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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2011 23:25:59 GMT -5
Shitty? There's no diarrhea or loose stuff but I'm sure that'll change the more I eliminate kibble.
Unwanted attention or pumpkin... for Huck both. For Blake the pumpkin.
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Post by katt on Oct 7, 2011 23:46:08 GMT -5
;D Yes as you eliminate the kibble then the poops will become more loose until we add bones in. As long as they continue having okay poops you really don't really need to worry about bonemeal or pumpkin. I'd hold off on feeding Blake any pumpkin at all...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2011 14:25:16 GMT -5
So... They still need a little coaxing to eat freely from the bowl. I made two bowls to put away with kibble and one with just pureed chicken. Huck is getting used to his pumpkin. I gave them each three chunks of chicken that no matter how hard they fought. They eventually ate. Blake received it pretty well... Huck... You know how that story went. --Edit-- Blake ate more chicken chunks. I was cradling him in my arms in front of the refrigerator and saw the chick. So I thought why not offer him a little piece. Sure enough he gobbled down two pieces like a professional raw eater
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Post by katt on Oct 8, 2011 23:17:03 GMT -5
Okay so I think we need to go over "Scruff N Stuff" to clarify. I apologize for being unclear. Scruff N Stuff should never be used to force feed a ferret unless it is absolutely necessary, and if it is necessary then the ferret should have seen a vet long ago and the vet should show you how to force feed. Anyways, Scruff N Stuff would be more appropriately termed..."Scruff N Sample." The idea is simply to get the ferret to taste the food, not to force them to eat it. If you have a ferret who is defecating and/or urinating they are under great distress, (fear, anger, stress, discomfort, pain...any of the above can cause this) and what you are doing should be stopped immediately. Continuing them will only increase their stress and increase the damage, and it can make them learn to not trust you. It is okay to try to get them to eat chunks - that is great. But we don't want to force them in any way. Slow and steady wins the race. If Blake will eat the chunks, go ahead and keep offering him some. Good boy! As for Huck, try mixing some kibble into the soup. See if he will eat that on his own. If not increase the kibble content a little more until he will. Even if it's mostly kibble mush, if he will eat it on his own (not in a scruff) that is good. It will give us something to work on in the cage. Keep it up!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2011 23:32:56 GMT -5
Haha yeah I figured the scuffing thing out today. He doesn't like it for anything. I'm not doing it again especially since I don't have to scruff them to hand feed them. They will both eat the chicken chucks if I cradle them though. Blake is like my trial child now. He always teaches me a new way to appeal to Huck but usually only after I've ****ed up. He probably thinks I'm a "special human".
They both only seem to like watery soup. The chunkier it gets the more they lap at it to get the moist stuff off and leave the rest.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 20:45:04 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]So today I put out both the pureed chicken with no kibble and the chicken chunks. Blake ate four of the chunks and a few licks of the pureed chicken. I only hand feed him one chicken chunk.
Huck is eating the pureed chicken but isn't interested in the chunks on his own yet. He also isn't fond of the pumpkin yet but he ate a good bit of it.[/shadow]
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2011 13:57:07 GMT -5
This morning I was only able to let them out for a little less than an hour, but in that hour... Blake started foraging for random kibble... So I pulled out the pureed chicken with no kibble. Huck and Blake started eating it the minute I set it down.
So I put them in their cage and left them some pureed chicken and gave them a few small chunks. I'm hoping when I get home they will have eaten at least some of the chunks and most of the chicken. I had to leave the kibble in because I don't want Blake going too long without food. Huck was resistant to have his pumpkin this morning so I backed off. I'll try to get him interest in it again this evening...
Let me know if I'm not giving enough detail... I'll try to fill in the gaps.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2011 21:52:12 GMT -5
Soo....
THEY ATE IT ALL WHOOP! I'm pretty sure Blake ate the bulk of it though. He really loves his chunks. I'll separate them tomorrow when I leave to confirm. I want to make absolutely sure Huck is eating enough. There was a lot of kibble left, almost like they hadn't even touched it. ^_^
Well um... talk to you later I guess...
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Post by katt on Oct 11, 2011 15:55:13 GMT -5
Sorry, had a crazy couple of days and last night I fell sleep before I could respond to anyone. You are doing great. Keep offering them the soup and chunks. Let me know how Huck does in the cage alone with the soup today. If he is eating enough of the soup we can remove kibble. Then next step will be to get him eating chunks like Blake. Keep it up!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2011 17:19:58 GMT -5
Huck ate his although today's soup had kibble in it. He stopped eating his regular kibble and went for the soup when I set that down next to it. He still doesn't enjoy the pumpkin... it ended up on my shirt again. Blake decided he doesn't want soup and if I don't give him his chunks he doesn't want to eat
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2011 22:13:07 GMT -5
Huck isn't as into chunks but he's getting there. He's sticking to the soups. I think he likes his soups more without kibble. I'll have to make some more in the morning.
Do you have any recommendations for getting Huck to eat his pumpkin, he doesn't even want to eat it, even if it's hand fed and if I put it out for him to eat. Blake will gladly try to devour it.
Blake only wants chunks and eats plenty of them.
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Post by katt on Oct 13, 2011 4:48:03 GMT -5
Huck isn't as into chunks but he's getting there. He's sticking to the soups. I think he likes his soups more without kibble. I'll have to make some more in the morning. Do you have any recommendations for getting Huck to eat his pumpkin, he doesn't even want to eat it, even if it's hand fed and if I put it out for him to eat. Blake will gladly try to devour it. Blake only wants chunks and eats plenty of them. If Blake wants to eat chunks, then let him eat chunks. lol The point of the soup is to get him to chunks anyways. That being said, I do recommend eventually convincing him to eat soup bc if he is ever sick it will be a HUGE help if he already recognizes soup as food. As for Blake he is the one who is insulinomic correct...? Do NOT feed him pumpkin. And since Huck will eat soup without kibble in it, and Blake will eat chunks, you can now remove kibble from their diet entirely! Congrats on the first big step! For Huck and pumpkin, my not just mix it into the soup? And really if he hates it so much, and as long as he is not having bad diarrhea, then he doesn't necessarily need it. IT will be helpful to have it, but won't hurt to not have it if that makes sense. It would be helpful for him to recognize it as food in case of a blockage though - I would try mixing some ferrevite into it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2011 15:01:00 GMT -5
They are both really good at being hand feed soups.
I honestly don't think Huck is eating very much. I think separating him from Blake to see if he is eating just stresses him out...so he doesn't.
I never allow Blake to have pumpkin.
This day two kibble free.
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Post by katt on Oct 13, 2011 16:40:52 GMT -5
Blake will gladly try to devour it. I missed the "try" there, sorry. I was like... lol Keep hand feeding the soup and chunks and of course be sure to leave some in the cage at all times (both soup and chunks). For little Huck, see how he does without separating them. Keep an eye on him. As long as he isn't losing weight or showing any other signs of illness I wouldn't worry too much yet. Do keep a very close eye on him though. If he continues to not eat enough let me know.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2011 17:10:44 GMT -5
I haven't had to hand feed in three days, not including pumpkin, everybody seems healthy and active.
He eats when I'm around. It's when I'm not around that I'm concerned about. Huck's funny like that... Kind of like he uses the litter box when I'm gone... but when I come back he pretends like he doesn't know how.
I'm only hour about four hours a day and most of that they spend running around and casually eating.
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