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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2012 23:14:19 GMT -5
So I brought my little ferret boy home on Sunday and yesterday evening I gave him his first raw meal, Stella and Chewys frozen patty made into a watery soup. He liked it and ate some of it right away. However this morning when I cleaned his litter box a horrid surprise greated me... Neon green diarrhea. Now just to make sure it was in fact the diet change I fed him the Marshalls Ferret Diet he was being fed before and normal stools returned. He is 9 weeks old and was having very normal stools before the change. What can I do to help him keep semi normal stools while his body gets used to raw?
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Post by sierratheferret on Oct 23, 2012 23:33:35 GMT -5
I think i had the same problem when my girl first came home i added in a different kibble into her mix. She had weird colored stools. But it was gone in a few days. You might wanna just keep looking at her stool for the first few days.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 0:13:42 GMT -5
You could add some pumpkin to the raw to firm up his stool. Diarrhea is normal at the beginning. Takes about a month.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 7:36:26 GMT -5
S&C's does have bone in it, so they should have normal, firm stools. I feed mine that and they all do. It could be his system is adjusting to the richness of the food and it may take a bit for it to stop and go back to normal. Also, raw meat can have a high bacterial load in it, which their system isn't used to handling when they are kibble fed so that may also cause some issues temporarily until they adjust.
Out of curiosity, did you feed raw and kibble at the same time or within a close time frame? Eating both shortly together can also cause funky poos as they digest at different rates.
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Post by Sherry on Oct 24, 2012 9:25:00 GMT -5
It could be his system is adjusting to the richness of the food and it may take a bit for it to stop and go back to normal That's most likely what the problem is. Just keep up with the raw, and it will go away in a few days. Of course, if he stops eating, or becomes lethargic then a vet visit would be necessary
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 9:42:37 GMT -5
An abrupt diet change will almost certainly result in diarrhea. Hang in there, and of course watch for other symptoms in case it is a coincidence and the little one has something else going on. Good Luck!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 10:05:13 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for the advice! I made sure he didn't eat anything for a few hours before I introduced the raw so that shouldn't have been the problem. I fed him the S&C again last night and this morning..... Normal poops! Yay! One was a little mushy, but nothing like the nastiness from yesterday. I'm still thinking of grabbing some canned pumpkin, just in case though. Oh btw he loves the S&C, licked his bowl clean last night! I'm so glad he took to it so well. Once he has had some time to adjust should I add some fish oil to his food? If so how much, and how often? Also those of you that fed S&C before how much did you feed a day? Each patty weighs about 8 oz so I was thinking half a patty a day, but if he eats all of that should I give him more? Or is ok to only feed them twice a day? Sorry for all the questions
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 10:15:06 GMT -5
;DGreat! He is only a little guy so I would guess about 1/2 tsp fish oil, others may correct me if I am wrong. I use 1 tsp with my adults. I would let him eat as much as he wants, the half patty seems good to me to start, twice a day if he seems too hungry feed more
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Post by Sherry on Oct 24, 2012 12:02:33 GMT -5
I give 1/2 tsp oil 3 times a week. Pumpkin, 1/2 tsp daily. As for food- given that right now he's a furry little tummy, I wouldn't be surprised if he eats the entire patty daily! It would also be a really good idea to give him something like chicken wings to chew on and eat. It will help tremendously with his teething.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 13:40:58 GMT -5
I give mine 3 of the 8 ounce patties a day, I have 9 ferrets. They get 3 half patties with water added and RMB in the morning, then again at night without the RMB. If they eat all the food immediately at a meal and clean the bowl, I'll give them more of something, but they rarely do anymore. I tend to find some leftovers in the bowl every meal. I usually add fresh patty to it unless it smells bad.
If there's a lot left over I don't give them anything fresh, I just add some more hot water to it and mix it up to reheat it and they'll usually eat it all. If they still haven't touched it after that, I know them eat must be bad and I'll chuck it and give fresh.
Mine seem to like to eat a bit at first and then come back to graze later for a snack. Pumpkin is great to keep on hand, I buy 2-4 cans at a time. I dump it out of the can into a tupperware container and keep it in the fridge open for a couple of weeks. It freezes too.
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Post by Sherry on Oct 24, 2012 14:03:30 GMT -5
Just so you are aware, although he'll eat a LOT right now as he's just a baby, it does slow down in a while I swear 13 week old Lucrezia out ate the 3 older ones put together!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2012 0:40:08 GMT -5
I don't think he'll go for a chicken wing... I tried cutting some boneless chicken into tiny little pieces and mixing it with the S&C and he picked it out and put it in his litter box!! LOL today he ate half a patty, he still had just a couple bites left this morning, and this evening same thing. He has quite the plump little belly though so I don't think he's eating too little of an amount. Maybe once he settles in more he'll eat more.
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Post by Sherry on Oct 25, 2012 0:42:10 GMT -5
Lazy little whelp ;D He can be gotten onto the whole meats if you want him to be, not a problem We can get him there
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Post by Sherry on Oct 25, 2012 0:43:07 GMT -5
Maybe once he settles in more he'll eat more. Just wait until he hits a growth spurt ;D
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2012 6:02:24 GMT -5
Hey, putting them into the litter box isn't a bad sign imo- he's interested in it enough to stash it, even if he's not going to eat it right now he might go back to it later. I have ferrets here that will not touch meat chunks other than to lick soup or tone off of them. Then they won't touch it.
With my group, anyone willing to stash meat became a raw meat/bones eater very easily- I'd take that as a good sign!
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