|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 12, 2010 15:28:17 GMT -5
I only held out a bit longer lol
I gave them soup and raw, just not mixing it now. maybe decreasing the the soup and increase the raw will help.
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 12, 2010 15:37:13 GMT -5
If they're willing to go for it, then do it.
Keep in mind too that Sadie and Zeke know that something is wrong with Trixie. They may not be themselves right now.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 12, 2010 15:49:31 GMT -5
Yes i was wondering about that. They do come over and sniff her, and keep at it till she moves. I`m worried most about sadie as they`ve been together the longest. I do get them to come cuddle with her when they are sleepy, thinking it is good for all of them, and especially for trix. sigh
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 12, 2010 18:30:19 GMT -5
I don't want to be morbid, but if at all possible it's best to let Zeke and Sadie visit Trixie after she goes. Animals understand death. They don't understand when they disappear and don't come back. It really helps them a lot.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 13, 2010 5:25:30 GMT -5
No tara thats good information to know.
I find right now zeke is willingly cuddling with her, and they`ve only been together a few weeks. yesterday Sadie snifed and sniffed trixie till she moved, now it`s a total avoidance of her, which seems a little odd to me.
I haven`t changed much with zeke and sadie food wise, I haven`t had it in me and i dont want to change too many things. they did seem to eat less yesterday, and sleep more then normal.... though that can be hard to judge lol. I was home all day so they were out of cage all day but only played for the first hour, then slept most of the rest of the time.
I left raw, soup and kibble all in same bowl last night.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 13, 2010 14:17:59 GMT -5
Question, when they stash food, will they go back to it later to eat, or can i throw it out?
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 13, 2010 15:33:25 GMT -5
Fierra started to avoid Ghia at the end too. It must be a self preservation instinct. Maybe a female thing since a sick or weak animal can attract predators and be a danger to the litter. I don't know. But after Ghia died Fierra groomed her for a little while and then went off. She was fine after that and didn't go looking for her or anything which would have totally broken my heart.
Be careful putting kibble with wet stuff. If there are grains in the kibble there is a risk of dangerous mycotoxins growing. Mycotoxins develop from a grain fungus and can appear alarmingly quickly. I normally suggest taking up any moistened kibble after a half an hour. For this reason I will only use kibble on raw as a bribe only and only when hand fed or monitored.
As for stashes, they may go back to eat it and they may not. If my cats haven't already eaten all the ferret stashes I will offer it to them at their next meal. If they refuse it, but eat fresh meat, I'll toss it.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 14, 2010 14:18:46 GMT -5
LOL my dogs usually get anything that's left out... Mandy our 25lb dachshund got into the cage to get some raw food the other day! Okay where we are at.... Trixie is back on soup, very watered down. She does NOT drink on her own, so i think i will be leaving it this way. I have started throwing a bit of raw in the bowl too. She's eating everything, and holding her own right now. For the other two I was giving a cube of soup and mixing in about a 3rd of a cube of raw. They didn't go whole heartily for the raw chunks so i thought I'd switch it up. Now I'm giving them one cube of raw mixed with about 1/3 to 1/2 a cube of soup, just enough to lightly coat the raw.... my description make sense? They get this twice a day and don't usually finish it all. I'm thinking in a day or two assuming things are still stable around here, I'll cut back a bit more on the soup in their mix. Trixie is back in the cage with them as of today, and so is the kibble just in case she needs it. Zeke was thrilled to see it LOL But he didn't eat very much. I have started using the kibble as treats for Zeke when he uses the litter, as he's had a few issues since the girls showed up. Hoping this encourages him as i have not found anything else that he 'loves' and would take as treats.
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 14, 2010 20:10:43 GMT -5
Ferrets + Change = Poops in the Wrong Places They do have quite the way of expressing themselves. Sounds like you've got a good plan going on. You're doing a great job with all of them.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 15, 2010 9:55:57 GMT -5
Aww thanks tara.
I've found that they LOVE eggs. I'm trying to figure out how often to give them what. RIght now they are getting liver about once a week.... is that enough? they get chicken and duck in the soup... so every day, but it's not raw. I have hearts and gizzards, lamb and goat that they are getting the rest of the time. Should i add anything or increase anything?
I have found a place that sells fresh rabbit... but haven't found anyone willing to cut it up for me LOL
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 15, 2010 16:47:36 GMT -5
Liver should comprise 5% of their diet. Most people calculate this on a weekly basis for ease. So for example:
Ferret eats 4oz per day times 7 days equals 28oz times 5% equals 1.4oz of liver per week.
I split up their liver intake over 3 days because the poops get so loose and stinky if I feed all that liver at once.
You should also look for another organ to feed. Kidney is usually the easiest to find, but things like thymus, brain, lung work too. If you can feed a variety, all the better. This should comprise another 5% of their diet. Heart is considered a muscle meat, not organ in the frankenprey diet. Same with gizzards.
Eggs are great! They can also make for stinky poo. Feed to tolerance. I split 3 eggs per week amongst my 4 creatures. I have one cat with a sensitive tummy and he will get loose, stinky poops and then be constipated the next day if I give too much of anything, so I've learned to feed small quantities of organs and bone more often. The ferrets though get bony meals every day and they seem to do really well with that.
I guess you'll have to explain to me when and how the hearts, gizzards, lamb and goat are being fed. Is this minced up in your raw cubes? That's awesome if they're already accepting lamb and goat. They're usually a pretty tough sell.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 16, 2010 7:56:01 GMT -5
What i did was buy some fresh meat if it was not ground up already then i did it in my blender. Then i froze them in ice cube trays, just so I'd have smaller cubes and the meat would last longer. I take it out the day before and it's defrosted by the next day. then i mix in the soup. They are only getting one type of meat at a serving.
LOL maybe they took it cause it's the first things i tried.
Okay I'm off today so I'll look for another organ.
Now question, the vet we saw really didn't know much about raw feeding, and didn't know what duck soup was, but was supportive especially for Trixie, wanted her off kibble. How ever her thinking was she would not get enough nutrients/vitamins etc and suggested a high end cat food (hills of course cause thats all they sell lol) to help make sure she is getting the things she needs.
Now on a full raw diet would you attempt to add said nutrients into their diet? Part of me thinks well in the wild they would just eat animals and do just find so why add to it? then i think but they are getting meat that has been.... processed in a way the antibiotics and drugs that they give animals meant for slotter, and this could effect the nutritional value of what they are eating.....
so ya do i add the nutrient or no? lol
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 16, 2010 15:05:58 GMT -5
This is a tough one because of the reasons you stated. For this reason I source the majority of my meat from local, organic, grass-fed/finished, free range farmers. I do add whole body fish oil to their soups maybe 4 days a week to balance the missing omega 3s from the grocery store meats. As for adding supplements... the majority of vitamins, minerals etc. are derived from plants. In my mind that isn't a natural way for their bodies to utilize those nutrients. Do they gain some benefit? I don't know. Maybe. I was encouraged by my holistic vet to add a supplement to my Katrinka's food when I first got her because she was extremely malnourished. The supplement was a powder that contained: Wild Artic Salmon Oil, Organic Safflower Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Alfalfa Powder, Organic Kelp, Organic Dulse Flakes, Organic Psyllium Husk, Organic Turmeric Powder, Vitamin-Mineral Mix w/ Taurine I fed that to her for about a week. She developed horrible breath, her coat stopped improving and she seemed less energetic. I stopped giving it to her. Things improved again. I guess it will be up to you to decide what makes sense. And of course you should ask the opinion of others on the forum. There are a few people that love to give supplements and others that would rather figure out what meats would fill those requirements. Here are a couple of web sites to help you figure out what vitamins and minerals are abundant in which meats: www.thefoodchart.com/meat-and-poultry.phpnutritiondata.self.com/Hope that helps.
|
|
|
Post by 3kaw on Nov 17, 2010 19:41:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the websites, i`ll check them out. I haven`t had much time on line today but i will post my question to others to get an idea how other do this as well. The majority of the meat is local free range, as that's what we buy for ourselves. I do have some omegas mixed into the soup, and a bit of the ferretvite but it`s not a lot. I put ground up chicken in the cage last night, raw and not mixed with anything. Zeke ate a few good chunks right after i put it in! Didn`t look like anyone else touched it. Zeke is getting better at going back and finishing up or at least eating some of what i leave in the cage ( i usually leave any left over soup mix after their breakfast, then replace with whatever is left after their supper, at bedtime i replace that with just raw in one bowl and a bit of kibble for Trix) Trixie is struggling again. Her sugars are going up too high, urinating LOTS everywhere, so we`ve been working with her all day to help keep her hydrated and balance her sugars. I found the kidney, had to order it, i pick up tomorrow. The butcher gave me the number of some slaughter houses they order from for the brain and lung. They said they are not allowed to sell brain. ? I`m going to make a list of what to feed when. more so i don't have to think about it, but also so others can feed them if i`m working. i`ll post once i have something concrete for you to look over.
|
|
|
Post by luci on Nov 18, 2010 1:23:28 GMT -5
Poor Trixie. Is she eating okay or is she fighting you at mealtimes?
Yeah brain is one of those things that have been an issue in the past. Remember Mad Cow disease? I've fed pork brain to my crew with "meh" results. But the only brain I could find was Hormel, so who the heck knows what kind of junk was added to that.
That will be wonderful to have a list already.
|
|