run!

[Deleted]

Welcome and your new family member will thank you no matter how much abby refuses.

The mentor program is great! It Was alot of work but worth it.

[stormyserenity]

Do I continue to feed her kibble and use this soup while she plays to introduce the smell/texture or do I decrease the kibble to induce hunger? Can the 8oz " 8oz raw chicken meat any cut" be a bone-in chicken breast/thigh/leg, etc that is cut up and run in the blender or food processor? Would the blender be better than the food processor or vice versa? I have sugar gliders and I have to make their food (vet approved diet) so I know about having to make and freeze diets and it's a bit of a routine and have seperate blenders and utensils for those things.

[Sherry]

If your blender will take bone and not burn out, sure. Most won't, even chopped up. But generally right now, you want a very smooth texture for her.
As for the kibble, you can take it out a couple hours before trying her with the raw soup, but I'd not do more than that. If (gods forbid) she's got the very early stages of insulinoma(not symptoms yet) being without food for too long can trigger the onset. Now that said, odds of that happening aren't that high, but best not to take a chance.

[stormyserenity]

I haven't started Abby on the soup yet because I noticed she went completely bald on her butt and wanted to see if she grew her hair back. I thought it might be from her change in diet when we switched the kibble. I can't see any fur but it's hard to tell since I am half blind and her furr is white. We just moved here in October so I am not familiar with any vets but the one my friend has always taken her cat to accepts ferrets. That doesn't really inspire confidence in me but I am going to call and make an appointment to interview them. Does anyone have any advice? Should I be worried about this? Should I start her on the soup anyway? She's started to pick up some weight on the new kibble from Wysong so that is encouraging and I hope that going raw will be even better. Her poop is a lot better and so is her smell and that is just getting her off the Evo and onto Wysong stuff. Their kibble and treats. I guess I am just worried that the baldness is a sign of adrenal. I have seen ferrets go through adrenal and die of it when I worked at a ferret rescue years ago and it ripped my heart out, I don't want my kids to watch that happen and I REALLY don't want little Abby to have to live through it. She's the sweetest little ferret. I just want to make her a happy and healthy little girl with the least amount of trauma. I wish I spoke ferretese...need a darn translator but she'd just tell me to leave her stinkin' food alone. We Mama's are just complete drags sometimes, eh?

[Sherry]

I hate to say it, but if the fur is going from her back end, odds are it is adrenal However, with lupron or a des implant most can have a really good quality of life for a good long while