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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 3, 2009 10:04:43 GMT -5
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)? Two ferrets -3 year old silver male - Finnigan -2.5 year old sable female - Piper
We just had our annual vet visit last Friday - Finnigan is healthy as could be, and Piper had her first BG level test done and it came back as a 68. She hadn't eaten breakfast that morning yet and ate dinner at around 9:30/10 the previous night. She will be retested on Monday July 15th to make sure everything is okay. Other than that she is very healthy. 2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup). Marshall's diet...After much research, I have realized how bad this diet is for them and we have just ordered a better kibble - Superior Choice Original until we can get them switched over to a natural raw diet. The only treats they get are feratone and liquilax which they love both. Finnigan likes peanut butter, but I don't really think that's a very good treat, so it is a minimal once every couple of months or so...he tries to steal oreos too, but he does not eat them. Piper and Finnigan love banana chips, but I know that they are very high in sugar and carbs obviously, so they do not eat these anymore and haven't for awhile now3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to? Raw if possible, but I'm not sure how keen on that idea they'll be given past experiments, but I'm hoping all goes well I'd be up for raw with a healthier kibble if they're unhappy with the completely raw diet.4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet? Since Piper's BG level came back that low and I did research on insulinomas and nutrition, I realized how bad Marshall's is and being a horse person and very interested in their nutrition, I wanted to learn more about feeding ferrets naturally so they can live longer healthier lives. I am very interested in nutrition, I've been through a lot of nutrition seminars and clinics for my horses, and want my little guys to benefit from the healthiest diet they can be on too!5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets? I actually posted on a horse forum website knowing someone must have a ferret there asking about Piper's possible insulinoma diagnosis and she led me to her forum which led me here. I also did my own research on ferret diets and insulinoma and found this site a few times too.
I was also annoyed that our vet when I asked her if there was a better diet incase Piper did have insulinoma that could help treat or prevent them and she said Marshall's was a great diet and she really liked it for ferrets - I'm glad I refused to believe her - granted she doesn't have all the time in the world to research ferrets specifically and I'm sure Marshall's reps probably tell all the wonders of their stuff and none of their cons, I don't blame my vet, and that's why I always research everything as much as I can. 6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? I can't remember their actual weights, but they are at a heathly weight, not overweight and not underweight. I will post pics if I can find out how to work that option (any tips with that LOL) Piper is very active and always climbing and when Finn wakes up to play, he's an active guy. I try and take them outside and keep them active and from becoming hammock potatoes as much as possible. 7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?) They are healthy and pink! I don't think I'll be able to get a pic of Piper's - she had surgery a little over a month ago for an obstruction and with all the nasty antibiotics and stuff she puts her little paws up in protest whenever you try and give her her monthly heartworm or have the vet give her a check up Finn is pretty laid back so I'll try to get a pic of his. Finn has a little amount of tartar 1-10, 10 being the worst, was a 1 according to the vet...only on his right side. Piper was a 0, no tartar. 8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat. Both have healthy shiney coats...Finn's is a little more coarse than Piper's. She has a softer coat. She also likes to groom herself more than Finn. (Just an FYI, we give them baths with oatmeal shampoo and XT, XT conditioner on an every other week basis) I know baths strip their natural oils and can make them smellier, but I know that the new diet will help that too. 9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom? On a regular basis. I can't say specific times, but in the back of my mind I'll listen to hear sounds of feet in the litter pans and I'll check to see who comes out and who goes in to make sure they're both okay. 10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell? Yes! Finn's smell! But after researching and discovering that Marshall's is a high fish based diet, I know why 11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor? No, but I assume part of that is because of the baths. 12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level? This one is tough...Finn when he sleeps, he SLEEPS! He usually doesn't wake up that easy - he's been like that since he was a baby. When he gets up to play - once in the AM and once in the PM he plays rough, and he likes to hang out and roll around. I'll take them for car rides and he stays alert and perky the whole time. Piper wakes up if you turn a light on, walk in teh room, whatever. We have a running joke, "Piper doesn't sleep, she waits." LOL She's the one who is constantly exploring, climbing, being active. If she's bored, she'll lay there and wait for us to play and as soon as we do she is ready to go. So, I'm not really sure where to rate them on that scale, that's kind of why I'm writing you a novel LOL13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)? I don't think they get "excited" about meal time. They have food available 24-7, so I don't think they have any anticipation towards it. When they eat they eat with gusto, but they aren't excited. When giving them feratone and liquilax, they get excited and can't wait to scarf it down. 14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific. In the past, we have tried giving them cooked chicken, which they have turned away from. As an experiment, yesterday I took a piece of raw chicken and covered it in liquilax and they both looked at it excited and licked the liquilax off and made some small attempts to eat it, but then left it with the liquilax wiped off clean. I saw Piper going to eat her kibble last night, so I took it away from her and replaced her bowl with an egg with a few pieces of kibble in it and lots of feratone. She kinda of gave me the look and sniffed it and once she realized there was feratone in it, she started to lick it up and turned her head sideways and quinted her eyes. She wasn't thrilled, but she ate it. When she seemed through, I waited about 1-2 hours and gave her the kibble which she happily ate. 15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share? Piper had surgery for an obstruction a little over a month ago, Finn has never had any problems in his entire life, thus far...can't think of anything else..16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below: This is the best I have right now...I'll try to get more tonight 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?** Yes, Yes, YES! I'm VERY excited!!!!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? Yesc.) 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 3, 2009 14:00:59 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program Love the pic of your horses, they're gorgeous....now we will have to work on pics of your teeny tiny furbabies . As I mentioned in your intro, feel free to prowl around the mentoring site, check out what some people have tried both successfully and their failures....it happens We just try a different method, when the first method is met with total resistance (there are as many methods to switch a ferret as there are ferrets). Each mentor has favourites but can adapt their switching methods to accomodate their students. There is no ferret that I've ever encountered that cannot be switched, most of the time it takes time and patience. They're not the easiest switches in the world and some just dig in their heels, lock up those little jaws and say "No way!!!"....but you're their momma and you know what's best. The easiest to switch is the younger ones...the absolute easiest is the kits....that being said the oldest I've ever switched was Babushka who came to me at 9 yrs of age. The most stubborn was probably Calypso who was 3. The easiest had to be Napoleon (7 week old kit) who was eating raw that had been placed in his cage before he left the store Feel free to post any questions that you have, either I or one of the other mentors will pop in and check on you until you've been assigned a permanent mentor Good luck ciao
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 3, 2009 14:19:37 GMT -5
Awesome! Thanks so much Heather!!!! (and thank you for the compliment on my (horse) boys!)
I am planning on making them some turkey treats - just baking it down slow and adding some feratone to that to see if that might help stimulate their taste for meat. I am going to go through my freezer tonight and see what I've got in there for meat variety and pull something out to experiment with it. Piper is generally consistant in her meal times so I can kind of prepare to test her out, but Finn is a little more lax - about everything. LOL So I'll have to try and catch him at his hungry times to see what he might like.
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Post by suds on Jun 3, 2009 22:53:21 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the Mentor program You can try and cut some very tiney peaces a little smaller then Kibble put the tone or liquilax on them hopefuly with the smaller peaces it will be harder to just lick the yummy stuff off and the will try and eat it . If you have a frost free freezer you can make some nice freeze dried treats it takes a bit longer then bakeing it down but it keeps a much better percentage of nutrients being freeze dried then cooked just put a couple finger tipped size meats in a ice cub tray or flat tray and turn them a 1/4 turn every 2 days or so untill the meat is dry all over then you can take them out of the freezer and store them in cool dry place and feed as needed , gizzards, livers and pork bits are great hits in my home Can I ask why you give them heart worm meds ? Have they been exposed to heart worms ? I ask because I havent heard of anyone that give heart worm med or preventive meds to ferrets before . Frank
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 4, 2009 6:57:58 GMT -5
Hi Frank! The heartworm prevention meds are administered once a month, as recommended by our vet. They are also tested once a year for heartworm. It was recommended to us by our vet because it is mosquito born and it can hit a ferret so fast. We do take them outside to play on their harnesses, so I just felt it was a safer idea, then hoping they don't get bit by a carrier. I tried the baked turkey jerkey treats last night loaded with feratone and liquilax and neither of them would touch it!!! They would actually run from it! So I took their food away for a few hours and crunched some of the turkey jerkey in a bowl and added more feratone and they wouldn't go near it, so I ended up just putting their food back in after a few hours in case they were hungry. I will try the freeze dried treats and maybe pick up some gizzards and such tonight for a different flavor for them, and I will definitely try the tiny pieces of raw - thanks for the pointer! I heard that it can be very dangerous though to mix the raw and the kibble because of the amount of time it takes for digestion...so with this little amount of meat should be safe for them, correct? and won't upset their tummies?
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 4, 2009 7:02:10 GMT -5
PS - Hershey reminds me SO much of Piper!!!!
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Post by suds on Jun 4, 2009 18:52:32 GMT -5
Hi. Yes kibble slows down the digestive track and increases the risk of them getting tummy bugs why you see most suggest to take away the kibble 4 hrs before eating raw . So with that said so far I have not ran across that problem and it seems to be rare when it does but you need to be aware that it can happen. In the short term I believe the risk is minimal . SO you know freeze drying in a frostfree freezer does take some time a week to 4 weeks depending on the moister content as the size of the peaces I found the more I rotate the peaces the faster it seems to dry you will know when its done it kinda looks like freezer burned but not as rubbery. Just be paitent (a quality I loose at times lol). A natural way to help prevent Mosqito and flees bite is add a little apple cidar viniger to there water I start adding it to my guys in april I start off with a couple of drops and increase the amount every other day untill I get to a teaspoon and a half in each water rock I have If I try to put in there to fast they get stuborn and wont drink the water but it workd well I even started using it on my dog. you can read more about it in the natural care threads Some times with the more stuborn ones you need to fool them in trying new things 1 way is when you are playing with them and get them excited and they have there mouth open try and slip a peace of raw meat in there mouth . They will at first act like you are poisoning them . spit it out role around rubbing there noses and such but its ok the ideal is to try and get them to get a few good taste of the meats the more they get the meats on there toungs the better adventually it trigger them to start craving for the protiens in theory. If its duck soup or something like a liquid you can put it on there noses they will edventually lick it off and get the taste of it . If yours are like mine they will of course try and dry there noses off in your bed sheets or rugs before they lick it off but it doese work normaly takes a fews times of trying . Piper sounds like Hershy too With the clamped mouth and using paws to push everything away . She drove me crazy during the switch to raw I even think I invented a few new french words from it lol. But there are things you can do to gain her trust again and it always fun bonding times to. every day when you are playing with her intoduce her to a new smell at first try and use things you can put on you finger it can be anything from vanila extract to a blade of grass set aside a little paly time with her and while playing try and get her to smell your hand or wahts in your hand at first she will be like what the Heck Mom ?? but after a few times she will start to look for all the new strange smells that Mom brings her then you can slowly introduce edible things like olive oil she can lick off your fingers . use your imagination and have fun with it . enjoy Frank
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 5, 2009 8:00:34 GMT -5
LOLThanks for the scent tips. That sounds like a fun game that she will really like. I try to bring her to new places and for car rides as much as I can because she loves to see all the new things and smell new scents, so I think she might really enjoy that. I brought her and Finn to the barn last night and she couldn't have been happier hanging in my hood while I did chores. Finn seemed to like it too, but I think he was XT squirmy cause he had to use the litter pan I believe Piper will be the easier one to switch over because of her curiosity. Finn on the other hand....LOL He's the little lazy boy who would rather sleep then bother trying anything new. He's a little rough houser when he plays, but you've gotta get him up first hahahahaaaa So our experimentation last night went like this....first, my boyfriend and I went and bought chicken hearts, livers, gizzards, thighs, and made the goupy mix which I have been reading on other posts - the 8oz chicken thigh with 1 cxn heart, 1/2 cxn liver, etc. and I took that and left it at room temp and put feratone and a few smaller pieces of the kibble on top she smelled it for awhile which I suppose is a good sign, but still no go and she was hungry too...so I tried to warm it up, still she wouldn't touch it, so we tried a small amount of kibble with chopped up raw cxn that was smaller than the kibble, only a few little pieces of cxn with feratone and still, she wouldn't touch it. So I tried kibble with 8 in 1 canned ferret food, nothing. So then I decided the best thing was to back it up a bit and go slower with them....I decided that they needed to get used to the texture first, so I knew from Piper's surgery to just add kibble and warm water and I KNOW she eats that, so that's what we did and she went to town. Of course, during this process, Finnigan felt it necessary to start snoring away....I think he's going to be the more resistant one. So my next plan of action is to add the warm water to the kibble and then add either the 8 in 1 or some of the goupy chxn soup mix and gradually add more of the cxn goup and less kibble. Oh yes, and we threw some turkey in the freezer to freeze dry some hopefully appetizing and tasty treats Thanks for all of your help Frank! ~Meg ;D
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Post by cristina on Jun 5, 2009 15:05:15 GMT -5
Hi there, my name is Cristina and I will be your mentor (I read that you have horses, so do I! do you show them?) I see you mentioned that they wont touch the raw you give them or the baked treats, which is exatly what I went through in the beginning of my switch...so I had to start out very slow! You said that Piper is used to kibble and water mix, which is actually the route I went....I would mix kibble warm water and some ground chicken for their feedings, obviously I had to start out with minimal ground meat but soon enough they get use to it and took to it rather well and it was all up hill from there! So I am wondering what switching method you would like to use, there is the one I mentioned above, and there are others if your curious you can look through the other newbies threads and get some more ideas as well....just let me know which you want to do and we can start I am excited to be working with you, it seems we have alot in common!!
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 5, 2009 18:02:03 GMT -5
Oh Cristina I'm so glad to meet you! Yes, it does seem we have a lot in common! LOL I'm so excited to get my little guys going! Yes, I do show, I am planning on taking a break showing this year though, as I just got my chestnut gelding two weeks ago (he wasn't a planned horse LOL) and want to devote more attention to him and getting him bak in shape - hes's been out of work for a year. My bay gelding I have had for two years, and the people I bought him from just put their farm up for sale and needed to get rid of their horses, the chestnut gelding being their favorite - my guys were BEST buddies before I got them seach eperately, so it was neat to reunite them...they actually remember each other! Please do tell me all about your horse(s)! So back on track to Finn and Piper... I tried the watered down food this morning which Piper ate, and again tonight which she ate with gusto. I left watered down food all day and it looks like there was a small amount that was eaten during the day - I'm guessing it was Finn. I haven't seen Finn eat at all though. He's been very sleepy lately, so I'm a little concerned about his switch. I'm planning on adding the duck soup mix that I made and froze to their watered down food for the morning. How long is it okay for them to go without food? I don't want to stress them out in the process, but I want them to try the new stuff. Finn likes peanut butter...do you think that maybe taking a small piece of raw chicken and applying some peanut butter might be a good way to at least introduce him to the taste of it? So yes, I think it might be easier to start them with something like you suggested and see how that works. Another question I have is with Piper's BG level being at the 68 the other day, is it okay to do the switch when she's going back in to be retested in a little over a week? I just don't want it to mess with her levels. I'm really not overly concerned because she didn't eat that morning when we brought her in, it was an early morning appointment and I woke her up to go in. She didn't eat since 9:30 the previous night. Finn ate a little that morning and later that night and his BS level was normal at 99. Piper is also very active and doesn't show any sings of insulinoma too. That's why I was a little concerned with how long both of them should go wihtout food if they just decide they don't like it and not eat...I hope I'm making sense LOL Anyway, thank you so much in advance Cristina! I'm really looking forward to this!!!! I hope they take to it well. ~Meg ;D
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Post by cristina on Jun 5, 2009 23:55:09 GMT -5
I have two horses right now, ones a jumper who is a hanoverian and the other is a hunter who is a german warmblood....I do show but its been not as much lately because I am graduating from college soon, so my younger sisters ride too. Your horses look beautiful, I would love to see more pics of them! Ok back to the little guys now lol....personally I would stay away from peanut butter with the ferrets just because any animal can have reactions to nuts, especially peanuts just like some humans, but I will do more research on it (I dont know if they can digest it properly since they are obligate carnivors, and they lack a caecum in their intestines which processes things other an meat i.e veggies, grain and such)....what I do to entice them is make a small mixture of duk soup with some water and oil and rub it on whatever Im trying to get them to eat, which usually works, or I just sprinkle the duk soup mix on whatever it is too, either way works for me so maybe that could work for yours What I have noticed with my guys is that they wouldnt eat a piece of chicken in the very beginning no matter what I put on it, which is why I had to start out with just a little bit of ground chicken or turkey mixed in with their kibble....but if you want to try some pieces of small chunks of chicken maybe try crushing some kibble into almost a fine powder and roll the pieces of meat in this (like a breading), I have found this to work in the later part of my switch, so it could work and hopefully they might be interested in it! If Piper is going in for another BG test then you may want to stay on the kibble right now since its what she has been on during the past test(s), for consistancy....but I am not totally sure about this and if theres anything about switching right now that may affect the test so I will ask some other mentors what their thoughts are on it and Ill get back to you about that tomorrow They can actually go longer than you think without food (well at least I was surprised to find out haha) they can go about a day without food though....my little girl fasted for 2 days once and made me so scared because she is that picky so I had to make her soup and force feed her ....but as of now I only feed them twice a day and plus they dont eat as much as kibble since they are getting the proper nurtients and proper portions of their natural diet without having to over eat kibble to "make up" for what they arent getting (I dont know if that just made sense, I tend to explain things strange sometimes! ) But in the beginning of my switch many times they only ate once a day or picked through little bits (but Im guessing that was their stubborness ) Let me know if I've answered you questions, I tend to run on tangents at times and go off topic since I just love talking about ferrets (can you tell lol)!
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 6, 2009 6:34:59 GMT -5
LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who runs on tangents! hahahaha Your horses sound gorgeous as well! My Canadian TB acts like a big happy warmblood - he was a champion in the hunter ring when I bought him and was trained to second level in dressage - I LOVE him to pieces! ANd my new guy is an OTTB who had some nat. hosremanship training and then they let sit for a year, so he needs some refreshing, but he is such a cutie and the sweetest gentleman about everything. He has hocks that are like spring coils, so I drooled when I first went to see him LOL I've only shown in some of the local hunter rings mostly and I dabbled in the jumpers at one barn I rode for for about a year which the jumpers were fun, and hit a couple of the A rated shows, which were okay, but I just liked the fun of the more local ones. I was on my college equestrian team - that was a joke...they had just started the year I joined, so it wasn't the best, but it was still fun. hahaha But then college ended and I bought my bay guy right as I was fiinishing up! Okay, seriously can't talk about my animals or I just keep going! LOL Okay, Finn & Piper. so I have tried the kibble coated chicken in the past and that's a definite no no LOL They licked the feratone and kibble off and looked at the chicken and walked away. Last night Piper ate her watered down kibble whole heartedly and Finn was up and active, so I took the opportunity to experiemnt with him. I took the goupy mix (cxn thigh, cxn liver, cxn heart, eggshell powder,etc) and added small frozen chunks to the food and let them thaw in their kibble a little. As it thawed I stirred in some chunks. He ate some of it, wasn't very happy with me, but he did eat some, but it's hard to tell if he ate a mush of the goup and kibble or kibble and water mush. LOL So I'm just considering that a mini breakthrough! I'm going to try again this morning when they wake up! I know I tried an egg with a small amount of kibble in it with Piper and she ate a good portion of it...I just didn't want to them to be constantly having eggs only...maybe if I got it to that consistancy and then added some kibble on top they'd be more inclined to eat it? I kinda figured they might go for a whole day without it. Especially when they're so stubborn. That makes me SO nervous when they don't eat! UGH! Good idea about the peanut butter...I don't know why I never considered the thought of it possibly giving him a reaction! That was kinda silly of me!! Thank god he didn't!!! Piper had a reaction to her distemper...so horrible...yeah, we don't get those done anymore! Poor little girl! And, yes. I think you answered all of my questions. I ordered a better kibble earlier this week before I got on the whole raw bandwagon, so if Piper should stay on kibble until her next BG test, then at least she can be on a healthier kibble. I'm off to the barn now. Hopefully when I get back my little munchkins will be up for some partially raw breakfast. Thanks cristina!!! ~Meg ;D
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Post by cristina on Jun 6, 2009 12:00:42 GMT -5
I show A's mostly because my barn is a big A barn (kinda full of themselves lol), I did the amateur owners with my hunter then did level 2 and 3 with the jumper but I dont do too well with that, I am more of a hunter girl! My sister does the gamblers choice and the mini grand prix and shes amazing! (It makes me jealous!)....I used to ride my first 2 years in college as well, I went to a small private college, Albion, and it was also their first year starting when I came so yea I know that was a joke for my college as well! I love TB's...I actually got one off the track a couple years back and trained him to be a hunter and sold him like 2 years ago, he was my baby and I loved him!!! I can talk about horses and ferrets all day too!! I would keep Piper on the kibble until the test is done, just to stay consistant you know. usually they say about one egg a week, so I blend the whole egg up shell and all with some chicken liver then add some duk soup, oil and supplements then give them half in the beginning of the week and save the rest for a couple days later and just warm it in the microwave. Chunks of meat are usually hard to start out with for a switch unless they are really young and even then lots of ferrets just dont take to it right off the bat So I would suggest freezing the chunks you have (if your ferrets dont eat them and let it go to waste) to save for when they will start to try it after they get used to the "taste" of raw (just my opinion ) I would just start out with some ground meat and start mixing it in with the kibble, and then they will realize they have no choice and its better than nothing lol....then they will really start to like it after a while usually, which is when I would say go for the chunks! So if you try the ground mixed in, let me know how it turns out! and dont get discouraged at first, it may take a while...my switch took about 6 months!!! My DEW had a bad reaction with the distemper as well, my vet said that many "white" ferrets seem to have more issues with the vaccinations due to some difference that involves their color (not too sure how to explain it lol).....but now we do a shot of benedryll 15-20 min prior to the vaccination, and it works just fine (I also do the rabies and distemper on different days which helps as well)....but I have to get them the distemper since I bring them outside alot and I live with dogs and I come into contact with other dogs on an everyday basis. Oh and just to mention as well....I always had a container full of ground kibble (during the beginning of my switch) to add to anything they didnt like, I used it in the soups I made and also put a little in with the normal food (kibble chunks and ground), I feel it made everything more enticing!
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Post by finnpiper09 on Jun 6, 2009 12:48:44 GMT -5
LOL I'm a hunter girl at heart too! LOL I think my bay gelding is too!! Yeah, if Piper doesn't like something, I like to let her try the new stuff for a couple of hours, but if she doesn't eat I'll give her some of her moistened kibble so at least she gets the texture thing down...I'd rather have her eat SOMETHING than nothing. So I'll keep her on the moistened kibble to just keep some sort of consistancy for the BG test. Yes, we gave Piper the siladryl first too- always do for any vaccine - she still had a massive reaction, vomitting, pooffy tail, the works, felt so bad for her during the whole thing, so no more distemper for either of them. We do the siladryl before there Rabies. I still get there Rabies so they don't have to be quaranteened in case anything should ever happen, not that I think it would, but I'd rather be safe than sorry with that one I had a mini breakthrough today with Finn - shocked the heck out of me. I took their kibble, moistened it down a bit and then added the ground cxn part goup watered down more and put some dry kibble on top and Finn seemed to eat a little bit of it and not mind so much. I filled a small tube to force them to try the soup a little earlier this morning - Finn didn't gauk at it so I took that as a good sign, but he wasn't going to eat it on his own, and Piper made funny noises and rubbed her face all over the carpet. LOL Our new kibble came today - the superior choice, so I tried mixing that kibble in with the Marshall's too so at least they're on a better kibble if they dont adapt to the raw right away. I'm adding it to the Marhsall's slow so they at least still eat something. then mixed it with the water and the ground meat goup. I took them both out for long walks today so they would build up there appetite, which seemed to help Finn at least try the ground meat. So it wasn't a huge step, but a little mini one in the right direction. Is there a particular meat that your little guys liked over others?
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Post by cristina on Jun 7, 2009 12:52:16 GMT -5
Small steps are good, thats what it takes...at least its any step in the right direction! Are they taking to the new kibble yet? (or is it too early to tell) I actually had to force feed my little Penny with a syringe in the beginning, shes my pickiest one! Another thing that helped for me is I would make lots of soups for them with ground meat and supplements and duk soup and got them use to that, then when they loved it I would use it with their food even sometimes to make them eat more. My guys loved chicken and only chicken .....it was actually hard for me to get them to eat other meats (I should have dont more variety at first but they just wouldnt have it, so I really leaned on the chicken....but they all eat a variety now ) Chicken is a bland first starting out meat, so some ferrets take to it much better...because some other meats (in particular beef) are much more rich than chicken and have a more strong distinct taste so thats why its easier (imo) to start out with chicken and or turkey.
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