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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 19, 2010 19:55:08 GMT -5
When I say diarrhea I mean watery and no form at all. They all sort of had it, now the girls poop is much better but Punk is still having the diarrhea. I'm hoping it's just taking longer for his system to get used to the new foods. I've been feeding chicken, beef, and pork so chicken would be the most consistent but I've been trying to give them lots of variety.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 19, 2010 20:40:31 GMT -5
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 20, 2010 0:25:51 GMT -5
Looking at Punk's stool, I thing I'd try him without chicken for about a week, see if it makes a difference. With Boris, he has the same type of stool if he has chicken for more than a couple times a week. He has a slight sensitivity to it. He can have liver and hearts as well as maybe one other chicken meal a week. But more than that, and he has that seedy type of stool. At the very least, leaving out the chicken, it will let you know who has a problem with it, and who doesn't!
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 20, 2010 21:21:06 GMT -5
What about turkey? Is that too close to chicken or does it vary by ferret? I'm worried then I won't be able to find enough bone in meats and he's the one that's doing the best with bone haha.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 20, 2010 22:52:14 GMT -5
No, completely different protein base. So no worries there. If he does have a mild sensitivity, he could still likely have a moderate amount. Just not a large part of his diet. For bone, they can also have(if you can get these) quail, rabbit, turkey necks and sometimes some of the wingtips, oxtail, duck necks/wingtips/backbone, and obviously whole prey. You can also do some commercial raw. I had to resort to feeding some of this simply to get enough bone into a couple of my lazier eaters
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 23, 2010 19:37:09 GMT -5
I'm feeling a little irked lately because it seems like things are kind of at a standstill. When I bring their food, sometimes they don't eat even right away...is that normal? They just want to come out and play then.
I tried giving them beef heart for the first time tonight. So far only Shiza ate a piece. I put ferretone on it to try and persuade them but Fergie just licks all the ferretone off haha. Last night they got ground turkey because my mom needed to get rid of it. Well they all kind of licked at it but didn't eat it. But since they don't always eat immediately I figured if they got hungry enough they'd eat it later. Well they didn't and it just makes me worry that they're going hungry. I weighed them again today. Punk gained weight but Fergie and Shiza both lost a little weight, like a couple tenths of an ounce. I'm just so paranoid that they're starving or something lol.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 23, 2010 19:59:45 GMT -5
Try to keep in mind a healthy ferret can go up to about 12 hours without food with no ill effects whatsoever. Instead of giving it to them when they come out, try letting them play for a while first. I feed mine when they go back into the cage, or I'd have a ton of meat stashed because they got distracted, and found something else more interesting
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 25, 2010 20:38:41 GMT -5
Ok I'll definitely try that. They get breakfast at around 7:30 am and usually get supper at around 6 pm. They're doing much better with bone now. They LOVE pork chops but they're not crazy about beef or lamb.
I gave them beef heart and there was some gone in the morning but they didn't eat all of it. Arg I just hate wasting food haha.
I'm also keeping a food log for them and I write down how many ounces and kind of meat they got and then if any food was left at the next feeding time.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 25, 2010 21:51:53 GMT -5
The food log is a really good idea. I'd still keep pushing with the other meats, so they don't imprint on one or two. Also, don't forget. Some meats are denser, so they will eat less of it.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 26, 2010 14:27:39 GMT -5
Which meats are denser? Haha I'm lost when it comes to meat.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 26, 2010 17:17:55 GMT -5
A 1" cube of beef heart will weigh approx. one ounce. A two inch cube of chicken thigh is about one ounce, while breast would be about 2 1/2 inches for the same weight. Pork would be somewhere in between. And beef itself is denser than pork So don't be surprised if they can go through a lot more chicken than beef! That's why I called my kitchen scale my best friend throughout my switch I knew about what amount of meat they should be going through(started with chicken), and when there was SO much left behind, I got really worried. Until I got this cheap little scale, and started weighing all the portions. Yup- I was giving them WAY too much, and couldn't understand why they weren't finishing everything up
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 28, 2010 14:35:43 GMT -5
Alright tonight or tomorrow I really need to make a menu. I made some soup with ground lamb (they wouldn't eat it by itself) and beef heart and they did gobble it up. Unfortunately, Shiza and Fergie both majorly puked afterwards. Hmm so that's not a good combination apparently.
I feel so guilty right now because they all have diarrhea because I haven't been consistent enough lately. That's why I need to develop a menu plan.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 28, 2010 21:03:40 GMT -5
A menu plan really can make a difference. And it may have been the beef heart that made them ill. It's a fairly rich meat, and not all ferrets can tolerate it! One of mine will have a bad reaction to any beef heart or kidney, and another adores it so much he basically inhales it, and promptly throws it back up again! For the diarrhea, please start giving them a wee bit of pumpkin daily for now. It will make a difference for them. Make sure it's the pure pumpkin, not the pie filling!
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 29, 2010 10:09:46 GMT -5
Yeah I just got the pumpkin in..I had to order it online because I literally cannot find it in stores right now! I know there's a shortage going on but still haha. I can't find it anywhere locally.
I think I'm going to order some stuff from one of the online suppliers, like Hare Today....just to get some more variety in their diet that I can't get locally. I hate to order frozen stuff online but I feel like they're not getting enough variety right now. They eat almost all chicken parts. They're having trouble with bone still but getting better. I might try ordering heart of some animal other than beef, like turkey. I can only get beef and pork heart locally from the butcher and I'm not sure the girls can handle the beef heart. Or maybe it's the lamb they can't handle because when I gave them just pieces of beef heart, they did eat some of it and no one threw up. Of course I'm not sure either of the girls were the ones that ate any of it. I don't know, I guess I'll just need to keep trying and see what happens. I just don't want them to get so used to mostly chicken. '
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 29, 2010 10:31:38 GMT -5
Try giving them one protein source for about 48 hours. That will tell you if it's one particular meat causing a problem. When you order frozen online, it's priority shipped, and packed in dry ice, so there's very little defrosting of the meat by the time it reaches you. And yes, getting them used to variety now is your best bet.
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