Aletha's Switching Thread/Sherry

[Heather]

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My Name Aletha Dobie...

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?

I have probably known and felt guilty about the idea of feeding a more natural diet for 5 years now. But it was never the right time...enough of that!!

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 would eventually be interested in being able to feed a whole prey frozen style diet. I watched a video of 2 baby ferrets and a quail and that does not interest me to watch them tear apart another animal....yes i know it is all the same but I guess I am just not there yet.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?

All of my children are my babies and I want what is best for them. It just seems to make sense. I understand the importance of a healthy diet and all the 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 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?

I am prepared to stick with this for as long as it takes as long as I feel my family isn't being harmed in anyway...

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 2 ferrets...
Wicket, male approximately 2 years of age, he is a healthy solid silver ferret, Come this valentine's day it will be 1 year since we have owned him. Before us he was at the pet store for a great length of time 8mos old i believe is when they said they had him, and then the owners had him for a few months where he was feed friskas.

Nyx, small female turning 1 next week jan 28, she is a chocolate sable. She came into our care the beginning of October where we fostered her until we decided she was ours at the end of November. We would be her 3rd home, the 1st a family with small children not sure her diet etc there, 2nd home was feed whiskas and marshall's. Treats were Ensure and cheerios.

I will be including my cats in this switch as well...so here is their intro quickly...)

Cotton, 13year old female. A few pounds over weight but not as much as she used to be. 6 mos prior her blood results came to us with a clean bill of health. She has been my girl since she was a wee kitten!

Marble Ice Cream, 6mos old kitten, female, very healthy. we adopted her in october. She already eats whole chicken necks and LOVES them!!

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)



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The ferrets kibble is a mix of Evo cat or ferret, Go Grain Free cat, Orjen Cat, & Horizen Legacy Cat. All grain free kibbles.
For dry the cats eat eat any of the ZiwiPeak cat freeze dried foods. (this is only a few times a week)

Soup; Honest Kitchen's Prowl or Grace mixed with Carnivora's Whole Prey Rabbit, Duck or Chicken. Right now the mix is 1/4cup of prowl, 1/8 cup of Grace, 3/4 cup of warm water and 1/3 of a patty mixed together. Ferrets each get 3 to 4 tbsp of the mix and the cats get the rest. Soup for ferrets usually once a day and cats sometimes twice a day depending on how full they seem.
Marble gets chicken necks a couple times a week. Treats a very rare, zuke's cat treats, now grain free catt treats, ferretone. I use ferretone for nail clippings and husband gives a couple times a week for treats.
They get Flea Free added to their food, but not probably again until closer to spring.


7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?

The soup is all I have tried, it use to be just canned but now I only have a few cans for emergency or something. They went from canned to honest kitchen and just recently (november I think) I have been adding the raw patty.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?

Wicket seems to take the soup easier than Nyx, you seem to have to show it to him but then he will eat on his own. Nyx I have to scruff lightly and hold her in front of the dish while she eats. I try to work my way to letting go and simply holding her. A few times she has eaten the food by herself but this is rare. They really seems to like the rabbit!!


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

Computer use is daily! have one at home and at work if need be.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).


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. 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

[Sherry]

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(rip) 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