|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2012 11:40:54 GMT -5
If your sick, just try to avoid as much contact as possible. Wash hands if you have to handle her. Ferrets can't get the cold, so you might not have anything to worry about. Ferrets can catch the flu and other upper respiratory infections.
So she is eating the commercial raw, watered down, regularly and with no issues? How much water?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2012 16:15:08 GMT -5
Well her nose was definetly running yesterday so she is going to the vet tomorrow. She is eating the commercial watered down. It is pretty soupy.... I will take a pic of her dinner tonight to show you...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2012 19:41:49 GMT -5
Here is her dinner...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2012 19:43:33 GMT -5
And this is what was left when she was done...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2012 16:57:38 GMT -5
At the vet today flower was still 1lb 7oz so it looks like her weight gain has leveled off but she is at a good weight for her size and looks great the vet said let the virus run its course and if she gets any mucousy discharge or coughing he will give her antibiotics but he doesn't want go give her meds if she doesn't need them yet.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2012 21:38:02 GMT -5
Glad to know the vet isn't concerned. I hope she starts feeling better And that's great on the food! Looks like she's eating great! Can you give me a list of each food and brand Flower is eating, so I can make sure everything is balanced correctly
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2012 9:49:18 GMT -5
Well this week she is eating a combo of
S&C Dandy Lamb Dinner:
Ingredients: Lamb, Lamb Spleen, Lamb Liver, Lamb Bone, Lamb Heart, Lamb Kidney, Calcium Carbonate, Pumpkin Seed, Potassium Chloride, Organic Cranberries, Organic Spinach, Organic Broccoli, Organic Beets, Sodium Phosphate Monobasic, Organic Carrots, Organic Squash, Organic Apples, Organic Blueberries, Choline Chloride, Dried Pediococcus Acidilactici Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Longum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Taurine, Tocopherols (Preservative), Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine Monohydrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B12 Supplement.
Guaranteed Analysis: crude protein min 37.0% crude fat min 35.0% crude fiber max 4.0% moisture max 5.0% Calorie Content: 5,628 kcal/kg (calculated); 75 kcal per patty
Bravo Basic Ostrich:
Ingredients Antibiotic-free ostrich necks, antibiotic-free ostrich meat, antibiotic-free ostrich livers.
Guaranteed Analysis Crude Protein (min%) 20.00% Crude Fiber (max%) 0.00% Crude Fat (min%) 10.20% Moisture (max%) 69.00% A little of the Home-Made mix mixed in with the above which consists of Chicken Meat, Pork Meat, Beef Kidney, and Beef Heart.
Also some chicken babyfood since I opened a jar for her the other day when I ran out of the commercial and she would eat the home-made mix alone.
And pumkin, salmon oil, and taurine (the taurnine gets mixed into the commercial since it has not heart in it.)
The above foods are mixed and matched and vary with each meal...
So for monday night she got babyfood and pumkin with some dandy lamb mixed in.
tuesday breakfast she got brabo ostrich, home-mademix, chicken babyfood and pumkin. dinner was jus dandy lamb dinner (rehydrated of course) she ate about 1/2 a pattie, is that a good amount of freeze dried for one meal?
wens I think she just had the bravo ostrich and pumkin for her meals
thrus she actually got 3 meals: breakfast which was dandy lamb lunch was bravo ostrich and pumkin dinner was bravo ostrich, home-made mix, a lil chicken babyfood and pumkin.
Sorry this post is soo long lol ;D I hope I am doing ok for Flower. The bravo frozen meals look fairly well balanced except that not all of them have heart so I just have to add taurnine which is ok since i can OD her on taurine since she just pees it out lol Should I be worried about any other deficiencies?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2012 11:36:02 GMT -5
The S&C freeze dried are all balanced, so any of those are good. 1/2 a patties seems fine for a smaller female. My girls would gorge on the stuff and can easily eat 2 patties in one sitting ( little fatties which is why I no longer feed freeze dried). The ostrich is good too. And yes, taurine is excreted in the urine so any extra added is okay. Your homemade mix ads some extra proteins to the mix. All in all, you've got all your bases covered. If her stools look to liquidy on the homemade meals, I would add some powered eggshell to the mix. That should give her some extra calcium
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2012 17:46:23 GMT -5
So flower has been doing good Her vet app on Thursday had her weighting 1lb 7oz still so its looks like her weight gain has levelled off She is very active and playful Her stool has been a little soft but has firmed up some with extra pumkin. She has also been grooming herself a lot and I think got her winter coat in. Her color and face has also changed Her diet has followed what I wrote in my previous post pretty much just a variety of those foods. Sorry this is a little off the format for the weekly update but I haven't been able to get on my comp and am using the app on my phone so I can't copy and paste lol Oh and she is eating well on the watered down food still, I have been trying to add less water... Sent from my Desire HD using ProBoards
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2012 19:34:24 GMT -5
Sounds great thanks for the update
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2012 22:25:56 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2012 22:38:18 GMT -5
Aw I love the belly pic! She looks a lot thicker than she did in the beginning. She's so adorable Are you still thinking of getting her a friend? From my standpoint, Flower is very close to graduating. Are there any other feeding styles you'd like to introduce (ex. Whole meats like chicken wings, beef etc, whole prey?) Are they any other proteins you want to introduce? If not, once she's eating the commetcial stuff without all the water added, I'll need a formal menu to submit to Heather, who will review and make any changes necessary. So if you ARE planning on getting another soon, we can keep this thread open. If it might be awhile, I can lock the thread when you graduate and reopen it if you do get another baby and need help with the switch again.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 8:40:48 GMT -5
Hmm well protein-wise she has had chicken, beef, pork, lamb, duck, ostrich, and venison. I think that is a pretty good variety right? I did try to give her a chicken wing once and she wanted nothing to do with it lol. It would be nice if she liked whole meats because then I could use them as an occasional treat but her eating whole meats is not essential since I plan on feeding her the mix of commercial and home-made mixes. ( and my home-made mixes are pretty chunky, there are even some people bite sized chunks in there, I have been having to water that down for her still though ) As to the other ferret, they need to have another playdate just to make sure they wont fight, but since I was just sick and flower might have had a bit of my cold we have had to wait for them to meet again just in case were still sick. All though if that ferret does come home with me she took to the commercial right away when I gave her some to try. So what things do I have to think about when I am making my weekly menu? Is the way I have been feeding flower this week (combo of commercial, home mix, and freezedried) good? I just have to decide how many times a week each will be fed?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 14:14:54 GMT -5
protein-wise she has had chicken, beef, pork, lamb, duck, ostrich, and venison. I think that is a pretty good variety right? Yes! That is great variety Just wanted to make sure you were comfortable with the foods she's currently eating. For the whole meats, you could try getting a chicken wing and smashing it very well, cut it up into chunks that are similar in size to the chunks she has in her homemade mix, and see if that goes okay. You can also gradually make her mix more chunky and see if she accepts it. I think you have a pretty good grasp on how to modify her diet So what things do I have to think about when I am making my weekly menu? Is the way I have been feeding flower this week (combo of commercial, home mix, and freezedried) good? I just have to decide how many times a week each will be fed? So the goal would be her having a bone-in meal 8-9 times a week. This can include a mix that has eggshell as a supplement, but should mainly be bones (ground, whole, etc.). You should have at least 1 meal of entire heart, or it can be spread out over several meals. So you wanna have about 2-3 oz of heart meat in her diet a week. The same applies to liver/kidney/organs. About 1-3 oz a week, this can be spread out over several meals. The other meals should just be meat (boneless), various proteins.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2012 9:54:45 GMT -5
Can Ferrets eat fish every now and then?
Sent from my Desire HD using ProBoards
|
|