Fatten 'im up

[charmantpapillon]

Beast is still underweigth because hes growling faster than can put weight on him i'l like to start a lard or cream regim to put a little extra weight on him si he can grow as little or as much as he needs to without worrying if he has enoug weight.

How much lard or cream would i give him and which one would you recommend? and HOW do i give it to him.

[mangekyousharingan]

If Beast is still a kit, I would recommend just feeding him more. Kits tend to eat A LOT. When Beast gets older, he will definitely eat less, so just bear with it. It is important to feed him nothing but raw/whole prey when he is still growing, not only because he will attain a better build, but also because he really does need more of all the nutrients found in meat. I would leave the whipping cream for older ferrets, or for a ferret that is refusing to eat, though for the latter I would try syringe feeding first.

[charmantpapillon]

He always has meat in his bowl i trade it out every few hours but he always has access to food he's putting on weight but thats because hes using everything gien to him to grow hes still awfully bony.

[Heather]

Raw grows kits and other little carnivore babies lean and hard muscled. We're used to seeing flabby from kibbles. You don't want that. Give your little one time. Winter is coming, he will start putting on weight then as nature intended. Make sure that your meat chunks are well marbled with fat, leave the skin on your chicken, turkey and quail. I've never used lard or cream (that's not saying I wouldn't if the need came up, but I've never had to yet). All my furbabies carry good weight. During the winter they put on considerable body weight and beautiful coats if the winter is harsh (somehow they seem to know this). During the summer, they're lean, sleak and have glossy coats.
Just and observation that I've made through the years of raw diets
ciao

[charmantpapillon]

Spank you heather i'll wait, see if he bulks up more. And the only time he didnt have skin on his meat was the first two days when i started switching and that was because i chopped up boneless skinless chicken breasts after those first two days he had everyhtgin fatty and skin on. He just doesnt eat alot when he does eat he always has food vailable but at the most he eats about 4 wingletts a day (thats his doing not mine he ALWAYS has food in his bowl when i notice it getting low i refill it) but hes putting weight on just no bulk and i cant see his hip bones any more but when you pet him you can feel his vertebre and his hip bones. i can also feel his ribs when i scoop him up hes alot better than he was when i got him but i still think hes TOO skinny and if he doesnt get enough fat he might not grow to the size hes supposed to be.

[josiesmom]

I feed lard free choice. I just put a glob of it in a dish and let them take it as they want. Usually they'll just lick a few swipes and that's that. But I've seen sometimes where they go at it like an ice cream cone.

Many of our meats from the grocery store are produced to be lean. Ferrets are designed for a high fat diet. They don't suffer from cholesterol like humans do. If your ferret feels bony, he does need more weight. Youngsters do go through awkward phases, but if the shoulders, backbone and hip bones are prominent, he needs more weight.

The nice thing about fat is that you can pretty much tell if there is too much in his diet by monitoring his poops (go figure - more poop to watch)

If there is too much going in and his system can't assimilate it yo'll begin to see bird seedy poop. The poop will also LOOK greasy and be oily looking as well as very light colored, almost white.

You could also inject his meaty pieces with the lard - like with a basting injector. Another good source of nutritious fatty substances is the marrow from bones. Smash open the larger chicken leg bones for him, or pick up some soup bones and scoop out the marrow. Use this like the lard.

Chicken backs are high fat items and if you crack the backs, you can actually SEE some marrow ooze out from the bones.

As for the whipping cream - I offer it on sundays along with a beaten egg. IF you let him have a little bit it won't hurt him and may offer some calcium and other nutrients as well as fats.

His poops and his fleshing out will tell you if the higher fat in his diet is working.

Cheers,
Kim

[charmantpapillon]

Oooh thankyooo =D <3 <3 i've been worried about him because he is putting weight on but its being put towards making him grow not giving him muscle

[mangekyousharingan]

It's Giuli (Im just too lazy to log out of Tim's user name and log into mine)

It IS summer and you arent going to see huge amounts of weight gain. If he is eating 4 winglets a day that is alot of bone and not enough meat. Try out wings, legs, and thighs. Wingettes/winglettes are really just snack foods, he's not going to fill up on them and gain the weight he needs. Bone should only make up 10% of the diet, so he really needs to be filling up on alot of meat, skin, fat, tendon, ligaments, etc.

I think the best way to go here is to add in meats with a higher fat content (not just adding in pure fat, like lard). Beef and pork are excellent choices, as is lamb. Chicken backs can be high in fat, but they are also a bit too high in bone (this can throw off the proper diet ratio)

I don't see a problem with adding lard or cream SPARINGLY but I would really rather see you feed MORE food and feed him food that is higher in fat (as opposed to feeding pure fat ie. lard). Feeding large amounts of pure fat is a recipe for diet imbalance, in my opinion. Fat and Cream are pretty tasty to ferrets. Even ones that don't eat much normally might pig out on these foods. That's why it would be easy for them to overeat the lard and get a diet imbalance.

From my understanding Josiesmom's babies all eat a proper amount of food, so adding in that lard to their diet is just a little extra. Like a cherry on top. For YOUR guy it really seems like he needs to eat more I fear that if you add in lard that he'll fill up on that instead of on other things like bone and meat. I dont want to see an imbalance here. I agree with Tim and Heather. I would personally skip the lard and go with fattier meats (the lamb, the pork, the beef)

Also, if I'm not mistaken, isn't lard COOKED? I would rather see you feed RAW fat then cooked fat. Cooking fat really changes it ALOT on a chemical level. This affects how a ferret digests it.

Sometimes it can be good to get a vet's opinion on if your ferret seems over or underweight. I'll be honest I wouldnt go into the vet and say "my ferret eats raw and I think he's underweight. Is he?" Lots of vets will peg all your ferret's problems on diet and make you feel like you are killing them. If you DO go to the vet to get an opinion on his weight and they ask what you feed, just say kibble (you feed EVO and natural gold with some wysong mixed in ) trust me it will save you alot of headaches. This way you can get an honest opinion from your vet on his weight without the raw diet creating any stupid biases.

Hope this helps.

-Giuliana

[charmantpapillon]

thanks Giuli. i wasnt going to over supplement just maybe add a LITTLE here and there and the wingette is an exapmle of what he eats on a rmb day from what i've seen i'm assuming hes eating the same amount on muscle meat days also on rmb days i add muscle meat in as well he just had a wingette and a handfull of beef chunks he ignored the wingett and ate half of the beef then passed out.

[Forum Administrator]

Yeah the wingettes are WAY to small. Work him up to chicken legs, wings, and thighs. Cornish game hen is also great

[charmantpapillon]

he eats game hens and he has thighs in the freezer i just go to walmart or meijers and buy the big frozen bags of stuff i wont buy the tyson brand because not only is its price high but it ADDS chicken broth to make it TASTE better to us humans so i make sure the bags i guy dont have chicken broth assed but i'll keep the wings for treats and snacks and add in chicken legs to his thighs.