Trynitey's Switching Thread/Sherry

[Heather]

Name: Heather
HF Forum Username: trynitey

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
I did my reading in various places online before I got my ferrets. Since I'm a ferret newbie and my babies are only 2 and 4 months old, I figured it was a good time to start.

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'm going to have to say probably more Raw than anything else. I can't see me giving them whole prey and not flinching.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
Health, better coat, less stench. I'm pretty positive one of my ferrets is a WS ferret so I definitely want to give her the best diet I can possibly stomach putting together.

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?
Yep! We're ready! I'm a stay at home mom so it wont be too tough.

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've got 4. Chance and Lily are about 3.5mos old. Chance is a male, Lily is a female. Spencer (male) and Shaelyn (female) are only 8 weeks old and I've had them both less than a week. Shaelyn has signs of WS and is deaf. Shaelyn is also VERY skinny. The other 3 seem to have good weight on them.


6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
They are on Marshalls chicken ferret food. Chance and Shaelyn will take the Bandits flavored treats but Lily refuses all treats. Lily also sneaks into our cats food bag.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
I've tried giving bits and pieces of raw food but they just stuff their nose up at it. Lily gags on it. She's going to be the tough one.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
I've got 3 kids and the ferrets are great with them, but with that said, Raw is our best option or I'd have to somehow hide the ferrets when they ate whole prey, and I'd have to hide myself too b/c I can't watch them do that. LOL.


9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
I'm a SAHM, so I have access to it most of the day unless I'm being a taxi for the kids or running errands.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
I will have to get back with this!

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
Okay, we're going to start these wee ones off with some tiny chicken slivers. Doesn't matter what cut, just make them the size of your fingernail tip. You may actually have to pop some in their mouths a couple of times to get them to taste them. If that doesn't work, we can go the soup route. But since they are so young, you may be surprised at some of them

[trynitey]

elAwesome. Thanks so much for the help. I gave them the soup route yesterday and all but one took to it okay. The 2 smaller ones took to it the easiest. I'm going to do the soup route again today while my chicken is thawing. I hope that is ok!

And less poo?? Yay for that. Question though, does it end up being runnier?

[trynitey]

Excuse my typo in the beginning. Spencer decided he'd help me type.

[Sherry]

For the one who didn't take to it, what happened, and did you get that one to take any?

Mar 7, 2012 10:58:07 GMT -5 @trynitey said:

does it end up being runnier?

Yes, it will get looser and wetter depending on what they eat. Especially while on the soup. Which is another reason the eggshell is so important for that. It provides the calcium as well as firming up stools. Don't be surprised at the difference in stool size. We've had people before who actually thought their ferrets had developed a blockage because it was SO much smaller Think maybe a quarter the size.
Once they are on full bone in, their stools will be moister and smaller, but well formed.

[trynitey]

Mar 7, 2012 11:01:34 GMT -5 Sherry said:

For the one who didn't take to it, what happened, and did you get that one to take any?

Mar 7, 2012 10:58:07 GMT -5 @trynitey said:

does it end up being runnier?

Yes, it will get looser and wetter depending on what they eat. Especially while on the soup. Which is another reason the eggshell is so important for that. It provides the calcium as well as firming up stools. Don't be surprised at the difference in stool size. We've had people before who actually thought their ferrets had developed a blockage because it was SO much smaller Think maybe a quarter the size.
Once they are on full bone in, their stools will be moister and smaller, but well formed.

She wouldn't eat it, and when I stuck some in her mouth (how I was able to get the other 3 to eat it) she gagged. She's also the one addicted to cat food and climbing into our cat food bag.

And, that kind of sucks that its runnier. We've got a fairly large house and sometimes they have accidents (we've got 2 litter boxes outside of their cage). Can't make for fun cleanup. Thank goodness for steam cleaners.

[Sherry]

Alright. Now, with the one(Lily?) who's being a drama queen, as she's out playing, have some on hand and pick her up, dab it on her nose so she has to lick it off. Do this over and over and over during the time she's out playing until she'll lick it willingly from your finger. Try the slivers with the others, and see how they do with that. If they'll eat it, you can leave some in the cage and frequently you'll have a case of "monkey see, monkey do" making the switch with her much easier

[Sherry]

Oh- and you may want to invest in at least one box for each room, maybe two

[trynitey]

I tried the soup today and she (Lily) gagged again. Haha! She took a few bites and I've put the soup in their cage and locked them all in. The 3 are having no problems with it thus far. I let Lily lick some off my finger but she still gave this really weird face while eating it. I'm thawing out the chicken now so I'm going to try some slivers tonight on them.

[Sherry]

Sounds good! Remember- they are babies yet, so can't be without food for very long. If they aren't eating the soup, they'll need the kibble back in a couple of hours.

[Sherry]

As for the face, do you mean kind of like this ;D :

[trynitey]

Haha, yes something like that, guess it's pretty normal. She actually shook her head and spit it all out over my clothes and then took a few bites. She'll take awhile. The kibble stays in their cage and they go in there every few hours to eat, poo, pee and sleep for a couple more hours before they are disturbed again or I pick them up at night to cuddle with me while I read.

As for the chicken in the soup, just for reference, should I keep the bone in? This past time I took it out b/c I wasn't sure.

[Sherry]

Just use plain muscle meat for now. You can powder up some eggshells for a calcium replacement with the soup. I use a clean coffee grinder, others just use a mortar and pestle.

[trynitey]

I tried just plain chicken slivers with all of them and they'd put it in their mouth and spit it back out, all of them. So, I ended up pureeing it without the kibble and they didn't want to eat that either, would turn their nose or spit it back out.

[Sherry]

Oh, what brats ;D okay. What your going to have to do is dab some on their noses over and over while they are out playing. That way they have to taste it when they lick it off. Do this several times, then offer them a bit
From your finger and see if you have any takers. Keep dabbing until they DO take it when offered. You can also remove the kibble for an hour or so before doing this.