Taz, Damien and Bandit go raw

[amymelissa]

1. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names, ages, genders, and do they have any health problems (this is VERY important)? We have one girl named Tazzel, Taz for short. We were told she is about 1 ½ - 2 and has no health problems we are aware of. 2 boys named Damien and Bandit. No known health problems with the boys either.

2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup). Taz was on Marshall's but is now on raw soup only. Bandit and Damien both were also n Marshall's but I stopped the kibble and am giving them soup.

3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to? RAW for now. However Michael wants to feed prey as well.

4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet? I know it’s the healthy way to feed them.

5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets? When I got my first Rottweiler (2 years ago) I learned about RAW diets.

6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? I don’t have a weight on her as of yet but she is TINY. I wouldn’t say underweight but just a very small girl! I would say her muscle tone is average.She's not limp but not a bodybuilder either. The boys seem on the thin side to me, at least compared to Taz but Taz has also gained weight since she has been on raw only.

7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?) Taz's teeth are white and her gums looks good. The boys both have very white teeth and nice looking gums.
Taz

Damien

Bandit


8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat. She is pure white with a strip of cream that starts at the middle of her back and ends at the bottom of her tail. It gets darker the farther down it goes. Her coat is very coarse. The boys both have coarse fur and dry skin. Damien is white with gray. He looks a lot like a possum. Bandit is dark brown with some white.

9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom? Taz goes about 5 to 6 times a day at least. The boys go a lot, more than Taz and yes it stinks compared to Taz.

10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell? Not really. The dogs smell worse

11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor? Taz has that "normal ferret smell but it's not overpowering. The boys on the other hand omg they are pretty stinky.

12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level? I would say about an 8 or so. When awake she is one busy little girl. The boys are a 9 they never stop!

13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble) I don't know.

14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific. This is my first attempt, ever. (with a ferret)

15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share? She is adopted. I don’t know how much of the information I was given is correct and accurate. The boys are also adopted so I don't know how much info was correct. The owner thought they were girls!

16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below: Taz

Damien

Bandit

17.
a.) Do you understand that by starting this thread you commit to posting updates on the progress of your ferret(s) diet switch at least every other day?** Yes

b.) Do you understand that if you will be away from your computer for an extended period of time you will need to exchange phone numbers (or email addresses if you don't feel comfortable exchanging numbers)via private message with your assigned mentor, so that we can monitor your progress and ensure your ferret's saftey during the switch? Yes

c.) Do you understand that any threads that have not been updated in for more then a week (with no explaination as to why you are absent) will result in the deletion of the thread?*** Understood

**Note 1: If you are unable to make it to a computer (such as on weekends) please indicate below so we know whether you just dont have computer access or if you have gone MIA. Sometimes the weekends are crazy with dog training and 7 kids and their different things. Usually I am on everyday though, at least once and usually late (10pm-3am) at night. I live in Utah so that would be Mormon.. I mean Mountain Time lol.

***Note 2: If you would like to try the switch again and you are committed to making regular updates you ARE welcome to restart your thread. Failure to provide regular updates will result in the deletion of your thread.

[tsslilsis]

Hey there!!! I'm Katherine AKA Ketlin and I'll be mentoring you!!!

A little about my fuzzies:
I've had Weezer for a year in last October, he was rescued from friends who got him for his teenage sons who decided ferrets were boring and left him in the basement.. They washed him every three days and fed him Wal-Mart ferret food, Though they insisted Marshalls was best. Weezer is about 3 years old and a marked DEW or roan. I've had Lillian for a year as of last month.. She has been through two homes, both with teenage boys who decided ferrets were boring and going out with friends was much better, She is about two years old and is albino. I've had Ravi almost three months.. He is young and a big one for a Marshall (Almost three pounds!).. He was abandoned in a house and taken to an animal shelter.. We drove a couple hours to rescue him. He too is a marked DEW or roan.

About the ferret bathing.. Bathing often does cause them to smell worse.. And it may also be Part of the reason for her not so soft coat (Diet being the other reason).. Ferrets aren't like us where if we go a couple days without washing our hair it gets greasy and we need to wash it.. They need those oils in their coats (And it doesn't make them greasy either). Most raw fed ferrets get baths a couple times a year, same with ferrets on a good quality kibbble. When we got Weezer, even though he was bathed so often we bathed him right when he got home and again in a couple weeks so we could wash out the stink after his new his diet set in (At the time his diet was Innova Evo ferret food). I would bet the previous owner probably bathed Taz the day you met her or not long before so she wouldn't smell. Or her ferrety smell hadn't had time to set in after the bath.


I personally think that you should use water instead of egg. If you use egg it will be thick and gloppy and she might not take to it as easy since she is new to raw. And it combined with the other ingredients might make it too rich.

Post your raw feeding progress/issues/questions, etc here and I will help you!

-`Ketlin

[amymelissa]

Hi and thanks for helping me out. I'm a nervous new mommy!

We've had Taz home now for about 3 hours. She's a love. I gave her some soup about 10 min ago. She wasn't happy with me lol

However the girls put some on their fingers and she ate it. I'd say she about 1/2 teaspoon. I know it's not much but I was expecting flat out refusal from her. She's running around now under the watchful eye of Michael and the older kids.

Should I leave kibble in her cage?

I'm leaving for a couple of hours and so we're going to put her in her cage until we get back. We're off to a Jazz game but I'll post better pictures of her when I get home. It wont be until later tonight (10'ish Mountain Time)

[tsslilsis]

That is all great!! I'm surprised she actually tasted the soup.

If you want to try and get her onto her new diet as soon as possible than it would be best not to leave kibble with her unless she just will Not eat the soup. So you may have to, and can, take the kibble away for 12-24 hours and then see if she will eat the soup. But so far so good. Fasting may not be nessisary. But as I told the other person I am mentoring, be sure you give her long enough to eat the food. Just because she doesn't eat it in the first five minutes, or even an hour or two doesn't mean she won't eat it.. She may not be hungry. But be sure not to offer soup and kibble at the same time.. Since kibble is familiar to her she will take it over the raw (Not a surprise because to them it smells better).

Welcome home Tazzel!

-~Ketlin

[amymelissa]

I meant to get on here earlier but when I got home from the game my youngest son had broken out in hives. I had suspected he was allergic to the Guinea Pig but wasn't sure... well while mom's away the kids will play. He got Tori (Tori didn't know) to get Blaze (guinea pig) out for him and held him. So I had to deal with that and then try to get Taz to eat some of the nummy soup again. The soup isn't really soupy. It's more like pate but she is eating it.

Here were the results:
What is this?


No thanks!!!


Pretty good off of Dad's finger.


The second time we tried was just a few minutes ago and she kept going to the cage where the kibble was kept so I ran up and got her some soup and she did eat it from the plate at first and then she once again had to have it off of someone's finger. The difference the second time though was she was meeting my finger and not waiting for me to get it close to her... I think she was pretty hungry lol She ate about half of what you see on the plate. About 1 tablespoon.

I noticed when she is done eating/licking the soup (both times she had it) she rubs the side of her face on my bedspread (which is where I feed her on a towel that gets put in the wash as soon as she is done) is that normal? She also was making what sounded almost like clucking sounds.

The best news is she ate it cold, right out of the fridge

I left the soup in the bottom of her cage and Michael will be up in about 4 hours for work so he'll take it out then.

*updated to add*
Taz woke up and being the new mommy she woke me up. When I turned on the light to see what she was doing she was eating her soup off the plate!!! It wasn't a lot but she did eat it, then had a drink, tried to get out of her cage and when that didn't work went back to bed.

[amymelissa]

Just a quick note. I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not but I think she is a Marshall's? She's got the two dot tat in her ear. Which I thought was a Marshall's thing.

[tsslilsis]

Oh don't worry if it takes you longer than you plan to get back on here. I understand!

I woudn't worry about the face rubbing. It can sometimes (From what I've read) be a sign of a blockage.. But if she is eating and keeping the food down then she is fine. Besides, all of my ferrets rub their faces on the bedding after they've eaten. My dog Tessa Sue does, too (after eating and when she's happy).

She is making fast progress! This is good!!!! Way to go!

Yep, that'd be a Marshalls baby. That's why she is so small. There are not many big Marshalls girls. Lillian weighs alittle over 2lbs in her winter weight but only 1lb 12oz in her summer weight (And she has her seasons backwards). All of my ferrety kids are Marshalls (I didn't buy them).

-~Ketlin

[amymelissa]

Well we've had Taz for 31 hours now. Since we got her she's had no kibble and is eating the soup. She is eating about every 4 hours or so between 1 1/2 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon. She is pooing and peeing so I'm sure she's getting enough, although it seems (to me) that she should be eating more. I compare it to when I nursed my kids. If they are peeing, pooing and not losing weight it's all good even if it seems like they should be eating more.

She did find the box with the dog cookies and hissed at me when I wouldn't let her have any and took away the one she did try and run off with, mean mommy that I am lol

I do have the bag with her kibble in it in my room. Every time she goes sniffing and trying to get it I grab her and give her soup! I figure if she's trying to get the kibble she's more than likely hungry.

On a side note I rubbed my youngest son down with Taz and so far no reaction, however it took being exposed to the Guinea Pig for a couple of months before he reacted. He has a touch allergy so as long as he doesn't touch the Guinea Pig he's ok!

Now for the questions:
1) I've read on other threads about the baby food. I'm guessing since Taz is eating the raw soup that I don't need to add baby food at all, right?

2) Is it to soon to thicken the soup the next time I make it?

3) When can I try giving her pieces of chicken?

4) My dogs have bully sticks as chew toys is it ok for Taz to have as a treat? If you don't know what a bully stick is it's cow tendon that is dehydrated.

5) The dogs get raw soup bones to chew on is it ok for Taz to chew on them to or have one that the dogs have been chewing on. My dogs have had their rabies and distemper shots as well as shots that are required by law. I'm not big on shots for my kids, both furry and human.

[tsslilsis]

Don't be bothered by the amount she is eating. She is a small girl, and it is nothing to worry about. You can't exactly expect a ferret that small to eat a quarter cup of soup.

Thats good that your sons not had a reaction. Hopefully he won't, but at least if he does it just means he won't be able to handle her.

Yep, no baby food needed!! The reason its added is just because it is more "attractive" to the ferrets basically. It doesn't really offer anything nutritionally.

Its not too soon to thicken the soup. There are no guildlines as when to do what. You just go at the pace your ferret will accept it. So if she would be fine with it, then that is great.

You can give her chicken pieces whenever you want. Ravi and Lily had no soup stage before going onto full blown raw. If she will accept the chicken chunks it will be a step forward.

Bully sticks are bully sticks.. As in, they are from a bull, not a cow.. If you catch my drift. Thats why they are Bully sticks and not cow sticks.. My pups love them, too. You can try giving some to Tazzel, It is basically just jerkey.

I wouldn't let Taz chew on the soup bones.. It has nothing to do with the dog drool, infact, my ferrets love things that have been drooled on by the dogs.. But the thing is they are so hard and large it may break or chip her teeth. If she is interested in bone than you may be able to go ahead and try some chicken wings that are chopped into quarters!!!

-~Ketlin

[amymelissa]

*Just an update*
I woke up this morning to an empty soup plate. I gave her 2 more tablespoons at 9am and she finished that batch at 1pm. She licked the plate clean lol

She is eating the soup on her own from the plate.

Now for the questions:

So in a 24 hour time period she's eating about 6 tablespoons, is that to much? Not enough? Just right?

How long can I leave the soup out?

[tsslilsis]

4 table spoons = 1/4 of a cup.. And she's eaten 6 table spoons, so I think that that is good for a 24 hour time span. I would say that is just right.

Since the soup contains pureed meat, it has more places for bactiria.. Ideally it should be left out no more than 4 hours at a time.. But if your house is cool and the soup doesn't get warm it should be fine longer. But you could also just put quite a bit on the plate and let her have at it and after about three hours put it in the fridge and get it back out after awhile.. Then it will keep longer and there will be less waste.

I'm thinking that she is going to take to chunks very fast once you try it. She is progressing faster than any other ferret I've helped with.

-~Ketlin

[amymelissa]

We tried chicken chunks tonight and she pretty much wouldn't eat it unless we forced her. She did take a few on her own but they were mostly fat! I know she was really hungry though. When she woke up she ran to her soup plate and tried to lick more off. There was only a little bit though. She was disgusted with us and is now sulking in her hammock.

Poor planning on our part left us with no soup for her to munch on late this evening, hence why we tried the chunks. For a sub soup we used beef stew meat, one whole egg, chicken liver, chicken heart, little bit of chicken, and water to make it more like a paste. I'm going to try and see if this is more acceptable to her and if not then I'll be making soup at 1:00am lol

[tsslilsis]

At least she didn't completely reject the chunks!

If she eats that soup I think that will be good since it has multipul kinds of meat in it, so she will get used to the different flavors. After a couple days of soup I would say you can probably add some very small meat chunks to the soup so she knows that meat chunks are okay. Then if she accepts that you can slowly increase the size of the chunks and start reducing the amount of soup.

-~Ketlin

[amymelissa]

Well she didn't care for the new soup. So I made her the chicken soup. I forgot to add that in the new soup we added a chicken neck so it did have bone in it. She will eat it if we feed it to her from our fingers.

This weekend is crazy with the kids going back on track on Monday. I'll try the new soup with her again on Monday when I have more time to work with her. I might need to thin it out as it's thicker than her chicken soup. I'm sure she'll take it it'll just take some convincing that I'm not trying to poison her lol

Now for the questions:
1) Any idea's as to why she'll eat the chunks with fat on them more willingly than pieces that don't?

[tsslilsis]

At least she did taste it, that is always important. It is much better than sniffing it and walking away.

Its good that you are waiting until you have some time to try it with her. You may have to help her eat a few meals of it before she makes the desision that it is alright to eat. The soup is very balanced, so after she's onto that it will just be getting her onto meat chunks and she will be ready to go. But there is no rush in accomplishing that.

-~Ketlin