Jack shows them how to switch to RAW

[Forum Administrator]

I would slloooowwwwlllllyyyyy increase the size of the chunks over time. Work up to "thumb sized" chunks. You can let Jack try the bone-in meat, and you can let the other sniff too, but they probably wont touch it until they are eating thumb-sized pieces. Well get there, I'm excited and I know they'll do great.

Talk to you soon!

[lovethefluffies]

nothing new to report, going to try chicken chunks in the AM plain no kibble dust. I figured lets see what happens.

Avigail

[Forum Administrator]

So did you manage to try the kibble-dust free chunks? How did it go?

[lovethefluffies]

I came home to an empty bowl yayayayaya. The chunks are about 1/4inch in length so they are doing excellent

My plan for this weekend is to find some chicken necks to give them. I have wings that I can defrost as well. I will keep you posted.

Avigail

[Forum Administrator]

Yay! Do you know if the others ate the chunks, or if it was just Jack that sucked them back? (this is actually pretty important. When you are switching more then 1 ferret at a time, its crucial to know who is eating and who is not).

[lovethefluffies]

I have seen them all eat the chunks on their own from time to time. I still al trying to figure out how much to give them. There are days that it seems that the food does not move like today, and there are times that I can not give them enough and the food is the same. Like today I think they slept all day so they neve bothered to get up and eat. How long to you leave the raw chicken out in the cage? I figured if I put it out in the morning if it is still there when I get home in the garbage it goes, Same for the night feeding. If when I get up it is not all gone. I could not fond chicken necks. I gave Jack a wing he started to play with it but never ate it. I am sure if he was hungry he would have. I did he that he knew it was food he just was not hungry. Have a good night,

Avigail

[Forum Administrator]

You can leave out chopped chicken for around 8 hours. Bone-in raw foods can be left out for 24 hours.

For the chicken wing, did you section it into three pieces (at the joints?) I find this can help make it easier for a ferret to chew on (when they are learning to eat bone-in meat).

[lovethefluffies]

Hi Again,

I was wondering can they get sick from eatting the raw? If maybe they stashed a piece that I did not find? I feed them in the cage to avoid this but I am trying to figure out the why...

Last night Lolly was throwing up. My husband gave her some of the freezed dried and than a few mins later she was dry heaving. so we gave her some lots of water and a non petrolium based lax and she threw up a few times with in a few mins. I noticed that she was looking thin eariler that night and I was wondering if the chunks were too big for her. I noticed that morning that she was licking the chicken so that night I was suprised to see that she was trying to eat the dried food as if she had not eaten all day. I gave her some pumkin to make sure she was not blocked up and have been feeling her belly to make sure it is the same and not tender. She seemed fine for the rest of the night and this morning. Today I gave them the kibble in one bowl and put a second bowl of much smaller chunks so that every one can eat. Today she is fine but I will keep a close eye to make sure she says that way.

when my husband got home he mixed the ferretone with the cod fish oil that I bought and gave it too the babies. Right afterwards Zoey threw up. She was not heaving just like my tummy does not like this. And afterwards I feel better I am off to play.

I am not sure what it could be. I am wondering if the chicken that I got is off? I just bought it the other day that is the only new factor. I put out chicken in th AM when I leave for work and as soon as I get home I dump what ever is left and wipe down the area.

We decided that we would switch back to the EVO kibble for the next day until we can either figure this out what is gong on or if there there is a pattern here. Than we can start again slowly.

For right now every one seem fine. I will keep you posted. I am lucky to have a great vet so I know that if anything does turn that I can take them there asap I have done that before they know all my kids very well.

Avigail

[Heather]

I've just popped in to offer my two cents for what it's worth. I'm not going to say it's not possible but it's quite unlikely that your furbabies will have got sick from eating the raw chicken (even if it's been stashed for awhile ). So don't beat yourself up. This isn't your fault There can be any number of causes for vomiting, but one must remember that our furbabies can get various flu bugs type viruses that we come in contact with. If your furbabies aren't outside meeting and greeting people they will not have any immunities against these bugs. You, yourself might not be even affected by these viruses as you encounter them all the time, but it might affect your furchild. A furball can cause a ferret to vomit too. It could be possible that your one little one choked on her food, went down the wrong way (which will cause a ferret to dry heave), getting food stuck in the back of their teeth will also cause them to act like they're going to vomit. If one of my guys is vomiting I keep a close eye on them, but rarely panick the way I used to when my guys were on kibbles. Dehydration, is always one step behind a sick fert but raw fed ferrets cope with illness far better than kibble fed fuzzies. As both your furbabies seem to have bounced back with little harm other than scaring the devil out of you, I would think that the possibility of an alternative problem (other than the health of your chicken) would be probable. The first incident has me thinking of something stuck in her throat or in her back teeth. The one with the little one vomiting up the oil, may very well have gone down the wrong way (it can't but that's the easiest way to describe it) They're such greedy little sods when it comes to the oils
I would definitely doubt that the meat that your feeding is off. I was laughing at my little Babushka the other day because she was carrying on and got into a real snark with Pooka her very best fertfriend. Babushka had found somebody's stash. She was running around with this dried up, gross piece of quail leg and she had no intention of sharing it. I don't know where it was stashed, but it had become jerky on its own, possitively mummified These little guys have tummies that are more than capable of dealing with the bacteria load that they will eat (think 4 hr turnaround time, bacteria has to remain in the digestive track for a min 6 to 8 hrs to infect it's host). If the meat is too bad they just won't eat it. I've found a stash of ground one time that appeared in much better shape than some of the necks and wings that I've found and no one would touch it.
I think that you've probably got two separate incidents going here but I would relax, observe and try and make a decision based on what I observed. Chicken, usually develops a disgusting, foul (no pun intended) smell when it's off (for you and me we would be very sick before that but ferrets aren't near as sensitive and their systems are more than capable of handling it) 8 hrs is an easy leave, you shouldn't have any problem with that length of time to leave out meat. Ferrets are meant to stash and eat later when food isn't so plentiful, it doesn't mean that the food is in any great shape according to us Think about dogs who bury bones and then dig them up days, weeks later. It doesn't cause them any problems, their immune and digestive system is geared for just that type of scenario. So is your furbabies. Rather disgusting I suppose, but really amazing when you think about it
Good luck, I hope that this helps a little to put you more at ease Keep up the great work, Giuli's an awesome mentor.
ciao

[lovethefluffies]

Thank you heather for our post I am just a nervous newbie.

I noticed that everyone is heathly and fine so I am defrosting new chicken today and will start out with smaller chunks andI am sure that they will be fine with it. I have to say that I took away the chicken for only a few days and I can see how they are more lethergic and starting to get there budda bellies back. I just wanted to make sure that they were all ok and they are.

thank you,

Avigail

[lovethefluffies]

Came home to empty bowls, always a good thing. Otherwise nothing new to report. All is well

Avigail

[Forum Administrator]

Yay! Empty bowls!

[lovethefluffies]

Thank you for the cheer, happy to report that today was more empty bowls. At this point I am chopping up the chicken to a small dice and adding chicken broth so that it does not dry out so quickly. I think I will keep up this version for a while. Everyone seems happy with it and that makes me happy too.

Avigail

[lovethefluffies]

I was reading in a different post about taurine, and how chicken hearts are good for that. I saw in the store that they sell giblets that are mostly stomachs with some hearts. I was wondering if chicken stomachs are good for them, and if I should be adding some beef. I tried adding chicken liver the other week and they would not touch the raw that day. For the Omega-3 I got the Nordic Naturals pet cod liver oil. I take the human omega-3 by the same company every day so I wanted to try the pet version for them. i mix it will the ferretone, should I stp giving them ferretone?

[Forum Administrator]

I was reading in a different post about taurine, and how chicken hearts are good for that. I saw in the store that they sell giblets that are mostly stomachs with some hearts. I was wondering if chicken stomachs are good for them, and if I should be adding some beef.

ALL raw meat contains taurine. When you freeze or grind meat, it reduces (but does not completely eliminate) the taurine content. The following foods are rich-er in taurine then other meats:

Chicken thighs and legs
Pork
Heart (beef, chicken, pork, etc)

Gizzards (the chicken stomachs) arent really super high in taurine (although they do contain it). Most ferrets love gizzards. Its a good way to get them from eating small chunks of meat, onto bigger chunks.

During the initial stages of the switch, its okay if they arent getting a ton of variety, but it never hurts to add in new foods. I f you like, you can mix in small chunks of beef, heart, etc in with their regular chicken chunks.

I tried adding chicken liver the other week and they would not touch the raw that day.

Liver is an important part of the diet, however sometimes ferrets just dont like (mine LOVE it). Don't worry about the liver right now, we'll get to that later on down the road.

For the Omega-3 I got the Nordic Naturals pet cod liver oil. I take the human omega-3 by the same company every day so I wanted to try the pet version for them. i mix it will the ferretone,

I'd avoid cod LIVER oil. Its VERY high in vitamin A. Instead, go with a fish BODY oil. I LOVE Nature Made Omega 3 Fish Oil Capsules. They contain no fillers, preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors. The fish oil comes from deep sea, wild caugh anchovys and sardines. You can buy it at walgreens, target, walmart, and most grocery stores.

www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?id=prod987286&CATID=100178&skuid=sku987274&V=G&ec=frgl_671414&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=sku987274

Should I stp giving them ferretone

I'm not a fan of ferretone because:

*It contains BHT---a really nasty preservative
*SUPER high amounts of vitamin A- You really have to be careful about how much tone you give, or you can OD your ferret on vitamin A
*Plant based oils- Ferrets are carnivores, why give them a plant oil? Stick with MEAT oils: fish oil, emu oil, etc

I personally use the nature made fish oil instead of tone. I poke a hole in the capsule and let my two ferrets share ONE capsule (I let the lick out the oil, they dont eat the capsule shell though) 2-3 times per week. Vivify is ferret-specific oil that is MUCH better (although more expensive) then tone. It is made from Emu oil.

Other ways to add omega-3 to the diet include:

*If possible (and within your price range) to to feed GRASS FED beef, pork, lamb, or veal. Grass fed meat is much richer in omega 3 then grain fed meat.

*Raw fish 1x per week- Ancovys, sardines, and smelt are all good sources of omega three. Stick with RAW fish (not canned).

*Omega-3 enriched eggs. The chickens that lay these eggs were fed a diet rich in omega 3, so their eggs contain omega 3. You can feed these eggs 1x per week. 1 egg per ferret.

I hope this helps!