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Post by katt on May 1, 2012 3:11:57 GMT -5
Ellie is the only one who will eat turkey soup without any kibble. Pippin still prefers meat and Goomba won't touch it if it doesn't strongly smell like kibble. I still have to spoon feed him a bite or two before he'll eat it on his own. I got the internship, I'll be working from 6am-8pm sun-thurs starting in two weeks. Which sucks because now I just want to spend time with Pippin, and the schedule is going to make Goomba's switch really difficult and nearly impossible for the others to stay out of his food. Congrats on the internship! It will be stressful, but it is still doable, just means a different schedule and a different approach. Don't worry. Work on slooowly giving Goomba more turkey in his soup. Is there any way that you can separate them for the day for a short period? Ellie will eat the meat if that is what she is offered correct? (BTW if Pippin prefers meat, try giving him turkey chunks mixed into his regular food instead of as soup, some ferrets just prefer chunks over soup - Carpetsharks' first 2 ferrets were that way). If so, then you can give Ellie and Pippin raw meat and work on incorporating variety and balance for them, and then give Goomba kibble soup until he's a little more caught up. Once he will eat raw soup again, you can re-integrate them pretty easily. Maybe while you are gone Ellie and Pippin can have the room, and Goomba can have the cage, and then they can flip flop. Then on your days off, and when you are home at night they can all play together with Goomba's food put up. Would that be workable? If not that's fine, but it's an idea to try. I'm going to pick the other mentors' brains for ideas for Goomba too. Have you tried feeding him a little sliver of meat (no soup) with kibble crumbles breaded on it (like breaded chicken lol)? It might be worth a shot, worst case scenario he won't eat it and you can toss it in the bowl for the other two.
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Post by kpaz on May 1, 2012 8:59:34 GMT -5
Pippin will eat turkey soup with the kibble in it, but he won't eat it as chunks yet. I tried giving all slivers of it and Ellie was the only one who took it. Goomba tried the soup without kibble and refused to eat it for the rest of the day, even with kibble. I tried crushing the kibble and mixing it in but he won't eat it that way I'll try giving him a sliver of it breaded, I need to go buy some more. Ellie will only eat meat if she can't smell/see Goomba's food. If I lock her and Pippin in the cage with the meat while Goomba eats on the floor, she'll flip litter boxes, bite at the bars, and generally throw a fit and just watch him eat. If I feed Goomba in the cage and Ellie and Pippin on the floor, she'll stash a lot of meat without eating any, then try to get into the cage, scratching at the door and sliding down the ramp backwards on her belly with her arms reached out toward the cage like she's going to die without it. She's such a drama queen I have a kind of divider in the room, so I'll try to feed them on opposite sides and see if it helps if she can't see him.
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Post by katt on May 1, 2012 11:59:29 GMT -5
I'll post more later. Just popping in to say that it might very well be worth trying an entirely new texture. Sherry agrees that that might be what he needs right now. Something entirely different. Canned cat food would be one option (he won't be on this long term of course), and freeze dried another. Freeze dried would be preferrable of course, but either is worth a shot.
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Post by katt on May 3, 2012 4:38:41 GMT -5
How are they doing? How are YOU doing?
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Post by kpaz on May 3, 2012 10:10:39 GMT -5
Since I've taken half my finals I have more time in the morning, so I've been feeding Ellie and Pippin first thing in the morning, then feeding Goomba in the cage after the others have eaten. It seems to be working well. I'm slowly decreasing the kibble, just adding a few less each time, so he doesn't notice, and he's doing well. I need to go buy more turkey. I've also been adding his turkey soup (more like the consistency of baby food) in with the meat chunks and mixing it in. So far they haven't noticed. Pippin is eating well and Ellie is still being a little picky but she'll eat it. When I start the internship and get paid I'm going to buy some freeze dried and hopefully get all of them to try it. I don't know what it looks like...does it look like kibble? If I can get them to accept it, it will be good for when I have to go out of town for a few days...no one wants to handle the raw meat. Plus it will be so much better than the stuff they're used to, even if I still have to add that in.
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Post by katt on May 4, 2012 3:14:09 GMT -5
Since I've taken half my finals I have more time in the morning, so I've been feeding Ellie and Pippin first thing in the morning, then feeding Goomba in the cage after the others have eaten. It seems to be working well. I'm slowly decreasing the kibble, just adding a few less each time, so he doesn't notice, and he's doing well. I need to go buy more turkey. I've also been adding his turkey soup (more like the consistency of baby food) in with the meat chunks and mixing it in. So far they haven't noticed. Pippin is eating well and Ellie is still being a little picky but she'll eat it. When I start the internship and get paid I'm going to buy some freeze dried and hopefully get all of them to try it. I don't know what it looks like...does it look like kibble? If I can get them to accept it, it will be good for when I have to go out of town for a few days...no one wants to handle the raw meat. Plus it will be so much better than the stuff they're used to, even if I still have to add that in. Freeze dried varied by brand. I far prefer Stella and Chewey's. They make bites that are like large kibble pieces, and patties. They are hard to describe. Almost like dried out styrofoam but not really? I don't know how to describe it. haha Stella and Chewey's can be bought from Casey's Hidden Pantry for really good prices though. It would definitely be good to have on hand for days you are gone or even days you are in a rush. It's definitely a ton better than kibble - the next best thing to full raw. If Goomba is showing progress, go ahead and keep it up. What other meats do you think that you can get? Definitely get some liver and heart on board at the least. Then we can slowly add in variety as we go. Poor thing was so sick when he got raw that I really think he associates the two. We have to wean him out of that thought pattern. Poor fuzz. For Ellie and Pippin, how are they doing on bones again? Sorry if you mentioned recently, my brain's all a-scatter. I'd like to work on a menu for them as soon as your finals are up. We can work on getting Goomba up to speed on the side. But I want to get Ellie and Pippin on a good balanced menu. Then as Goomba progresses you can just adjust him into the existing menu and voila! Everyone will be balanced!
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Post by kpaz on May 5, 2012 0:41:26 GMT -5
They haven't had bones all week, I had to make up two tests that I missed because of Pippin's surgery and I had three finals. I only have one final next week though so this weekend and next week I will get the ball rolling again. Goomba actually likes his kibble better in the turkey soup than water, I ran out of turkey this morning so I just added water and he pouted and didn't want to eat it, I had to spoon feed him some until he'd eat it. I stay away from syringes at all costs now; those DEFINITELY have really bad associations now. I'm going to try blending the heart and liver in with the turkey i just bought and see if he'll eat it. If not, the other two will. I'll also try giving Ellie and Pippin some turkey chunks since they didn't mind the soup being rubbed on the meat anymore. I'm going to wake up early to prepare the food and I'll let you know how it goes.
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Post by kpaz on May 6, 2012 15:05:25 GMT -5
So Goomba had a flea this morning which has certainly been keeping me busy Ellie and Pippin ate bone-in chicken wings this morning. Pippin still hates turkey and Ellie will chew on the chunk for a little bit but she ends up leaving it for other meat. I made a new soup with the correct proportions of heart/liver/calcium/turkey for Goomba. He took to it immediately, but I'll be watching his poops to make sure he's processing it ok.
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Post by katt on May 6, 2012 15:14:19 GMT -5
Yaay Goomba! How much kibble is in the soup now?
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Post by kpaz on May 6, 2012 15:30:17 GMT -5
less than half a full scoop (oops, I didn't switch the scooper ). maybe 1/8 of a cup or so...he even ate the soup despite it being much thicker. So, progress!
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Post by katt on May 6, 2012 15:35:10 GMT -5
Keep working on the turkey - you might try mixing a little turkey soup into their other meats, just a light coating to start with. They will eat chicken, pork and beef correct? Is there another meat you can try? Three is the minimum but more variety is always better. How thick is Goomba's soup and how much kibble is in it?
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Post by kpaz on May 6, 2012 15:58:41 GMT -5
The soup itself has no kibble in it. I just scoop the kibble, add maybe a tablesppon or two of warm water, mix until the oils are floating around in the water, and then add about a cube of the thawed soup. They're on those three meats and still trying to work in turkey. I'm not going to be able to buy the more expensive meats until I start working, but I know at least whole foods sells duck, cornish hen, and lamb. There's also another asian market on the other side of town that I still need to check out.
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Post by katt on May 6, 2012 16:24:35 GMT -5
Okay well that's good. As long as they are getting 3 now, then you can add more anytime. I forget, do you have kidney or some other organ or just liver? I'd like you to start working on a menu for Ellie and Pippin some can get them on a balanced routine. For Goomba keep pushing him towards more raw soup and less kibble. Try to get him up to 2 cubes and then reduce the kibble. You know the drill.
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Post by kpaz on May 6, 2012 21:38:05 GMT -5
no, i haven't been able to find any yet. I need to talk to the butcher at one of the local markets. I pass it all the time but I haven't had the time. I will try and go this week. My last final is on Thursday
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Post by katt on May 8, 2012 4:25:57 GMT -5
Yaay for the last final! Good luck! It's been a super tough semester for you. You deserve a good break! Go have some fun this weekend to celebrate! I'll keep my eye on the thread but don't worry about posting if you don't need/want to. Focus on your last test! I am sure you'll do great!
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