Meet New Member(s), Angel & Vega

[angel]

Hi All!

My name is Angel and my ferret's name is Vega and she is the newest addition to our family.

I owned 2 ferrets years ago and have never forgot how much I enjoyed the experience. So, after many years, I decided to venture into ferret ownership again. I only have one ferret because it is all I can responsibly afford financially.

Owning one ferret (and not multiple) will be a new experience for me, along with introducing her into a home with a dog (who is scared of her currently, lol). I guess since I'm on a roll with new experiences in ferret ownership I'd venture into possibly feeding Vega a raw diet (I'll admit that I'm a bit too squeamish for the live diet).

I think my biggest concern is that I'm afraid my inexperience would harm Vega. Secondary concerns would be keeping the dog and my 2 year-old away from accidentally ingesting the raw meat. I guess in that, as well, would be my acknowledgment of having only a basic understanding of ferret nutritional needs. Unfortunately, my understanding was limited to buying high quality kibble, opening the bag, and reading only the general topics pertaining to ferret nutrition (protein, sugar, veggies).

So I'll be reading (well continuing to read!) all the information and seeing how reasonable it would be for me to introduce a raw diet into baby Vega's life. Thank you for making a resource like this available and making new (and old) ferret owners think outside 'the bag'.

(How cute are the ferret smilies!)

[Heather]

Hi and Welcome Angel and Vega:D
Please feel free to ask questions, read posts...go into the newbie section and have a look at the system that Giuli has set up for anyone who wants to have someone guide them through the raw process (mentoring). We're a friendly lot here. I've been feeding a natural diet to my furkids (at the moment 14 ferrets, 2 cats and an irish wolfhound puppy) for over 10 yrs now, it's not really a difficult process, it just seems that way when you first start out
I'm guessing that Vega is still quite young? They're the easiest to switch, they've not become imprinted yet and are "usually" quite willing to try new foods (like all children though you run into some who don't like to try new things )
You don't have to feed prey to get all the benefits of raw so, here, we work with what you're comfortable with. You will never get slammed for your choice Prey is the ultimate feeding as it's already balanced (unless of course you only feed young animals). I feed all 3, ground, whole raw or frankenprey, and prey.
Like I said earlier, please feel free to post questions add input, make use of our resources. I hope I will see you around
ciao

[Forum Administrator]

Welcome to the group! You've come to the right place if you are looking for guidence in feeding a proper raw diet. I should also point out that with the whole animal diet (called a whole prey diet) you dont HAVE to feed LIVE animals. If you were interested, you can feed pre-killed, frozen-thawed animals. They work just fine

As for the dog eating the meat, well just like your ferret, your dog can (and really should) eat a raw diet. So even if your dog ingests the meat, you'll be fine To elminate the chances that your puppy will steal your ferret's meal (or that your two year old will eat it) you can feed your ferret in the cage, the bathtub, or in a special "feeding box". This way you limit the areas where your ferret can bring the food

Here are some links to get you started on the site:

Start posting any questions you may have about natural feeding here:
holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbquest

and when you are ready to begin the switch, start a thread here where you post updates on your ferret(s) progress:
holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbie

Be sure to fill out one of these forms and copy/paste it into your first post in that thread:
holisticferret.proboards80.com/in....play&thread=822

Feel free to ask any and all questions you may have. Like Heather said we are a friendly group, and we are here to help you feed your ferret the best diet possible

[angel]

Thank you for such a warm welcome!

Heather - Yes it seems extremely overwhelming right now to process everything! LOL - frankenprey - too funny!

Guili - I'm working on my comfort level in feeding even frozen prey to her. (I'm such a wuss )



Sorry it took me a couple days to update. Since we've had Vega we noticed she scares easy (more so than other ferrets) and would bite when scared. Since she was an unexpected purchase (pet store, sad ferret story purchase, lol I contacted my local ferret rescue for some advice who suggested she may be deaf.

I didn't even know this was a possibility, but after a bunch of different home tests we feel pretty confident that this is what is wrong with our baby Vega. We have a vet appointment scheduled for tomorrow for her and we contacted the pet store and they offered to exchange her which was kind of sad. I mean I understand they're trying to do good business practices with me, but it occurred to me (epiphany moment if you will) that no animal should be 'good business'.

Baby Vega will not be exchanged or replaced. See I am recently disabled (one year now) due to an ear infection that spread to the nerve that shares the space damaging my hearing and balance. So the protective nature in me responded even deaf she is still worth her price. I wonder how many just want an exchange that this is their normal response.

I've read that deaf ferrets are often misunderstood by unaware owners and that it can lead to bad behaviors being reinforced or, even worse, maltreatment. So this experience reaffirmed my decision to buy her because I know she'll never have to worry about being misunderstood for something she can't communicate. I feel like we have something in common and it's comforting (hopefully to her as well). Fate has a way of intervening, doesn't it?

It does come with a smidge of sadness though. Knowing she can't hear me tell her 'I love you' and that she doesn't (and likely won't) make all the normal ferret sounds. However she does hiss, even playing, and there's a lot of humor in saying she's having a 'hissing contest' with us. We still have to reprogram our thinking that hissing doesn't automatically mean bad with her.

What's super cool is baby Vega responds excellently to visual cues, and we even got her to weasel war dance last night. The only thing that is difficult (for me) to remember is that she doesn't respond to sound. I'm so used to shaking a bell or making the eee-eee-eee sounds. I'm adjusted to sneaking up and attacking them, but with her I have to remember to catch her attention before pouncing and to use visual cues as 'conversation'. It's not a hard adjustment, it's just different and requires me to be more aware.

So that's where we are right now and I hope you all don't mind that I've rambled here a bit. I've also registered at the ferret.com forum board but I never got the initial email and can't figure out who to contact there so I can activate my account. I thought it would be a good place to sign up for support as well.

I do have a question regarding the vet appointment. I plan on telling the vet my desires to do a raw diet but I am prepared that they may not be as keen on the idea. How do owners approach this idea with a vet? (BTW, the ferret rescue operator feeds her baby raw as well, so I have another awesome - and local - support system!)

Once I speak with the vet and just verify that her disability won't require me being more hesitant about raw feeding then I think I'll be posting to get the switch going! (yay!)

Guili one link wouldn't work for me:

holisticferret.proboards80.com/in....play&thread=822

The one with the form I need to fill out.

Thanks again for such a warm welcome. I definitely feel like I'm giving Vega a very good start. I've placed her onto Ferret Evo for now in the interim.

[suds]

Hi Angel and Vega
Vega is a lucky girl to find someone who can understand her 1 thing you can try to is hold her up your chest and talk to her she can feel the vibrations from your voice it can help with bonding and convidence Ferrets are very adaptable animals and hearing will not stop them one bit from enjoys life , most people dont even know there ferrets are deaf becuase they are so quick to adapting and using vibration, eyesite and smell to overcome it

[Heather]

Hi Angel, I'm sorry to hear that Vega is deaf but they're very capable at coping with this. I presently have 4 deaf ferrets in house. It is sad that they can't hear us tell them how much we love them but they can feel your breath on their fur and their face. They're also very visual, think of something that she likes that you can do for her I place my guys against my chest and talk to them while rubbing their bellies. Each loves this particular treatment. They can feel the vibration of your voice. My newest Mr. Fun-go Squiggly, is now getting used to be held, snuggled and handled. He no longer bites, though he still startles badly at least he doesn't strike out any more
You're right about people misunderstanding them. They're usually biters. Their usual response to being startled is to bite first and ask questions later. As they cannot hear you yell, when they bite too hard, they're usually hit or thrown or dunked under water to make them let go . Each method, causes more fear and causes them to bite whenever they see a hand come near them. You have done a wonderful thing by taking in this baby...you've saved her from a life of possible abuse and rescues. I've had 11 notorious biter ferrets turned into me, of those 9 were deaf.
Now, dealing with a vet...that can be tricky. Some vets are favourable, a lot are not, in fact can be down right nasty. You can pick your battles.. Your vet may or may not inquire about what you're feeding. You can keep that information to yourself and ask vague questions to see where your options lie. See what side the vet actually plays. Some vets will not look beyond the raw diet and blame all illnesses that occur on the diet, others tell you horrible tales of salmonella and other horrible diseases. The easiest thing to remember that ferrets like most true carnivores and are built to be able to deal with these pathogenes. Some vets are more open and receptive to the diet. I'm lucky my vet is receptive to raw feeding of my furbabies, in fact she actually advocates it.
I hope this answered some of your questions. I wish you good luck with your vet appt. I hope I will see your around
ciao

[weloveourweasels]

I hope you are liking it here. What an interesting name your little one has.