|
Post by k10widow on Sept 18, 2008 12:54:55 GMT -5
I'm Kristen and I'm from Minnesota. My husband and I are owned by one senior ferret and a cat.
I absouletly love the graphics and the board layout here. Kudos to the admin and graphics person!!
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 18, 2008 15:51:08 GMT -5
Hey Kristen, welcome to the group! You are from Everything Ferrets, right? Feel free to promote your board in your siggy Thanks for the compliments on the graphics and board layout credit for the layout goes to me lol ( ) credit for the graphics goes to Thai artist, Polawat Darapong. He did a great job on our logo and our graphics and emoticons. I hope you enjoy the site and are able to make use of it. Please feel free to ask questions and if there is anything we can do to help you out, just ask!
|
|
|
Post by k10widow on Sept 18, 2008 16:20:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the warm welcome Guili! Yep, I am from EF. I can't believe EF has been going for 7 years. I really like the niche you cut out for yourself and I appreciate everything you are doing here. I'm a nutrition nut when it comes to ferrets and I think more people need to know about your site. I will see what I can do to help you.
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 18, 2008 16:37:58 GMT -5
Thank you Kristen for your compliments! I realized the importance of NATURAL ferret nutrition soon after I got my first ferret. He was my first pet and I just didnt want him to get sick with insulinoma, or peridontal disease, bladder stones, or IBD. I realized how important diet was to good health. The more I read about ferret biology to more commercial ferret kibbles made no sense to me. Their high carb content and low moisture levels can potentially cause a whole array of issues in the ferret, regardless of how "premium" the ingredients. The more I looked into how commercial pet kibbles affect ferrets and cats I knew I had to find another way to feed. I dove head first into natural ferret nutrition and havent looked back since. Since starting my own kids on this diet I felt compelled to spread the word to all who would listen to me speak. I am a pre-vet student that plans to specialize in natural nutrition and integrative medicine for dogs, cats, and ferrets. Starting Holistic Ferret was a way for me to help others before I got my DVM. There is an informative website that is coming out that will compliment this forum. My Holistic Ferret Website (not this forum) will have well cited, well formatted, easy to use and understand guides, lists, and charts for feeding either a raw diet based on the whole prey model or a whole prey diet. I had planned on opening the site last month, but I am a bit behind. I'm currently citing all the written text. Its taking alot of time. Almost every other line of text in this website has a cited source and it takes alot of hours to get everything cited and formatted properly. I'm also a full time college student and I will be working again (full time) shortly so its progressing as fast as I can make it. Until then the Holistic Ferret Forum is here to help those that need assistance with natural diets. NaturalFerrets is the other natural ferret forum out there, they recently moved their yahoo! group to this address www.NaturalFerrets.com . I really hope their move takes off, I was never a fan of the yahoo! group format Thank you for offering to help spread the word about our site. In return feel free to spread the word about your own site, here on THIS forum, we like to facilitate relationships between all the ferret forums. Its nice because then people come here and recognize alot of their friends from other forums. I'm honored to have you and if you have any suggestions for the site, I'm all ears.
|
|
|
Post by k10widow on Sept 18, 2008 16:47:47 GMT -5
Wow Guili! When do you have time sleep? I wish I could say as I'm involved with the ferret community and nutrition as you are, and as I used to be. My job has me working tons of crazy hours all over the place. I'm the Regional Manager for the 2 (almost 3) locations of the School of Rock in Minnesota. So not only do I work with ferrets but I'm also trying to help kids realize thier rock n' dreams. It's really rewarding but also very tiring. I think we could have a fantastic partnership. I love to work with other managers who are in this for the right reason - education. You are one of the few that has it right! Your heart is in the right place. I appreciate you being in the community! As for suggestions, I don't think I have any for you. It looks great. You have a very nice open forum. The graphics and layout are fantastic. Everything is clean and well layed out. Maybe you can give me a few pointers when it comes to layout If I can be of any help please let me know. EF moved to the proboards format almost 4 years ago and I'm very familar with it. If I don't know how to do something there is someone at EF who does. Thanks again! -Kristen
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 18, 2008 17:15:11 GMT -5
I don't get much sleep But I guess that is good practice for vet school I was volunteering as a docent at a wolf sanctuary, but I had to stop because I just didn't have the time. I'm happy spending all my time involved with animals and helping people with their animals. Sometimes though I think I need to get out more and maybe read about some different stuff. I can tell you all about how a ferret's body is specifically designed to eat a raw or whole prey diet, right down to specifics about their salivary glands, but if you asked me about current events or politics, I'd go: "huh?" I can't help it though, this stuff is just so d**n interesting to me! I really enjoy helping people put their ferrets onto natural diets. It just makes me beam when I hear someone say "I always tried to put my ferret onto a natural diet, but nothing worked. THANK YOU for helping me FINALLY do it!" or to have someone rave about how healthy their ferret is now, or how their sick/dying ferret seems so much more active ever since switching to natural. It just reafrims my desire to keep spreading the word.
|
|
|
Post by k10widow on Sept 18, 2008 17:26:56 GMT -5
Holistic Ferret has been added to the EF approved sites list!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 18, 2008 17:28:32 GMT -5
Thank you, Kristen. EF is already on our list of links that is stickied in the "general ferret chat" section But I did add "Everything Ferret Forum" under your user name
|
|
|
Post by suds on Sept 18, 2008 20:00:17 GMT -5
Hi Kristen welcome to forum its a great gruop of friendly people here .
|
|
|
Post by timmysmom20 on Sept 19, 2008 10:25:29 GMT -5
Hi Kristen, welcome to the fourm i just jjoined myself, i been trying to get back into everything ferret but my login dont work anymore i miss being over there reading the post and all but been real busy with my shelter kids and all. hope to get back on soon tell snaz and Barb i said hi.. hugs and glad to see ya again
|
|
|
Post by k10widow on Sept 19, 2008 21:34:33 GMT -5
Thank you, Kristen. EF is already on our list of links that is stickied in the "general ferret chat" section But I did add "Everything Ferret Forum" under your user name You are awesome! Thanks! Hi Kristen welcome to forum its a great gruop of friendly people here . Thanks for the welcome. I already love this place! Hi Kristen, welcome to the fourm i just jjoined myself, i been trying to get back into everything ferret but my login dont work anymore i miss being over there reading the post and all but been real busy with my shelter kids and all. hope to get back on soon tell snaz and Barb i said hi.. hugs and glad to see ya again Sorry I went through the member list a few a weeks ago to clean up a bit. You must have been caught in the whirlwind. Sorry about that. I will tell them Hi!
|
|
|
Post by ferretpalooza on Sept 19, 2008 22:30:16 GMT -5
Welcome Kristin. Glad you are here. Are you feeding your senior raw??
|
|
|
Post by k10widow on Sept 19, 2008 22:42:46 GMT -5
Welcome Kristin. Glad you are here. Are you feeding your senior raw?? Thanks for the welcome. I knew this questions was going to come up. Not at this time. But I'm here to learn about natural diets for both Koa and my cat "Monkey".
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 19, 2008 23:44:11 GMT -5
Well you are in the right place I feed my cat raw and whole prey, so I can help you get your kitty onto a natural diet (raw, commercial raw, whole prey, whatever you want). As for Koa, I can help you out with him as well. De was 8 years old when she made the switch to a natural diet. She hasnt fully switched to whole raw foods, but she does get a breakfast of ground raw food mix that contains meat/bone/organ (in proper ratios), and for dinner she gets a mouse or chick or quail that has been pureed and blended smooth in a food processor (I dont expect anyone to do this Im just crazy). She has trouble eating because her teeth are very worn down. I am still trying to get her to eat bigger chunks of meat, but it wont be the end of the world if she doesnt. Suprisngly it took very little time to get De onto raw! The key was that she already liked duk soup. All I did was modify her duk soup recipie a bit. She took to the new "soup" right away. This soup was made up of the follow (and was served raw): 8oz chicken thigh meat (including skin and fat) RAW 1tsp of ground eggshell powder 1/2 chicken liver 1 chicken heart 1/4 of a natural made omega 3 fish oil capsule She ate that for a little while and then I worked her up to ground foods by slowly slipping it into the soup (and then reducing the amount of soupy). She now eats ground mixes from Hare Today. All I do is supplement with a little organ meat each week. Shes doing quite well When you are ready to switch Koa, just start a thread in the "Holistic Ferret Mentor Program" section of the Natural Nutrition Area. Even if Koa doesnt make the full switch to WHOLE raw foods, eating ground raw is still 100 million times better then eating kibble That doesnt mean though that we cant try to get him eating whole raw foods. One of our mentors, Heather, just put a 10 year old ferret onto a non-ground raw diet So you are in good hands when it comes to switching senior ferret citizens.
|
|
|
Post by buzzonesbirdie on Sept 20, 2008 10:53:03 GMT -5
Sorry Im a little late in saying HELLO!! but here I am. Welcome to the board !!
|
|