A business of 4 goes raw

[Heather]

Whoooo hooo. This is so fantastic. You're doing it girl
Take your time and don't rush it. It's looking good. Just keep an eye on who's eating what. Do tummy checks to make sure that they're all eating (I love snuggle checks Up the meat content when you furbabies seem to be comfortably eating your mix. I will check with you tomorrow.
Ciao

[weeksl08]

I woke up and checked the food bowls at 1am last night and all of the breaded chicken was gone This morning I started making some more for them before I went to work and Libby went to town. Constantine pushed her out of the food bowl so he could eat so I put out a saucer and made some more. I noticed that Constantine is licking the pieces to death trying to get all of the kibble off and then eating a bite or two here and there. At least he is getting used to the taste. Libby only ate a piece or two then she started licking them to death too. Mayhem was sleeping so I didn't bother to wake her up. I prepared a bowl with kibble/grease/chicken again just to make sure everyone is eating. I'm still using the grease since they dont like mushy kibble. I've been using just enough to bind the beat to the kibble. So far their poop is slightly green but not runny. I looked it up and green poo is caused by food moving too fast so I'm guessing it is where they are eating kibble and raw. I'm not worried about it though.

While constantine's food agression has disapated with him getting older his "fat kid" attitude has not. He's always been pushy at the food bowl, he doesn't want anyone near it while he's eating but he no longer snaps or bites. Once I get them switched and start feeding them in the superpet cage, i know to put him in oposite corners of the girls.

I am so excited that everyone one of them has eated meat at least once! I think I may have to do the breaded meat thing for a few days until they get used to it and see it's not that bad but I think i willstart making the bals of meat gradually bigger. Once they tear into them with no problem and stop licking them to death to get the evo off, I will start them on small chunks of breast meat and gradually move them up on size.

So far so good:) I really do appreciate all of yours and Guili's help! I know I could not do this on my own. I would have never thought to do it this gradually. I "tried" a few weeks ago by throwing some raw meat in the cage but that didn't go over so well so I gave up. This isn't half as hard as I thought it would be, it just takes some time

[Heather]

You are doing fantastic
You're right, it does take time, and sometimes more than others. My little babushka had me at wits end. At the end of one months hard work, she's now eating raw ground and whole meats, at the end of two, I felt comfortable about just leaving her with dinners (I was still sitting down with her and feeding a soupy mix twice daily, I stopped when I discovered she was getting fat ). There were times (I resorted to hand feeding her to make her switch) that I was sitting there, trying to get her to take just a lick and thinking ...this old girl is almost 10 yrs old...why are you doing this?!! At that point in her life, she basically slept all day. There was nothing wrong with her, she was just old. Now, she's up prowling several times during the day. She actually told off Pooka at the food bowl and tried to take Pooka's quail quarter . She still sleeps alot, but she got this beautiful long silky coat, her teeth are starting to clean up. She's always been sweet, but now she also will curl up in someone's arms and sleep too.
I think that at this moment that I would sit tight. The green poops are probably caused by the mix of raw meat and kibble. It's digested at different rates, kibble being the slower of the two. Pooka and Babushka, both had some really strange coloured stools that ranged from solid to almost liquid (looked almost ECEish), sometimes with lots of mucous as well. Can be rather grosse and a little disturbing. You can use pumpkin (not pie filling) if you like...seems the little bums like it or slippery elm powder. I used a little bit of pumpkin but I used a different method of switching....hmmm...you could put it in their grease and kibble mix. The grease and kibble is probably whats giving them a lots of the looser stools. Grease is cooked fats and the body metabolises it a little differently. Anyway, I would only resort to this if you see a real series of loose stools. During the switch it's not uncommon and unless it becomes really bad, I would let it run it's course. If we continue to see it once your guys have made the switch we will see about some digestive aids to help them over the hump. I've never had to use it with ferrets but I have had to with switching an old dog.
Good luck, I will pop in a little later and see how things are going.
Ciao

[Forum Administrator]

Just wanted to pop in and say



on the progress! Yippie!!!!






Raw here we come! Keep up the great work The "breaded meat" trick is the one I have always used to switch my babies. Never did the "wet kibble" method myself. Every ferret is different so its good to try a variety of methods if one doesnt seem to be working.

To get their poopies looking better I'd advise getting them onto the plain meat chunks (no kibble mixed with grease, no breading on the meat chunks) asap. Dont push them too fast, but see if they are willing to go with a little less breading on their meat each day until you arent adding anything but a few drops of 'tone to the meat (and then eventually stop that as well).

Heather is right, kibble and meat digest at different rates so the sooner you get them onto JUST meat the better. Poops will continue to be runny until you get them eating bone (which by the sound of it, it seems like you are well on your way )

If you continue to see super runny poopies you can always give unflavored pedialyte (to keep them hydrated).

Im thrilled to hear that May is eating this stuff! From cornflakes to meat what a great progression! You should be super proud of your little carnivores! I can't wait for you to see the amazing changes that take place in your little ones! Just you wait, you'll be thrilled with the changes (if you arent already seeing some )

[weeksl08]

Even better new! While I was at work they ate almost all of the breaded meat, and most of the chicken/grease/kibble! I took them to my college to play in the pine trees and grass today as a treat and Constantine brought home 5 pine cones! He hid them in the carrier when I wasnt looking! When we got home I threw them away because I was afraid he would eat them or coke on them while chewing. They've been sleeping every since. When they wake up I will make them some fresh food and add a slight bit more meat into it.

And yes Guili I'm already seeing energy levels increase! Fatty McFatterson (Constantine) is playing a little more these past few days.

A side note, May's coat is starting to become softer:)

Tuseday will be a week since the vax at the vet so I think I am going to go ahead and put their revolution on tomorrow. The vet said to use a whole tube on all of them but i don't know how comfortable I am with that. The dosage is for a 0-5 pound kitten so I know the vet thinks it's safe, but May is so tiny and Liberty isn't that big either. I'm thinking of putting just half a tube on the girls and a whole on on Constantine. He's big enough, I'm not too worried about him. Do you think this will be ok??

[Heather]

I've had to use it once and I used a syringe with a needle attached and suctioned .2 mls and used that on each ferret. The strength in the tubes is always the same, each individual tube is geared for weight (so that you don't have to measure). The dosage was suggested to me by my vet. I had no problems with that level. I did give a little less to my little girls, and I would assume you can as I used the same dose for my bad boy Attila who weight 5 lbs most of the time. I used it for 2 months, actually it worked more to 3 as the medication works for longer than a month. I've not had a problem since and that was 3 yrs ago. I also kept my furbabies separate from each other for a minimum of 20 min to 1 hour so that if they got wrestling they would ingest the less active and more dried chemicals. Make sure you don't get it on your hands, within minutes you can taste it, it's grosse.
I just double checked, I used advantage 9. I decided to not use revolution, so the dosage may not be the same.
You and your furbabies are doing fantastic. I have a recipe for a type of pedialyte (elecotrolyte balancer) if you're interested. My guys love the taste and it works the same way. I couldn't get my furbabies to drink the pedialyte and rather than have them get totally stressed about that too, I just make my own. I will be interested to see who's eating the breaded meats and who's eating the fat soaked kibbles.
Pat yourself on the back...you're doing good girl Give all your furbabies a hug from me.
ciao

[weeksl08]

We had a very good morning:) Libby and Constantine both ate lots of breaded meat and May ate some plain raw straight from my hand. Today I've mixed a lot more meat in with the kibble mixture. There is 1 (out of 12 original) piece of breaded meat left ( will make more later when they are awake.) We're doing it

I also just ordered ferrets for dummies for $4.24 so that should be here in a few days.

I've decided to wait another day or two on the revolution, I'm tryig to learn more about it first.

[Forum Administrator]

I dont use a flea/tick preventative but Kim (josiesmom) does. I *think* it is her that recommends using half of the tube. Or maybe its Jenn? I dunno all I know is that I have heard people recommend using less then the whole tub on the ferret. Just my $0.02. Id say keep reading up before you make a choice on how much you put on.

Congrats on the progress! Im so proud. I cant wait to see how they progress. It really makes me happy to see them starting to eat what they are BUILT to eat. It just doesnt seem right to me to make a carnivore eat a carb laden, crunchy pellet when they are built to rip and tear through water rich meat. Keep up the great work!

[Heather]

I have a quick question and then I'm going to bounce up and down with glee about your furbabies eating soooo well.
Are ticks a big problem in your area? If not maybe advantage would be the better go. Just a thought.
Anyway, go Mayhem....you've got the right idea. You make all those little chunks of meat disappear. With Libby and Constantine, start adding less kibbles to the breading mix as soon as you think they will accept it. The sooner we stop with the kibbles the sooner their poops will firm up. We'll have to think of some way to get some calcium into these little fellows, as they're not eating any bone (once they start eating bone then their poops will become less and they will firm up a little more). Perhaps, some powdered egg shell added to your breading mix...if the egg pieces are too large they have a tendency to refuse to eat the meat. We'll worry about this later on, maybe next week. I want them to be comfortable with eating what they have right now.
You're doing fantastic by your furbabies. They will be so much better for this. I will check in on you in the morning, Good luck.
ciao

[weeksl08]

I live in the mountains of WV and ticks are atrocious! We get them on us when we go hiking so I know they are here!

Well I've made the breading very fine and I'm just lightly rolling the meat in it now. Last night I made a fresh batch and they all attacked it! There was nothing left after about 15 minutes! This morning I've started something new. I added a few kibble and mostly meat to the kibble.meat mix ( I used enough meat that I did not need the grease as a binding agent), I made the breaded meat in bigger pieces so there is less kibble compared to the meat, and our new third option is tiny pieces of chicken breast chunks, breaded of course for now. May is the only one who Ive witnessed eating the chunks, but it's still early. Their poopies are looking better. They are eating a lot less kibble and a lot more meat! The poopies are looking a lighter yellow/brown now and have a different consistency.

As of today, it is official, out house is a meat eating house and we are slowly moving away from this "crutch" we call kibble. I've already prepared chicken breast chunks for a few days. Today and tomorrow we have tiny chunks to get them used to the texture, after that they gradually get bigger so they learn to chew them. Once they start eating the chunks, the kibble/meat mixture will not be used.

[Heather]

You've got it Your guys are eating raw. Now it's just a matter of how far and when you want them to give up the kibbles. I would keep at it until they're comfortable eating the chunks of meat and then I would pitch it....well give it to a rescue or something
Congratulations, the hard part is over. I'll check in later
ciao

[weeksl08]

Right now is not a good time with classes starting in 3 weeks, but sometime in the near future 6months-a year from now we want another hob so we may keep the kibble around until then. We are thinking about driving down the ferret guardian in statesville,nc, Diane said she would adopt to me back in April and she feeds mostly raw. If we get one from here we will donate the kibble to her.

[Forum Administrator]

Keep up the great work! Im so proud!

[Heather]

Sounds like a fantastic idea Will this be a kit? You will have to post new pics so that we can see your new addition when you finally get him. I'm guessing that your furbabies are all eating well, without any problems. This is great, now other than slowly progressing to the point where you want to be feeding, you can actually sit back and enjoy the transformations that your furbabies are about to go through. Good luck.
I will check in on you in the morning.
ciao

[weeksl08]

Today we have made another step forward I did not roll meat in the kibble i just sprinkled it over the meat balls on the plate, and they ate 14 between this morning and now! They arent eating the pieces of the breast a whole lot yet, but I'm sure they will with time. I will just keep coating those and putting them out. May is easting them, but she eats everything