techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 14, 2009 20:03:20 GMT -5
Hey there. New here and to all this. Would like to know how to go about doing this. Thanks
1. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names, ages, genders, and do they have any health problems (this is VERY important)? 1, Geisha, 2-3 yrs old with no health problems
2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup). Marshall's with the occasional Bandits peanut butter treats
3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to? Raw
4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet?Healthier for her
5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets?Reading various articles
6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? 1.5 lbs, appears to be in good body condition
7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?)good
8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat. soft, cinnamon
9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom?4-5
10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell?no
11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor?average
12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level?7
13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)?ok
14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific.no
15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share?don't really have alot since I have only had her for 2 weeks
16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below:
17.
a.) Do you understand that by starting this thread you commit to posting updates on the progress of your ferret(s) diet switch atleast every other day?** Work nights and weekends, may not be able to do every other day always.
b.) Do you understand that if you will be away from your computer for an extended period of time you will need to exchange phone numbers (or email addresses if you don't feel comfortable exchanging numbers)via private message with your assigned mentor, so that we can monitor your progress and ensure your ferret's saftey during the switch?yes, prefer e-mails
c.) Do you understand that any threads that have not been updated in for more then a week (with no explaination as to why you are absent) will result in the deletion of the thread?***yes
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Post by Heather on Jun 15, 2009 0:25:48 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the mentoring programme. In the next couple of days I will see about getting you a mentor who you will be able to correspond with and get help getting your little furbaby on to a more natural diet. In the mean time if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, either myself or one of the other mentors will pop in and help you out. Check out the various switching threads and see if a particular method appeals to you. Your little one is young, hopefully she will switch without much problem....good luck ciao
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 15, 2009 9:15:53 GMT -5
Thank you Heather. I knew Geisha for a short time before my friend gave her to someone else because she felt she was neglecting her. I heard through the grapevine that the person had lost their job and was going to put Geisha in a shelter. I managed to find someone that had contact with her and get Geisha to me. It's kinda crazy because normally I would never had considered a ferret for a pet. I can't believe how sweet she is and how gentle she is with my 4 yr old daughter. My friend's last 2 ferrets have both died from insulinomas or lymphoma. I just want to try and reduce her chances of this happening. I did find out that Geisha was found roaming the streets of Bayonne when she was about 3 months old by my friend's dad and that is how she got her.
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Post by suds on Jun 15, 2009 17:52:33 GMT -5
Hi Techgirl and Geisha Welcome to the mentor program ! My name is Frank I will be your mentor I live in south east Pa. and have 2 rugsharks , Hershey a very picky stubborn female and JD who will eat almost anything . I feed a combo of RAW and whole prey, they get meals twice a day one in the morning before I leave for work and in the evening when I get home they get there bigger meals in the evening because they seem to eat more over night then during the day. they get fed RAW one day and the next day they get wholeprey on Sundays they sorta fast I only let them have access to freeze-dried it seems to help my guys be more eager to eat during the week this way. There are many ways to feed and lots options to choose from you can feed 2xs a day 3xs a day 4xs a day depending on what your schedule and preference is most seem to choose 2xs a day Unlike kibble fed ferrets raw fed ferrets don't need food available 24 hrs a day because they get all the needed nutrition from the raw foods they need in the one meal where as the kibblefed have a harder time to break down the food and get good nutrition's from it so the must have food around 24 hours a day. being 2 to 3 years old and in a new home I would suggest we do a slow switch to keep the stress down on her . Basically start out with slowly moistening her kibble with a few drops of water at a time then increasing the moister content every couple of days. until it gets soupy this will get her used to texture of wet food . if you decide to go this rout don't fill her kibble bowl all the way you will have to try and use the amount you think she will eat in 4 to 6 hours time wet kibble will get rancid and nasty in about 4 to 6 hours and you don't want to waste to much food . another method is to slowly add ground meats to the kibble you can also try and cut up a few peaces of chicken to kibble size and crush up some kibble and bread the chicken with it and see if she eats it. Basically in the beginning you we need to try a few different things to see what will work for you and geisha the best. especially since you don't know how picky she is and she has eaten in the past such as ducks soup , eggs ferratone, ferravite that we can use to entice her. If you get a chance please read some of the other threads in this section to get a feel for what you will be going through and what options there are for you and we can come up with a plan that works for you and Geisha . I am happy to be helping you and look forward to helping you in your journey to a healthier diet for Geisha Frank
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 16, 2009 14:22:10 GMT -5
Thanks Suds. I tried the moistening of the kibble today and she did eat it. I can pick up some ground meat to mix in with the moistened food to get her going. I also don't have a problem with feeding whole prey items either. But we can get to that as she improves. Now do I still keep posting here or do I post elsewhere with the updates?
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Post by suds on Jun 16, 2009 18:12:10 GMT -5
you keep posting here . this where I will check for updates and answer any questions you mite have . Kinda think of it as live journal for feeding its fun afterwards to read what you did , tried , downfalss and winfalls after you graduate from the program. Its good she ate the wet kible on her first try and you got no poison looks or reactions from her lol. Maybe you could try feeding her duck soup here is a easy quick recipe it dont have to be exact but its a pretty balanced soupy you can use beef hearts and livers or turky hearts and livers in place of the chicken ones if you cant get them readily just rember you want to use peaces that a chicken would be and not the whole beef liver at once . also beef has more stronger of a taste . What I did was blended it all together and put it in old ice cube trays and froze it then used the cubes as needed . If she does eat it on her own great we can use the soupy for the switch instead of wet kibble If she doesnt eat it dont dispare just try and put some on her nose a few times she will lick it off and get a taste of it a few times . then try to feed her a little with your finger . sometimes they like the attention of being hand fed and its good for bonding and trust too 8 oz of chicken thigh meat (skin included) 1 tsp of crushed, ground up eggshell powder 1 chicken heart 1/2 a chicken liver 1/3 of a Nature Made Fish Oil Capsule (poke with tac and drain) (dont use codliver oil ) Blend together, warm (but dont cook!) slighlty and serve let me know how it goes Frank edit I wanted to add you can also add a egg to the soupy then rinse and dry out the shell once dried crush the shell as fine as you can get it the shells are for 2 purposes 1. for needed calcium 2 help firm up her poopies from eating the soups . you will be using eggs shell powder alot in the beggining so try and save as many as you can for now rinse them out , dry for a day or 2 then put in a ziplock baggy I put mine in the freezer to keep bugs away but you realy dont have to put them in the freezer if rinced and dried properly
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 17, 2009 8:30:02 GMT -5
Thanks Suds. I can pick up the ingredients for that soup mix today. I have my own coffee grinder so I can make my own eggshell powder easily. My friend has chickens so I get all the fresh eggs I want during the spring and summer when they are laying. I may have some difficulty with the twice daily feeding on some days when I work nights because I will be gone from anywhere from 8-12 hours and don't know if it's ok to leave that kind of food out that long. I have no problem feeding her before I leave, it's just no one is around to take out the food from sitting out too long. I am going to be vaccinating tomorrow for distemper. I do the vaccines myself( I am a vet tech for an animal emergency facility) and I am going to use Revolution on her. I do it more because I have dogs that go everywhere with me and I do get exposed to a lot of things at my job. I don't want to take the risk of exposing her to anything. I also don't know when her last distemper vaccine was. I did vaccinate her for rabies already 2 weeks ago when I got her. I figure I can vaccinate her for distemper, wait 2 weeks, use Revolution, wait 2 weeks and then re-booster the distemper. After that I can titer her. I am more knowledgeable with dogs, cats, birds and snakes than I am with ferrets. So she should become a good learning experience for me. Unfortunately my only experience for ferrets at my job are when they are seizing from insulinomas or at the end stage of adrenal disease. I hope that I don't wind up in that situation. I'll let you know how the food trial goes later today if able. Gotta work tonight and now have to go through mega house cleaning because a child in my daughter's school just came up with head lice. Yay!!
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 17, 2009 15:31:14 GMT -5
Geisha showed quite a bit of interest in the soup. Only would eat it eat off my fingers however. Gonna try offering it like that for now and see if I can mix it in her food. Will try again tomorrow
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Post by suds on Jun 17, 2009 19:49:42 GMT -5
Sorry about the lice what fun once you get to feeding whole meats and wings they can be left out 12 hours with out any problems whole prey can be left out 24 hours chopped meats and soups are good for about 8 hours one trick is to put the food in half frozen then it will last longer on the days you will be gone for extended times. in the future of cource . I am glad to see she is interested in the soup and good she is eating from your finger she is starting to trust you . You can also introduce her to virgin olive oil with fingers as a treat to it has alot of benifets makes coat better acts as a lubricant to pass hairballs during shedding season for a few . also should have some canned pumkin around (not pie filling ) the fiber in it helps push things threw her system its good to give a table spoon as maitenence 2xs a month to help prevent blockages. being a vet tech you have easy access to subqs but I normaly recomend to have some unflavored pedylight around incase she gets sick and gets dehydrated . Ferrets get dehydrated very fast. Seems she will move along just fine (keeping fingers crossed) So I need to warn you about the dreaded poo's , they will be a rainbow of colors , and more loose from the wetter foods it will take some time for her body to get used to richer foods and moister another reason why bones are so important when we get to that phase,, in the beginning your best friend will be egg shells and some use a little pumpkin to help keep the poo a little firmer. your doing a great job moveing along pretty quickly so far Giesha seems to be ready to try new things so far very well they can be very stuborn when it comes to food ... The first hurdle is getting them to try and eat soups and meats . the next hurdle is bones for most after bones the rest is downhill from there any questions feel free to ask anytime I try and check oyur thread 2xs a day before work and when I get home from work Have a great night Frank
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 18, 2009 18:53:42 GMT -5
Today was not a good day for Geisha. She only lapped up some liquid from the moistened food/duck soup mix. I also vaccinated her today and pretreated her with benadryl, so that could have been why. I will try again tomorrow. I am just doing these trials when I have her out in the playpen, she's generally out for about anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on the day. In the cage I still give her dry. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I am going to get her a bigger cage this weekend because her original cage had 1 inch bar spacing and she squeezed right through that. She's in a 30L X 24H X 18W right now. This other cage is 30L X 36H X 18W. At least it's some extra space for now until I can get her a nice one.
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Post by suds on Jun 18, 2009 19:42:16 GMT -5
Distemper shots seem to have the worst affects on ferrets alot of Ferrets have bad allergic reactions to them . why its recomended to titer after the first full set . because of your exposer to lots of other animals I understand the need for them. Just keep a close eye on her the next 24 hours it will probly take a couple of days before she is back to normal.
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 18, 2009 19:49:27 GMT -5
I have heard about ferrets having reactions to the live canarypox vvector ferret distemper(type used from Merial). That was why I pretreated her before I did it. She had no obvious physical reaction so I was happy. She is sleeping a tad more but that's it. Will definitely repeat this protocol for the next booster. Still willing to take dry kibble from both my daughter and I today after her play session. Seems more interested in lapping up mix than eating it. Just going to have to try a little harder on getting the consistency right.
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Post by suds on Jun 19, 2009 6:04:01 GMT -5
I am glad she is doing better and playing But its not uncommon for them to take a few days befor they are normal again. you can thin out the soup with water then slowly thicken it over time also try differnt temps,you can warm the raw foods with out cooking it by putting the soup in a cup or bowl then putting that in heated water . I always try and keep a thinned batch (frozen) that can be suringe fed in case of a emergency. Theese little guys when they get sick can go down hill very fast so its good to have something premade you can use to keep there strength up. have a great day Frank
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 19, 2009 14:51:38 GMT -5
Well I found something she loves !! I mixed some ground chicken with some moistened kibble and warmed slightly and she couldn't get enough of licking it off my fingers. She turned up her nose at the duck soup mix again. I guess I will stick with the ground chicken for now and slowly start adding the duck soup, unless you have a better plan. She is back to her playful self today.
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Post by suds on Jun 19, 2009 16:24:32 GMT -5
if the warmed kible mix works then we will go with that for now . and work the soup in later . Next is to see if she will eat it from a saucer or shallow bowl . the goal is to add more meat slowly over time untill it gets 75%meat based once she is eating that we can start removeing all kibble and get her on eating meat chunks . just remember paitents is important you dont want to add too much meat to fast or she will rebel. time is on our side I am so happy she is back to her playful self .
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