glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 10, 2009 15:37:15 GMT -5
Pretty much the same... Went through the I'd rather starve than eat bone routine again this past weekend. I am trying a new strategy now - same thing we did with the meat. I am trying to cut the bone into the smallest possible pieces and just mixing it into the meat (with a little extra baby food so that it's not quite as obvious) Melinda has eaten a couple of tiny pieces. Neither one will eat big pieces - I've tried leaving a wingette and/ or a drummette in their cage, laced them with Ferretone, smeared them with baby food - they LICK the meaty parts or the "good stuff" but won't bite I'm hoping that if I just slowly increase the size of the bone, they will get used to it (going to have to buy more kitchen shears... the one I have is starting to get dull!) Don't feel bad or like you haven't been enough help! You have been very patient, given me some great ideas and been a huge support !!! I know I would have given up by now if you hadn't kept up the encouragement... Even if I have to keep cutting up bone and meat, I still feel like the little monsters are better off than they were 6 months ago
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Post by tsslilsis on Mar 11, 2009 22:22:28 GMT -5
Hopefully what you are trying will work, and I'm trying to see about getting another person in here to give advice.
I am glad you understand. Raw is the best thing possible as I'm sure you now know.. And I know in the begining it was very rough and I'm sure you probably had some second thoughts but I'm glad that you are willing to keep trying when a lot of people would have given up and I will stay by your side until we can get them taking that bone in meat like little pros.
-~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 15, 2009 20:59:31 GMT -5
Not a lot of luck this weekend. Melinda has eaten some small pieces of bone so I guess that is a little progress. On the other hand, Bastien has not been eating much of anything except NV mixed with water and baby food. I think the bigger pieces of meat and bone put him off so I think I will stick with small pieces of meat and bone for a while and hopefully get him back on track. They are getting an awful lot of chicken these days (except they aren't really eating much of it) but I guess that's ok as long as they are getting the beef NV as well? Melinda will eat the lamb NV but Bastien isn't too thrilled with it.
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Post by Heather on Mar 17, 2009 0:22:23 GMT -5
Ok, I'm in to give it a go How grumpy are you feeling. Have a go at some boned meat with a hammer . Make sure that it's meat they like. As I've not been privy to all that you guys have tried, how about a bit of a fill in. Have you tried some ground rmbs? I use that to get my guys into eating bones. The bone is ground fine enough that it gets them started eating something harder than meats. It sounds on Feb 16 that your guys were starting to eat bone, but have sworn off it now? I've found that ferrets for the most part are lazy, little opportunists (no offense intended, that's what they do best , it's one of the things that I love about the brats) If they don't have to work for it they won't. How long to you leave them with their meaty bones? I don't believe in letting them go hungry but to get them to eat bones they have to get hungry. Leave them with their little rmbs. I will check in tomorrow and see what information you've got and see if you've got anywhere with your guys. Talk at you tomorrow. ciao
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 17, 2009 21:00:00 GMT -5
Hi Heather! Thanks for taking on the challenge Lazy, opportunistic brats may be one of the nicest things my two fuzzbutts have been called in a while! Summary: They have had NO KIBBLE since December. Ω≈jk (that's Melinda saying "hi" as she ran across my keyboard). Melinda is my hoarder -the problem with that is that she does not go back to eat after she stashes. Typically, they get Nature's Variety in the morning for breakfast; most often beef but sometimes lamb or chicken/turkey. At night, they get meat - chicken or pork. The meat has to be cut up into small pieces or it just gets stashed but at least it's no longer pureed Thank you, Ketlin!!!! (Took quite a bit of doing to get Melinda to eat anything that was bigger than a grain of rice) Everything still gets mixed up with baby food and water but not soupie any more. At lunch time, Bastien gets his melatonin mixed with a little Ferretvite. Melinda has now learned the schedule and tries to make sure that she's awake so she can have some 'vite too. (Wouldn't want to be left out!) Bones - depends on their mood. Have had the most luck with chicken necks cut into 1/2 inch "slices". I've also tried drummettes and wing pieces cut up very small and game hen back bones. Bastien overall is doing better than Melinda. He actually ate several small pieces tonight (of course, I had to hand them to him and let him inspect them to be sure they weren't poisoned). Melinda even ate 2 tiny pieces - when I threw them across the room to her so she didn't have to get up off of her blanket (way too much trouble to pick them up out of the dish, you know ) Unfortunately, tonight's success was by no means the norm. For the last week, I've been having to add extra baby food and/or ferretone just to get them to eat any meat and the bones have all ended up stashed under furniture or being fed to the Riley (golden retriever mix that gets more excited than the ferrets do at feeding times because she knows she gets the leftovers from the previous meal!) Neither one has any interest in larger bones - ok, not quite true - Melinda thinks it fun to see if she can find the most inconvenient, hard to reach place to stash them Organs - No luck at all. No matter how small I make it or how much baby food I mix with it, they will spit it out. Sorry this is so long. We have made a lot of progress in the last 4 months and Ketlin has been wonderful through all of it - even when I was ready to give up. Thanks again! Teri
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 21, 2009 20:40:51 GMT -5
Thursday night I beat up a chicken leg, cut it into small pieces (bone and all) mixed in a little baby food and water. They ate a little without too much fuss. Friday morning they ate their NV beef as usual. Late in the morning Melinda started coughing and sneezing and making all sorts of bizarre noises. I figured she had gotten some fur in her throat or something. Kept an eye on her all afternoon. After a while it looked like she was starting to have trouble breathing so off we went to the vet. While waiting, she again started hacking and then proceeded to projectile vomit across the room. Of course, by the time we saw the vet, she was just fine. Hasn't had a cough, sniffle or sneeze since Not too surprised that they didn't eat a lot last night. This morning, neither of them ate much for breakfast so I was hopeful for tonight. So much for that... I gave them last night's left overs and they both ate a piece or two and then turned up their noses. I finally broke down and pureed the meat with a little more baby food. Melinda pigged out on about an ounce of that. Bastien has decided that he only eats what I give him from my finger and not much of that. Ok. I admit to being very short on patience right now due to a severe asthma attack that I've been fighting all week but they are driving me crazy!!!
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Post by Heather on Mar 22, 2009 16:59:08 GMT -5
Hi Your regular mentor is feeling a little under the weather, seems to be going around, so you and your little furbrats are stuck with me on a temp basis Ok, your guys are hungry but not willing to give up the fact that they know that their wonderful momma will give in to their every whims because....they know that your feeling under the weather. I've just gone through this with one of my other switchers. Your sweet little angels are like having 3 yr olds around. If they can figure away of getting out of eating their broccoli (bones) they will. They'd far rather let you get frustrated and decide to feed them what they want. Sounds to me like Melinda had something stuck in her throat, you may feel that it was for not but it was a good idea to take her to the vet. She might not have been able to dislodge whatever it was. So you did good. Sounds to me that your guys are doing the old backstep. It's ok, lets accommodate them a little. Let's give them their baby food with their meat in it. Do they same meal that they got Thurs. They ate it, let's let them eat it. Remember, you're feeling under the weather, they know this actually they sense it. Sit with them with a spoon and snuggle and feed. I know but this is sometimes what it takes when you introduce something new. Like small children, they don't want to try anything new or anything that even resembles something new. If you think about it, how long have they been eating kibbles and how long have they been eating (or attempting to eat ) raw You're doing great, so are your guys Good luck, and I will check in with you later tonight ciao
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 23, 2009 21:09:15 GMT -5
Hi Heather! Well, I certainly don't feel like I am "stuck" with you - happy to have you on board but I do hope Ketlin is feeling better. Both of my little monsters actually ate pretty well tonight (chicken leg cut up and mixed with baby food). Between them, I think they ate about 1/3 of it. Even Melinda ate a few little pieces of bone on her own initiative!! Bastien still wants to eat off my fingers but at least I didn't have to chase him around the room to get him interested (I probably wouldn't mind being able to cuddle with him while finger feeding but neither of my babies are cuddle bugs I wish they were...) I have a cornish game hen thawed out so I was thinking about cutting that up tomorrow. Since the bones are a little softer than the older chicken, maybe they will go for a little bit bigger pieces with a little less baby food? Or should I just stick to small bits for a while? Thanks for taking your time to help me. I know you have had a rough time lately. You and Aremis are still in my prayers.
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Post by Heather on Mar 23, 2009 23:45:11 GMT -5
Thank you Aremis was a sweetie but had been living on borrowed time for quite some time. His death was no surprise. I kept hoping that he was going to go into remission again but it wasn't to be. I knew that things were over when I found him in a deep coma that morning. He was diagnosed with lymphomas last March. So he's been fighting this for over a year. The fact that he was able to continue to play and make trouble until just recently has been rather astounding and can only be directly laid at the fact that he's raw fed. I personally would continue to feed the smaller pieces just for now. Lets let your little ones get really comfortable and eating on their own with as little persuation as possible. I find that sometimes this takes a little longer but they have less tendency to backslide as far (they usually do, but it appears to be less of a problem). Try a spoon with Bastien....start with your fingers but have a spoon handy. I use it as my next step. Will he sit on your lap without you holding on to him? Mad Max hated having to sit still and snuggle. I used to sit on the floor with the bowl and a spoon. He would hop up on my lap and eat from the spoon, I then worked at getting the spoon closer and closer to the bowl, eventually getting him to eat out of the bowl. It's just a thought I will check in with you tomorrow and see how the game hen goes down. Good luck ciao
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 25, 2009 8:31:05 GMT -5
We did well with the hen last night. I kept the pieces small and both fuzzbutts chowed down. Bastien even ate some out of the dish on his own He won't sit still in my lap to be fed but, generally, will wander over to lick something off my fingers. His all time motivation is a squeaky toy - doesn't matter what he is doing or how deeply asleep - a couple of squeaks and he is up and running. Squeakies also seem to stimulate his "bite instinct" so I had better have something in my hand ready for him - he may or may not eat it but if I don't make sure there is something available, he has no qualms about biting the fire out of me (yes, learned that the hard way - didn't take long ) That's actually how I managed to get him to try bones to start with. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) Melinda does not share this squeaky obsession. She is doing better with really little pieces of bone now, though. Tonight is my busy night so I won't be able to spend as much time coaxing them to eat. I will give them some more of the game hen since they do like that. Bastien will either have to eat on his own or stay hungry... Teri
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Post by tsslilsis on Mar 25, 2009 15:10:36 GMT -5
Hey there Teri, Melinda and Bastien. I am just now feeling well enough to try and get back into the scheme of things. I am going to try and check in at least a couple times a day.
Thankfully Heather has been kind enough to keep an eye on things while I've been out!! What a life saver. (((Hugs))).
I see they have been doing decent. Chicken leg, and even cornish game hen!!! Was the hen bone in? If if was I sincerely hope they continue on this track.
Do Melinda and Bastien eat out of the same dish? And has Melinda ever tried taking Bastiens meat away from him or hissed at him? I'm thinking maybe that is why he wants to eat from your hand, because he doesn't want Melinda to take his food.. I know even though Ravi is the sweetest creature he is a fatty and he will steal Weezer and Lillian's food right from their mouths. So maybe if you put two small dishes of the same exact food in there, Bastien would be willing to eat without assistance. Just a thought.
As far as the squeaky toys go, Lillian is obsessed, too. But when you squeak a toy she thinks it is a mouse and she will latch on to whatever bit of skin she can get to first. I've learned how to squeak like a toy so when it is time to put them up I just squeak til she comes out. Weezer is deaf so he doesn't respond and Ravi can hear but he doesn't care about squeakies!
I'm sorry Melinda gave you that scare. Sounds to me like she and Ravi are up to the same thing.. Earlier Ravi was coughy/sneezey and he was cuddling with me.. He didn't have any trouble breathing but he got on the floor and proceeded to puke twice.. But he is acting completely normal and his poopy factory (LOL) is working just fine so I am sure it was probably just something in his throat. When I first got him I thought he was sick because he was always coughing and sneezing BUT it was just because he was shedding.
-~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 27, 2009 18:01:06 GMT -5
Hi Ketlin! I'm so glad that you are feeling better! Melinda is more apt to take food from Bastien when he is eating out of my hand. She's afraid that he's getting something special and she's missing out I think Bastien is just a spoiled little brat They are both doing really well with the little pieces of bone in game hen. (I think because the bone is a little softer than regular chicken bones.) Even Melinda is eating small pieces of bone all by herself! Bastien will eat pieces a little bit bigger than Melinda but still not very big. What I find odd is that neither one of them is all that interested in the marrow. I would have thought that would be what they wanted to get at the most but if bits of it drop, they totally ignore it. Take care of yourself and don't overdo... your fuzzbutts need you healthy! (and so do we!) teri
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Post by tsslilsis on Mar 30, 2009 9:05:44 GMT -5
This is good news. Have they continued doing well? We should do what we can to get them to continue on this track. Obviously the goal will eventually be to have them eating bigger pieces and then eventually whole pieces. But I would suggest keeping the chunks around the size that you have them now for the next couple of weeks and then making them bigger. And then later on if you want to get them off of premade we will have to try and get them to eat organ which I know they hate so that will take some work. But if you want to keep them partially on premade, that is fine too. It will just depend on what works best for you and your babies.
Any questions or concerns? I'm here to help you in all ways.
-~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 31, 2009 21:27:03 GMT -5
I don't mind giving them the premade but I would prefer not to be dependent on it. Much rather have some options. Hopefully, we will eventually get them to eat organs but that will have to wait a while! Last night, I couldn't help but laugh at Bastien... I gave them some lamb meat along with their chicken. Melinda didn't seem to notice the difference (or if she did, she just stashed what she didn't want) but Bastien was just not happy. I kept thinking of when my daughter was young. She refused to eat anything that wasn't chicken. So we ended up telling her everything was just "funny looking chicken" (pork chops, meatloaf... it didn't matter. If we told her it was chicken she would eat it.) I kept trying to tell Bastien last night that the lamb was just funny looking chicken - he didn't buy it... (Not too sure what that says about the intelligence level of a ferret versus my kid ) What other kinds of bone can I give them? They are doing good with the game hen but I keep thinking that they get too much chicken in their diet. Is that a problem as long as they are getting other kinds of meat, too? teri
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Post by tsslilsis on Mar 31, 2009 23:25:53 GMT -5
I wonder what it is about kids, because so many of them do not like anything other than chicken. And then there are those who automatically think that everything is chicken. For a long time my brother thought everything was chicken.. Then there is my 2nd youngest cousin (13 years old) who just a couple months ago was talking to me and she went to eat some stew her mom made and told her mom the chicken in it was good and Wendy told her it was pork. Sorry you couldn't convince Bastien! For bones, they can eat chicken (obviously! ), quail, duck, rabbit, smaller turkey bones.. Mine have been able to eat ribs from a young deer and some small lamb chop bone... Oh, and dare I say, mice and rats! But you don't have to worry, because even if the CGH is their only bone intake, as long as they are getting a minumum of 2 other kinds of meat they are fine. The reason for the bone is the calcium and of course the teeth cleaning action so as long as they are getting it it doesn't really matter where its coming from.
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