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Post by Forum Administrator on Nov 29, 2009 3:41:01 GMT -5
Name: Megan HF Forum Username: rdobbie23 1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? online search2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret. I would like to swich her to a whole prey frozen diet. I have offered her peices of raw chicken, but have not gotten her to eat bones as of yet? 3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet? Fuzzerz has A.D. and I want to do the best I can for her. She is a rescue and came to me pretty much bald. I have her on a few suppliments per my vet, and she is making some progress. I spoke with him about the raw diet and he said it wouldn't hurt if we can get her to switch. (She obviously older) 4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switchng your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as commited. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment? Yes! 5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? Just the one fuzz! Her name is Fuzzerz, it's a female. Her age is unknown. She is a rescue. She has adrenal disease, her weight is pretty good for her size, maybe could put on a few grams, not much! 6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) I have her on Zupreem and 8 in 1 ultimate. She gets treats of 8 in 1 gorumet ferret bites (chicken flavor) and peices of raw chicken. We are working on duck soup, she will lick it off my fingers, but won't eat it on her own. I add a sprinkle of MUSH (a mushroom suppliment that is made for animals to help with skin and allergy issues as well as boost immune systems) 7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened? NO I have only had Fuzzerz for 2 weeks. Priviously to me haveing her, she was fed Purina Cat Chow! 8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share? I love to foster animals that are in need. Fuzzerz just screamed for me! I walked into this womans house to take in a couple sugar gliders that she knew nothing about how to care for, and well there was Fuzzerz! No fur and in a small cage all to herself among 29 other ferrets! (YES 239 OTHER FERRETS) I just couldn't let her stay there with no medical attention. I knew nothing about ferrets prior to rescuing her, but I am open to all and I hope to get her better. I personally can not afford the surgery to have the adrenal glads removed, but I am willing to do anything else I can for her!
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?Every day, but tend not to be online on the weekends!
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 29, 2009 11:06:20 GMT -5
Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch First, a little about me. I'm 51, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 4yrs, to 15(only one would eat raw, unfortunately ). I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead. I got her when she was 2. She's now 3, and adrenal. She's on lupron, and having her surgery in August. After that came my first deaf ferret, Lucrezia. A marked DEW. Then two foster ferrets, whom we fell in love with and adopted- Zeus and Athena, both two years old. After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's becoming a sweetie . Lastly, Emily. 1 month younger than Willow, and those two have bonded strongly. She's the only one Willow wasn't terrified of. While transitioning the first four, Boris was my hold out. EVERYTHING I gave him was poison, in his mind . Worst little drama queen I've seen yet . Twisting to get away, gagging, retching- he did all of it! Then one day- he ate it! Every single piece on the plate ! Those four haven't looked back. Although Boris would still be a kibble head if I let him. The next two for transitioning were the fosters. Until we adopted them, I could only supplement with raw. So in order not to cause unnecessary tummy upsets(mixing kibble and raw too closely can cause some problems- more about that later), I'd give them raw one day, and kibble on a different day. So, by the time we adopted, they had no problem with 100% raw diet. With Willow, I brought her home, and she flatly refused to eat the totally ferret kibble, so I went back to the pet store and got her a small bag of the crap they were feeding them there, and brought it home. I tried to give her some, but she just upset the dish. So- I tried her with some chicken breast. She ate it up! Hasn't had kibble since . Emily came to us as a raw fed ferret, so no issues there. That's me and mine in a nutshell The reason I started looking a raw feeding was something my vet said to me. I was, at the time, giving them small pieces of fruit for treats. She told me that was VERY bad for them, and in fact, some studies have started to link early feeding of sugars with insulinoma later in life. So- I started thinking. Kibbles are full of carbs. It's all those grains/veg/fruits in them. Those are converted to sugars by the body. To me then, sugar= potential insulinoma. So, I started checking out various diets. I had no idea what an obligate carnivore was at the time. I found out! Not much wonder there was soooo much poop in the box! I may as well have been tossing my money in there. They can't process anything that's not meat based! So I feed meat Their fur is softer, their energy levels are amazing- no mad rushes then crashing. Even my three year old's teeth are amazing. No plaque whatsoever Healing is faster, and if they do get ill, they have more reserves to rely on than when they were just kibble fed! And there is a LOT LESS POOP!!!! Yay! I'm looking forward to helping get Fuzzerz switched over. And if you like- we'll get her eating bone like a champ When you give her the raw chicken- how big are the chunks? With eating bone, they really need to build up their jaw strength first, so that's what we'll work on right now
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 4, 2009 12:07:28 GMT -5
Ok so a bit about me! I have never been a ferret lover! At the age of 28 I have 1 rottweiler, 1 pitbull, and 10 sugar gliders! My dogs are my life followed in line by the gliders and then JW . I went to a house to rescue some sugar gliders and this woman had 30 ferrets! I just couldn't leave the hairless one behind, so in a few days, I went back for her! She made me take two cause they do better in pairs! Well Fuzzerz was VERY aggressive with Hoodie, so I did find a wonderful home for Hoodie and now I am nursing Fuzzerz back until she can be placed in a home! I worked at a vet clinic for 5 years before leaving to take an office job with better pay. SO I have some vet background going into this. I have never considered feeding my dogs a raw diet cause I don't know if I could afford to feed two LARGE dogs! Taking vet advice, I started her on melatonin, MUSH, and trying with a lot of stubborness to switch her to a raw diet . Sherry....ok so poor little Fuzzerz is a rescue. I took her from a woman that had 30 ferrets and Fuzzerz was hairless. Well almost hairless. SO I took her in, the vet said possibly A.D. He rec. that we do melatonin drops, MUSH and change her to a raw diet to see if we can't get her to turn around. Well I have had her for 4 weeks maybe 5 now and she has fur coming in! She is aggressive with other ferrets, but does not have any other symptoms of A.D. other than the hair loss and the aggression. I have gotten her to lick the raw meat and I have put some in her duck soup. But not eating any amounts of it to beable to switch her. Some days she loves it, others she won't touch it. I have tried hamburger meat, and chicken hearts and gizzards. So what are your suggestions?! Oh yea and the peices that I can get her to eat are itty itty bitty, it's like I sneak them in! I would love to get her eating bones as well!
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 4, 2009 20:59:39 GMT -5
That poor baby girl! Thank you for taking her in, even if it is simply to heal her up and find her a forever home. Word of warning though- these little creatures really do sneak and "weasel" their way into your heart so deeply Alright- let's get started! Since she accepts duck soup, we'll use that. I'd like you to puree a bit of chicken breast or thigh and add just a wee dab into her duck soup. Not enough to really change the flavour or texture, just enough for her to go "Hmm, this is different. Or maybe not!" You can freeze the rest of the puree in ice cube trays. Defrost one cube in the fridge, and add the bit for a day or two. Does she display any signs of insulinoma at all?
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 7, 2009 10:56:43 GMT -5
Ok so I tried it! I took a pinch, I mean a tiny little pinch, and she wont touch it! LOL I will keep offering it over the rest of the week and see if I cant break her!
Thankfully, no signs of insulinoma! I will have to get you an updated picture, her fur is coming in so nicely! I am wondering if it is just a change in diet all together! My vet said to try so many things all at once to try and bounce her back, that I am not too sure if it's the melatonin and MUSH that's working so well, or just a good diet. (I was told she was being fed store brand cat chow before) I know that they can smuggle your heart into their hideing places, she already got mine there. BUT if I kept every animal that I took in to foster, I couldn't help the others out!
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 7, 2009 11:16:23 GMT -5
Ok, next step, since she won't willingly accept it. Scruff her, and dab it on her nose. Repeatedly. The idea is that she has to taste it. Once she does that enough, she'll start taking it from your finger, even if it's with some reluctance.
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 7, 2009 11:42:46 GMT -5
Will do! I will try that tonight! This girl is not the norm. ferret, she doesn't "sleep" when you scruff her!? She's not easy to cut her nails! Oh yea and you can see all my rescues here: flyindixiegliders.webs.com/rescuesfosters.htm
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 7, 2009 20:06:22 GMT -5
Beautiful pitties! I love the breed . You do a good thing with your rescue. When you scruff Fuzzers, does she become panicky, or aggressive, or simply try to get away? If it's the last one, you can teach her scruffing doesn't have to be a bad thing. Use oil, ferretone, or whatever she really enjoys, and give her a taste every time you scruff. And do it frequently. She'll start to associate the two.
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 8, 2009 8:07:28 GMT -5
She shakes and kicks her hind legs, not aggressive or squirmy, but she doesn't go to sleep either, she does have a quite panicked look on her face though.
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 8, 2009 10:42:09 GMT -5
I think you may have to get her over the panic/fear of being scruffed. With her in your lap, put some oil/tone in the palm of one hand, and while she's licking it, gently grab her scruff, without taking up any of her weight with it. Gradually work it several times a day, until you can pick her up by her scruff, and she doesn't stop licking the tone/oil. That way, she associates it with good things as well. Part of the problem is you don't know if she was "disciplined" when being held this way, poor mite. Several people will still scruff and flick the nose for nipping, unfortunately. Still keep up with the soup on the nose, though. If you can manage to hold her without scruffing for this, and still get the soup where it's supposed to go, feel free
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 9, 2009 10:36:14 GMT -5
I don't use ferratone....I use vasoline....is that ok to use instead? I have been offering her the food processed chicken in her ducky soup, she still wont touch it But! She is getting used to licking it off her mouth. I just hold her 3-4 times a day and dab some on her mouth and she is licking it off. So fingers croseed, by the end of the week, I wont have to dab it on her anymore?! I am sorry I have not been on much. I am in Southern VA and we are below sea level, and we just had a nasty Noreastern storm pass thorugh here about a month ago, and we have been fixing the house back to how it was prior and low and behold, I get up this morning, and due to the ground being so saturated still, the large amount of rain we have gotten over the last week...we have 2 inches of stanging water under our house (all the houses are on a lifted foundation around here) and the yard is back to being a large swimming pool. Out of an acre lot, there is maybe 30% of it not under water.
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 9, 2009 20:34:17 GMT -5
Not to worry! Mother Nature does do that to us once in a while Here's hoping the rest of the water stays where it is! Have you tried just sticking your finger in front of her mouth to get her to lick it off your finger? That will be the next logical step for her.
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 10, 2009 8:20:05 GMT -5
I try to get her to lick it off my finger first. If there is no interest after a min. or two, I put it on her mouth. So far, she has not eaten it willingly Her coat is coming in so nicely! I am so so so stoked! I will try and get pictures for you this weekend to show off her inprovement!
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 10, 2009 21:59:02 GMT -5
I'd love to see that! Even after a short time, the difference can be amazing Just keep working with her. You'll get her there before you know it. Here's a vid of Boris. I'm trying to convince him he actually likes lamb He was such a little drama queen during his transition, and it hasn't ended Believe it or not- he'd been on raw for almost a year at this point!
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Post by rdobbie23 on Dec 15, 2009 11:06:26 GMT -5
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