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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2012 15:47:59 GMT -5
I don't know where my posts are going? I've responded to this thread twice (after your previous 2 posts) That's wonderful news!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2012 1:34:31 GMT -5
I have spent the past 4 hours working on the boys with their soupie as I've decided to push them more with it. They all last had kibble at 10:30 and I was wanting to try the soupie at least twice with each one, but all of them (except for Pogo) have only gotten up once and I have to go to work soon. Unfortunately, my BF isn't going to be as helpful with this as I'd hoped (he said his school is super stressful this semester) so the boys will only be pushed on days I'm home with them all day. SO, tomorrow I will be home all day so I'm going to feed them kibble in the morning only (except maybe for Pogo depending on how he does) and push the soupie throughout the day as they get up, then give the kibble back at night and see how it goes. I hope this is a good plan at this phase. I just feel like we haven't been trying hard enough with them (though partially due to Bandit's issues) and I want to get back on track. However, I worry if we'll be set back when we add the organ meat again!?! FYI on that, I'm planning on adding the organs back in on my first day off next week (Wednesday) so I will be home to watch Bandit. But the only organs I can find other than beef and chicken are pork heart and liver. Will this be OK? Til then I'll just keep making batches of the soupie I made today! This sounds like a good plan. Maybe try the organs by themselves so you don't ruin a whole batch of soup? That way if there is an issue, you can still feed the soup you made. I am going to buy a food processor tomorrow because I wonder if part of our problem is that the soupie isn't really a true soupie as there are still little strings of meat in it because our blender sucks! It doesn't bother Bandit and Mischief, but I wonder if Emmett and Pogo would take to it better if it was actually soup. You think this matters much??? I ask because a decent food processor costs AT LEAST $100 and we haven't been making very good tips lately so money is a bit tighter than normal. I use one of these and they are super duper awesome www.walmart.com/ip/As-Seen-on-TV-Magic-Bullet-Express-Blender-and-Mixer-System-17-piece-Set/15707852You might even be able to get it cheaper. But mine has been super reliable and blends up soup nice and smooth and you can keep it in small portions so not as much waste.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2012 2:06:46 GMT -5
Hmmm...dunno where your posts are going?!?! I figured you prob would have responded but just thought maybe Nyxie was keepin ya xtra busy Good idea with the organ meat by itself - but should I grind it or leave it whole? I'm assuming grinding it. About my plan for tomorrow - feeding only soup except for morning and night - how long is too long to let them go without their kibble if they won't eat the raw? Also, how much should they eat each time I try so as not to starve them too much? I ask because even Bandit and Mischief don't eat much and I don't want to keep them from their food any longer than necessary. About the Bullet - that is TOO funny! I mentioned my issue to a few coworkers tonight and they all told me to get the Bullet. The reason it's funny is because I HAVE a bullet but it TOTALLY sucks! It doesn't blend my food (veggies) worth crap so I KNOW it won't TOUCH the stringy meats! Maybe it's just my bullet???
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2012 2:12:35 GMT -5
About my plan for tomorrow - feeding only soup except for morning and night - how long is too long to let them go without their kibble if they won't eat the raw? I would say if he hasn't eaten for 6-8 hours I would give them a little food back. Also, how much should they eat each time I try so as not to starve them too much? So my girls eat anywhere from 1-3 oz a day (not counting my babies). 1 oz is about 6 tsps. So If they're eating kibble in the AM and PM, so a few tsp is probably enough. About the Bullet - that is TOO funny! I mentioned my issue to a few coworkers tonight and they all told me to get the Bullet. The reason it's funny is because I HAVE a bullet but it TOTALLY sucks! It doesn't blend my food (veggies) worth crap so I KNOW it won't TOUCH the stringy meats! Maybe it's just my bullet??? Hm, thats interesting! I've blended everything in my bullet, gizzards (SUPER tough meat), kidney, stewing beef with tons of fat. It isn't perfect, but it does the job. You have to add water to the mix to blend it. On and on the organs, I would blend them if you can. The texture can be hard for them to get used to and they seem to accept it better as soup.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2012 12:37:42 GMT -5
!#^%$* STUPID @!$**$@^ REFIGERATOR Well it seems that the world is determined to get in the way of me switching my boys to raw! First the stupid hurricane and now my FRIDGE!!! My fridge went out sometime yesterday, but of course my BF didn't notice until this morning where he left a rug underneath the leaking thing that was SOAKED by the time I got up. It is still semi-cold in the fridge, but I'm sure that will abate at some point today. SOOOO, I'm rather afraid to feed my boys the soupie I made them yesterday, and I won't be able to make them anymore until we get a new fridge! My BF is gone ALL DAY so I'm gonna have to go out a buy a fridge by myself, which doesn't sound horrible, but I've never bought a major appliance before and have NO IDEA what I'm looking for. Nor do we have the money for such a purchase right now (I guess that food processor will have to wait ;D ) So as soon as I get said fridge and get more meats and make the soupie, I'll let you know how everything goes. The unfortunate thing about it though is that I won't have another day to devote to all day raw feeding until next Wednesday. Oh well, they'll be getting off easy for the next week with only a couple of tries of the raw a day!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2012 12:54:07 GMT -5
Man that sucks im sorry! If the soup is still cool, it should be fine to feed. If it's off they probably won't even try it. They seem to have a sense if something is wrong with soup/food.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2012 20:09:58 GMT -5
OK, so just bought a new fridge (OH MY are fridges ever expensive!) but it will be a couple of days before we will actually have it and be able to fill it (we lost a LOT of food). To make a long story short (I just deleted a HUGE post cause I'm SO longwinded ;D ) I work almost literally all weekend this weekend (Labor day with RNC stragglers) until about next Tuesday, so when I make the next soupie and organ batch I'll update you here! Rest assured, the boys may think they are getting off easy now, but come next Wednesday and Thursday when Momma's off work THEY will be getting Worked ;D
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 1:48:49 GMT -5
So with everything happening lately we have been off track. But because of Emmett my BF is really gungho about the raw and is picking me up another rabbit tomorrow. I've no doubt he'll probably butcher it for me too while I'm at work. That being said, we'll be doing another round of soupie Wednesday and Thursday (I'll be working tomorrow) and I will be really pushing it as an all day kinda thing. The soupie will be just rabbit meat, pumpkin, bonemeal, and water. I will attempt to get them actually eating a fair amount of this over the next week so that when my next 2 days off comes I'll be able to add in the organs (cause I wanna be home to watch Bandit and how he does with the organs). I'll update you on Wed and Thurs to let you know how it went each of these first days big days. Then, we'll go from there.
Talk to you soon!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 17:38:01 GMT -5
Aighty, so I kinda wish I would have bought and added some organ meat to this new soupie. I say this because Bandit and Mischief are cool with the soupie. Bandit is TOTALLY AWESOME with it All I have to do is put a bowl of soupie in front of him and he chows down. For our first try today, I did have to give him a little off my finger first, but then he dug in and ate the whole 2 heaping tablespoons I put in his dish. Not only that, but an hour later he finished the rest of the soupie I *tried* to feed Pogo on his own and licked the bowl clean. So Pogo would get the idea from Bandit, I put another bowl with 2 big tablespoons in it in front of them both and although Pogo ran away, Bandit ate the WHOLE 2 TABLESPOONS AGAIN! As for Mischief, I have to give him a little off my finger to start each bowl, but after that first lick he goes right to the bowl. Though, he doesn't eat nearly as much as Bandit on his own - he only eats about 1 teaspoon per sitting. Not sure how we can increase the amount, but I'd like him to eat more. But of course, this all being said, Pogo HATES the stuff! I was able to get about a teaspoon down him over a 30min period with my BFs help, and only at the very end would he even allow me to give it to him with the spoon - he requires me to feed him with my fingers I won't be home enough to watch Bandit with the organs until my days off next week, so we'll have to wait a week to see how that goes. But in the meantime, how can I get Pogo to eat the soupie??? You CANNOT scruff Pogo, he doesn't allow it AT ALL. And he can squirm out of anything you bind him in. We've always been at a loss on how to handle him when we need to make him do something he doesn't want to do, as has our vet. If it wasn't for Pogo I think this switch might be rather easy. With Pogo, however, trying to keep the kibble put up during the day is proving to be difficult as he needs it since he won't eat the soupie, but the others obviously can't have access to it. Today we have tried feeding Pogo soupie a few times but because he won't eat it I've just been feeding him seperately with the kibble so he'll actually have something to eat. Pogo ate kibble around 10:30 this morning, then we tried soupie a couple of times, but had to feed him some kibble again around 4:30, and he's been on kibble since. Bandit and Mischief have been off the kibble since 10:30 and it is now 6:30 and they are doing fine (they've each eaten at least twice on the soupie). I was hoping to do the all day soupie again tomorrow but we have Bandit and Pogo scheduled for xrays at 4:30 to check on possible kidney and bladder stones, and an unexpected errand has popped up for me so I won't be home all day like I thought. They can't eat for a couple of hours before the xrays and we'll be at the office for a couple of hours, so they may or may not get soupie in tomorrow. I am going to try at least once though, especially for Pogo.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 18:42:33 GMT -5
Wow that is such great news. I think youll notice an increase in Mischief's appetite the more he gets familiar with the taste and gets away from kibble.
As for Pogo, I can't remember what his BG was, but depending on that I'm thinking a longer fast from kibble. I've fasted my girls overnight (so they got breakfast, snacked throughout the day and didnt get more food until next breakfast). We don't have to go that long of a period right of the bat, but as long as insulinoma isn't an issue, ferrets can fast and be okay.
What the longest he's gone without kibble when you tried the soup?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 23:17:02 GMT -5
With the BG, Pogo's was the highest at 91, but it was on the Cat setting so unsure of what his actual BG is The longest he has been off the kibble was today - he went 6 hours without the kibble. But I want to mention a couple of things in case it is important - Pogo is my constant eater in that he gets up every few hours or less and eats so he would HAVE to eat the soupie, and if he didn't going a full 24hrs without his kibble might not be such a good idea (then again, I'm being rather overprotective of my remaining boys right now so it might not really be a problem). He also drinks a TON of water when he eats. Also, I'm not sure if Pogo wasn't feeling well, or because he went so long without kibble and without really eating much soupie, or if he is just mourning Emmett, but he was acting strange today. He kept acting sleepy, even if he had been asleep for HOURS and had just gotten up, and he kept hiding and sleeping in odd spots. Again, so many unknowns with this one so it might not be the kibble being withheld. How long do you think I can let him go without his kibble at this stage? Believe me, more than ever I wanna push the soupie, but I'm a bit scard for my remaining boys right now, so if I'm being silly and way to overprotective just tell me so
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 10:26:10 GMT -5
The sleepiness could definitely be a combo of things. Lack of carbs would mean he wouldn't have as much easy available energy. And the loss of a cage mate.
For now; I think just keep up what you're doing. The biggest key is just consistently getting him to taste the soup. There will come a point where he's like yum!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 21:23:44 GMT -5
Jackie - just wanted to let you know we were all still here before the weekend silence hits. I wanted to try the soupie with Pogo again today, but it just wasn't in the cards. I suppose I'm gonna have to shorten the time between kibble and raw feedings so we can at least get him to try the food regularly (and I guess since he doesn't eat much raw we can go from 2hrs to 1hr between types of food so it doesn't take SO LONG). Between Mom sleeping through her morning alarms (haven't gotten hardly any sleep this week with everything that's happened), Mom having to run her unexpected errands after the boys breakfast, and then the Vet visit, the boys just won't wake up from their drugs to eat anything, so the soupie didn't happen. Also, I work ALL DAY tomorrow and I dunno if my BF will feed them the soupie. SOOOO, Saturday morning will be the next try with Pogo, then whichever shift I'm off Sunday and so on and so forth. So, just lettin you know we are still trying and still here, that we aren't ignoring you and this thread.
BTW, I'm sure you've got your hands full still - how is Nyxie doing? How are her sisters doing? How are YOU doing ;D ?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2012 13:13:46 GMT -5
Aw it's okay! I understand being busy! Things here are going good, a little crazy. Having some good results in the lab which is helping my mood! And Nyxie is an absolute joy. She's just the funniest little fuzzy ever. And oh so soft! You know how Marshall's have that coarse baby fur? She is just as soft as a kitten. It's crazy. Dixie is her wrestling buddy and Trixie is co-habitating well
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2012 1:47:35 GMT -5
First - YAY for the integration! I saw your thread about Nyx and her newly found and loved sisters! It sounds like things are going pretty good for you and your girls, and that always deserves a . And yes, the soft fur is AWESOME! Can't say I've felt a good breeder ferret's fur though, but I bet it's SUPER awesome! Nextly - Pogo actually ate some of the soupie tonight OUT OF THE BOWL AND WITHOUT A FIGHT!!! Granted, it was only like half a teaspoon, but I didn't even have to pick him up or anything! And of course he had to give his momma a heart attack when she found him hovering over the bowl of kibble she forgot to pick up a few minutes later He's OK though, no throwing up. Mischief still isn't eating much, but he is eating all on his own and right out of the bowl right off the bat. And Bandit, bless him, still gorges himself on the soupie. It's like he's eating the biggest bowl of icecream and he REFUSES to give it up. He even cleaned Pogo's bowl after he finished his own HUGE bowl. Which really is a blessing as we received bad news from the vet today - Bandit also has bladder stones. Luckily it is only a couple of small ones, but my vet highly recommends we put him through surgery to remove them before they have the chance to block his urethra. I'm actually going to be putting up a thread here in a sec asking advice about this. Anywho, because of Bandit we are going to plow thru this soupie stage as fast as we can, so tomorrow my beau is going to pick up a couple of rabbits and some organ meats. However, my work schedule is going to dictate when I can feed them an organ filled soupie as I still need to watch Bandit with every new thing we add, and my schedule is the heaviest Friday thru Mon. That being said, since I'm not off again until Wed, I'll prob just make up a non-organ soupie for the next couple of days, and then make and freeze an organ-soupie to start on Wed. So my question of the day - I'd like to keep Bandit off of the kibble as best we can to help with the stone issue. However, until we add the organ meats in (and he accepts it) I know the soupie isn't nutritionally balanced. That being said, how long can he eat a soup with no organs while also not eating kibble for the nutrition???
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