Matilda, Penny, Oliver, and Baxter go raw!

[Forum Administrator]

i like the idea of the brown paper bags. do you only use them once each?

Nope I just use them until they get "nasty".

could i get some sort of plastic bin thing to cut a door out of the side and turn over or something?

Of course!

do you have to wash the ferrets after they eat? or do they clean themselves well enough that you dont have to? i dont want any of my roomies picking up one of the babies giving them kisses and then getting sick. it wouldnt go over well . lol.

Nope, no washing required. Sometimes Fugue will get a little blood on his chin from a mouse and I'll wipe it up with a babywipe, but when on raw I've never had to clean them up. Just dont "make out" with your ferret right after they've been chewing on a raw chicken wing!

They are pro raw diet and are interested in my switching my business.

Hallelujiah!!!!! Its so nice to have a vet SUPPORT this diet! Count yourself lucky, others arent so fourtunate!

Now they are face deep into soup.

*Grins* Excellent! A perfect update! Glad to hear all is going well, I couldnt ask for more

[wmella85]

two steps forward....three steps backwards.

all of the kids seem different. they are more lethargic, their eyes look all bleary, and they seem hungry. i feel so bad for them, i think they are blaming me for how they feel. only daddy is getting kisses right now.


i cant get them to eat soup with really small bits of chicken chunks. i tried force feeding it to them. that didnt go well. i got alot of dirty looks. my boyfriend held them and i tried stuffing chicken bits into their mouths. they would spit it out and look at him like, "why are you letting her do this to me?"

it was sad.

im feeling alot of guilt. they look really unhappy.

i need some help. i dont kow what to do. they will eat the soup with the blended chicken. penny is readily taking soup out of the syringe. but as soon as i put any visible chicken. they refuse.


ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! i dont like their sad little faces...

[Forum Administrator]

Take the step back. Get them onto what they were eating before (the soup and chicken). Dont worry if they wont take chunks right away. They will eventually I promise.

Lower energy is normal during the initial switch, but once they are all raw, the energy spikes right back up, I promise.

Im going to grab Haley and Jaycee (who are switching too) they've been where you are at and can give you some good advice. Hang in there! and remember, its OK to take that step back. It feels bad to have to do it BUT if you are patient, they WILL switch

[hales]

Jul 2, 2008 16:41:16 GMT -5 wmella85 said:

all of the kids seem different. they are more lethargic, their eyes look all bleary, and they seem hungry.

This won't last long! I went through this with my fuzzies as well, and I didn't expect it to happen. Rikki had very bad diarrhea, and I feared he would become dehydrated very quickly, so I ran and got some pedialyte immediately.
After giving the pedialyte for a while, and keeping up on having them eat the soupie, they became very active again. Theyre also ultra-cuddly now (I swear, feeding them chicken made them LOVE attention! lol) Even Luna (who was a rescue and was mistreated, and never really gets too excited and plays with the others) was PUMPED today, and all 3 were fighting and going crazy, causing a ruckus

If they are experiencing diarrhea, I would supplement with pedialyte. And it'll seem like they're just completely WHIPPED and EXHAUSTED for a few days, but they'll perk up soon. Although Rikki and Luna are still sleeping pretty deeply, but I like that....I like knowing that they can get hteir bellies full of chicken and fall into a happy, deep slumber

Jul 2, 2008 16:41:16 GMT -5 wmella85 said:

i cant get them to eat soup with really small bits of chicken chunks. i tried force feeding it to them. that didnt go well. i got alot of dirty looks. my boyfriend held them and i tried stuffing chicken bits into their mouths. they would spit it out and look at him like, "why are you letting her do this to me?"
.

Haha we tried this too. We got a video of it, actually.. We didn't have much luck.




The funny part is while we're trying to get Molly to eat a chunk of chicken, we look over and see Rikki being all cutesie and stuff in the cage, begging for attention. It really has changed their temperament, which seems silly but I can't even describe it.

I am truly excited to be feeding raw food now, I've only been doing it for a little while now, but I can already see a very positive difference.

Stick with it. Once I felt I had made progress, they would regress and decide they DIDN'T like soupie or broth-kibble anymore, and I had to start over and get them used to the same foods over and over again.

Don't get discouraged. Just keep your fuzzie's health in mind

If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask me. I JUST experienced what you're going through, so I know exactly how it feels. I get on a few times a day, so I should reply pretty quickly.


Good luck with the diet change!

[wmella85]

okay so i have changed the soup mix.

it is a combination of:
6oz. ground hamburger (was going into dinner and decided they needed it more, lol. boyfriend wasn't pleased. )
a large chicken breast
half a cup of kibble ground up (so i know that they get the nutrition)
7oz. of olive oil

this made like eight 3.5 oz. meals. it is thicker and they seem to be liking it. i am going to try Jaycee's method of thickening until it turns its self into chunks. we will see how it goes.

penny is loving her servings from the syringe though. this is the positive i am taking from right now. penny and i are not really close. she doesn't really like anyone. she hisses and is nonsocial. i am hoping this will be semi-equivalent to a mother nursing her child and the bond that creates. it has made me feel something more for her already. its like we are sharing this special moment where she needs me. so thats my positive for today. we have shared three really special moments.
maybe the syringe of food will make her look at me with .

[Forum Administrator]

Looks like a plan. The only thing I would change is that I would add no (or alot less) olive oil to the next batch of soupie (if you make another batch that is ). This will work fine for now, but I'd avoid olive oil in the future. IMO since its plant based (and ferrets cant digest plants) it provides minimal use to the ferret. Fish oil is a better option IMO (but you have to use this SUPER sparingly. Def not 7 oz of fish oil in the soup).

Weeeee I'm excited! and yes, syringe feeding SHOULD help you bond with Penny.

Does she bite? If not here's another thing you can do to bond:

(Read kim's (josiesmom's) post in this thread about "spit feeding" your ferret lol, its reply #10--------not as gross/weird as it sounds, I swear! Just read her post, and my comments to it )

holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=talking&action=display&thread=592

[wmella85]

so apparently we had some success. my boyfriend, Colby, is very helpful with the ferrets. and i have trained him how to take care of the kids if anything EVER happened to me. god forbid. so anyway, i was going to be late getting home and i knew that the kids were going to be hungry. i fed them at 7:30am and i didnt get home til just now. so i called colby around five and asked him to give the kids their soup and to syringe feed penny as much as she would take. well she ate the whole 10 ml and then got in the cage and ate some out of the bowl!!! damnit! she would do it for her daddy and not me!!! but i am still very happy that she did it. i just wish i had been there!!!


and next time i make soup i will cut out the evoo. i thought i read somewhere on here that it is good to put in the soup. but noone ever uses amounts!!!!! i need amounts!!! i am a newbie! tell me so put blank amount and i will. dont be so vague people!!!!!

[Forum Administrator]

Yay! This is great news!

In regards to the evoo. Some people like to give it but honestly I dont understand why. Its from a plant and ferrets get little to no benefit from plants. Why give olive oil when you could give a meat based oil like emu oil or fish oil It just doesnt make sense to me personally.

Oh, as far as amounts go. When I make a blender full of soupy for De I puncture two fish oil capsules and drain them into the soup. Less then 1 tbsp (so not alot at all) Hope this helps!

But back on topic, go babies go! Im so proud! You're getting there! Keep me posted, I cant wait for more updates!

[wmella85]

we had a big success today! i was about to syringe feed penny, i was attempting to unclog the syringe and squirted it all over the cage! gross. so i had to do ferty laundry. which was okay. they were getting a bath today anyway. so i sat on the floor with her, scruffed her and let soupie run from a spoon into her mouth. i released the scruff and se ate out of the spoon! then i lowered her to the floor and lowered the spoon into the bowl and she ate the majority of her serving from the bowl!!!!! yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Forum Administrator]

Yay! Im happy to hear this (syringe feeding can be a PAIN!). How are the others doing?

[wmella85]

they are all doing well. baxter, matilda and oliver are slowly switching to t-niny small peices of meat. penny seems to be okay with chewing chucnks also. i fed them at 7am this morning, and then gain at 3pm, and they all crowded around the bowl and ate the entire thing except for the coarsly ground kibble. they picked all the meat out and ate that! im so proud!!!!

in summary: we are working on introducing chuncks or meat slowly!

i think that i am going to go get them weighed again thursday. i dont see any major changes. but i want to be aware if matilda is losing anything. what meat can i add to keep the weight she has on her?

[Forum Administrator]

Pork, lamb, and beef are all good for keeping weight up (although your edible bone will have to come from chicken )

Yay! Im thrilled to hear this news. I cant wait till they are totally weaned off kibble and start eating larger chunks! Hooray!

[wmella85]

meeeeeeeeeeeee too! btw, does the fish oil caps make fo stinky poops or bo? i dont like fish smells that linger. that would be my only worry. i tried looking for emu oil. not much luck for under $20. any suggestions? is it necessary? ill buy it if i need to though.

[Forum Administrator]

Honestly, if you are feeding a good well rounded diet I see no need to include ANY type of oil You can feed salmon (or whole frozen-thawed anchovies and/or sardines) and these can add a nice kick of omega-3 to the diet (I dont think it makes their poop smell). Another way to add omega-3 without additional supplements is to find GRASS FED beef/pork/lamb (also called pasteured, note: NOT pasturIZED). Grass fed meat contains higher levels of omega three. A final thing you can do is buy "omega 3 enchanced eggs" basically the chickens were fed a feed that contains a higher amount of omega-3 so the eggs contain more omega 3.

If you feed these eggs once a week, along with grass fed beef once a week, and salmon/ancovies/sardines once a week, your ferret will be getting PLENTY of omega-3, no supplements required.

I am not really a fan of supplements as its easy to give too much, and according to Dr. Susan Brown (well known ferret vet) oil supplements can often lead to obesity. When omega-3 is taken in in a natural way (IN the food and not from oils) it lowers the risk of ODing and obesity.

Now I will give a drop or two of oil once a week to distract my ferrets during nail clippings, but do I supplement their food with oil? Nope. I see no reason too.

Hope this helps

[wmella85]

today was rough. babies are being BAD, im tired of making soup, and penny wont stop scratching the plastic pannels of the cage. they have been out for six hours today. they are driving me nuts. doing everything they can to be evil babies.

okay enough venting. back to diet. baxter is eating a few CC (chicken chunks) if i spoon feed him his soup. sounds like one step forward one step back. matilda will eat the microscopic CCs, and penny is probably at the same point as Tilly.

i didnt see ollie eat, he is asleep. i picked him up and put him in front of the bowl, but he didnt look interested and curled up again. he will eat when he wakes up.

i cant wait to chuck them a chicken and let them go at it. lol.

i need to make more soupie. what should be in it?? measurements would be appreciated. i wanna learn what amounts equal a balanced diet. im a numbers kinda girl, not a little of this, a pinch of that. im a science geek, you gotta love it.