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Post by Sherry on Feb 18, 2013 10:15:22 GMT -5
Hey, not a problem! You do what you need to do for you, as well as for your wee ones And you are a great ferrent as well With Bandit, just give him whatever he'll take for now. I'm starting to wonder if his pain meds are a high enough dose? If I remember correctly ours got .01ml three times a day. With all the others, just keep doing what you can until you can get Bandit through this. If you have time, introduce another protein, but don't worry overly much about it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2013 1:15:43 GMT -5
Thought I should check in just to let cha know I'm still here So we are obviously backtracking with Bandit and Pogo right now. After he recovers I don't THINK Bandit will cause too much trouble going back to chunks. Pogo, however, is hardly eating at the moment, and we are having to really liquify his soup and make it really warm or he will eat even less. Hopefully we can try to get him back to regular thick soup after we figure out what is going on later this week at the vet's. Tak is still doing well. The rabbit ribs went bad and my BF forgot to leave me more with all the issues we've had this week, so we haven't tried that. BUT, Tak is still LOVING the organ soup, Mischief not so much. We also started giving them pork chunks and Tak will eat them, though not readily. Mischief, on the other hand, won't even eat the rabbit that is touching the pork. We are still going to mix the two, but reduce the amount of pork to get them both use to it. We will keep working with Tak and Mischief with the pork, and as soon as my BF butchers some more rabbits I'll try the ribs.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 25, 2013 10:50:18 GMT -5
When mine are sick I just give them whatever they'll eat and worry about it later. With the other two, they've imprinted on the rabbit it seems. You may have to go a soupie route.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 23:45:31 GMT -5
Man how time flies when you're NOT having fun I swear, all the issues my boys have had lately have really made me lose the time. I had no idea it had been so long since I last posted here. We last were talking about the Pork with Tak and Mischief. We had originally been cutting small chunks and they really didn't take to it. But when we tried slivers it worked. Tak will eat the pork slivers as well as anything else. Mischief will eat the rabbit chunks first (ya know, eat the best first) and will then eat the pork slivers if that is all that's left and he's hungry. So, he may not be a huge fan on the pork but he is OK with it. What would our next step be here - do we keep going with the pork til they are eating chunks, or try a new protein? Also, we have had them on medium to large chunks for a while, I suppose it is time to give them big hunks now? Now, on to the harder questions: Bandit - he is still rather sick due to his massive infection. His white blood cell count is at 15000 when it should be at 8000 even though he has been on antibiotics for 2 weeks (to include Metro and Orbax). He is having bouts of dry heaving and severe nausea. He is eating well, but we still won't allow him to eat more than 1.25oz in a sitting to help keep his nausea at bay. He is really hungry though, which is good. However, he has been around his brothers chunks and shows no interest in them, even when he is hungry. He was my absolute best raw eater so I thought he would be easy to switch back to chunks, but now I'm not so sure. He is going to be sick for weeks to come, so it looks like he is soup-bound until then at least, but the issue is that we have now hit 6 months that he has been on soup. How much longer can he be on soup and still keep both his nutrients and health in balance? He body just can't take getting sick due to nutritional deficiencies right now. Pogo - Pogo has been the most difficult switch by far. Now, because he was also sick, he has become even more difficult. He has determined that he WILL NOT eat soup that isn't watery enough. He won't eat more than .85oz in a sitting, and that is a really good feeding. We try to feed him at least 5 times a day, but even then he still gets a max of 1.5oz of total meat a day. He has lost weight since he got sick and stopped eating, not much, but enough to notice. Health wise he has gotten better, but he will also be on antibiotics for at least another week and a half. That all being said, I just don't know how we are going to get him fully transitioned to raw. We have been trying to make him curious about his brothers food, and he will sniff at it, but he shows absolutely no interest in it, even though we feed him after his brothers to make him see what they are eating. Any ideas about how to get Pogo on board with the raw?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 8, 2013 9:02:40 GMT -5
I know this is likely going to be a bit more costly, but do you think you could get both Bandit and Pogo onto a balanced commercial raw for now? Nature's Variety has a very fine mince, or even a freeze dried raw fed rehydrated. You could pop a patty dry into a blender or processor to reduce it to a powder, and add a bit of water to make a slurry. I'll double check with Heather about how long the soup will keep them balanced. I'm fairly sure it should be alright, but want to make sure. With the other two, they need to start eating some bone. Since Bandit won't touch their chunks you should be good with using some chicken necks or wings. Smash them up really well, chop them with a heavy knife or cleaver and start them on that.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2013 1:44:28 GMT -5
OK, so I'll start with bone with Tak and Mischief. I went out and bought some Nature's Variety Instinct Raw Rabbit for Bandit and Pogo. It's funny, but this variety uses rabbit meat and pork organs - what they are already eating ;D I do see 2 issues with this product though: 1) It only has 13% protein and 8% fat. Is there any way to add more protein and fat to this diet? 2) It has to be served cold according to the package and though Bandit prefers his food warmed, Pogo refuses anything that isn't hot enough for him. Can I add hot water to the medallions to make them warmer?
Also, were you able to speak to others about how long Bandit can continue to stay on soupie?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 13, 2013 8:10:40 GMT -5
With the NV it's completely balanced so no worries there And the protein only seems low because it goes by dry matter. The raw you feed the others would be about the same Fat, same deal. I always add warm water to their commercial grinds as well. Now, this is going to taste a bit different for them so you *might* wind up having to introduce it slowly. Once they are accepting of this you can also look at getting other varieties. What I do like about NV is the montmorrelite clay in it. That have healing properties for digestive issues. NV commercial raw worked better than others for my IBD boy.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2013 20:04:41 GMT -5
Okie dokie. So Bandit will eat the NV, but he won't eat much at a time. He is doing better though AND he is eating the occassional rabbit chunk again Pogo will eat a little of the NV but is of course being his picky stubborn self and is giving us a hard time, but at least he ate a little the first time around which is an improvement from his normal attitude towards new things. We are also still working with him. We have gotten Tak and Mischief to eat some chicken - Mischief took right to it and Tak is OK with the chicken - so now we will try the wings and see how that goes. We did attempt giving them rabbit ribs but they wouldn't touch them. However, my BF accidentally gave Tak a pork chop bone with pork chop meat on it and Tak chewed on that thing forever. Pogo is getting better. Bandit is slowly getting better but I can tell he still doesn't feel well. We are going back in in a couple of days for another CBC to see where his white blood cell count is. However, both he and Pogo are starting to put out slime poops again AND all of my boys are having pretty nasty poops lately. I'm not sure what is going on with them all but it is becoming a bit of a problem for them. I'll keep you updated, but something has got to give with this.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 19, 2013 8:57:33 GMT -5
All pretty good news except for the poops ;D In the interim, keep working with Bandit and Pogo with the NV, and Tak and Mischief with the bone in chicken You can also work at introducing chicken hearts/livers if you want.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2013 12:36:51 GMT -5
Will do. I'll go pick up some chicken organs and bones tomorrow and try them out. Are chicken wings or necks best? Also, I know you say to crush them, but can you elaborate better, or is it simply that I bash them with a mallet a few times Good news today! Pogo is back up to eating about 1.5oz at a time AND it doesn't have to be as hot as it was AND he will eat it all, even the chunkier stuff he normally wouldn't eat before Also, Bandit ate rabbit chunks on his own today I put Tak and Mischief's chunks plate down as per the norm (the soup babies get their soup after the chunk babies) and Bandit went and grabbed some rabbit on his own. Though, Mischief has developed his need to steal food and anytime someone takes something off his plate he will kinda fight them for it ;D It's actually pretty funny to watch. Because he ate the rabbit on his own, but had a hard time with the larger chunks Tak and Mischief get I cut up some smaller chunks and put it in his soup and he ATE IT ALL!!! I'm so proud of my boys today!
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Post by Sherry on Mar 19, 2013 16:47:10 GMT -5
Oh, this is such FANTASTIC news Definitely push for Tak and Mischief with the chicken bones. Necks are easier to eat for beginners. Just chop them up into about 3 pieces and then smash them a bit with either the back of a heavy knife or a mallet. And get the hearts/livers as soon as you can as well. You might also want to try giving the pork heart/liver/kidney as well for if/when Bandit can join them in it. And you go Pogo
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2013 22:58:05 GMT -5
Aighty, so I found a big pack of chicken necks and so we'll be trying the necks tomorrow. I also found a huge pack of chicken hearts, but the store had no chicken livers. They said they might get some in tomorrow but they weren't sure of that. I did however find some turkey livers. Will these work in place of the chicken livers or do I need to get chicken livers? I bought the pack of turkey livers, but they are frozen so I'm gonna have fun picking them all apart.
Also, Bandit is taking to the NV very well. Pogo, well, we are still working with him. As far as the NV goes, I bought a bag of small pucks that range from .90 to 1 ounces each. How many pucks per day should each fert be eating? I know when raw meat is involved they are suppose to eat 2-5oz a day. Is this the same for the NV pucks?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 21, 2013 9:11:22 GMT -5
First- yay on the hearts! It might take a bit to get them accepting them, since they are a stronger flavour. If they don't take to them whole, sliver them and put the bits in with their favourite meats. Turkey liver is just fine. However- it is strong in flavour. The only way I can get mine to eat them(and I use them regularly) is to puree and add 1tsp heavy cream per ferret Your's may take them just fine. It's trial and error. Necks. FANTASTIC beginner bones Using a cleaver or heavy knife, chop them into 3 pieces, then chop up those pieces. Over time you'll have to chop them less and less, and just give them cut into those pieces. For the NV, yes, it will be two to five ounces daily on average. Some days more, some less. Give one medallion and if they eat all that, give a second. Only way to find out how much they'll eat. Let me know how they are all doing! And do you have any idea just how close you are to finally graduating
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2013 1:36:29 GMT -5
Ok, so here are the current results:
Bandit likes the NV and will eat it with a bit of warm water with no problem. He is also back to eating small rabbit chunks. Today my BF cut out the homemade soupie and he still ate the NV right up.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2013 1:42:33 GMT -5
BAH, stupid computer sent that before I was done!
Pogo isn't a fan of the NV still, but we are slowly increasing the NV to soup ratio to get him switched onto it. He will still not eat chunks, but he will lick soup up off of his brothers chunk plates.
Neither Mischief nor Tak will eat the chicken necks yet. We've tried a version of the scruff-n-stuff and we've tried rubbing the piecies in oil, and they'll lick at the necks, but won't actually chew on them. The same goes for the hearts. But we'll keep working with them.
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