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Post by Heather on Jan 21, 2009 0:57:08 GMT -5
Congratulations, you and Duke are moving along beautifully. You're going to be graduating before I even get to introduce myself as your mentor  Hi I'm Heather, and we're going to be working together for the next little while trying to convince your furbaby, Duke to change to a healthier diet (which he's well on his way  ) I've been feeding a raw/natural diet for a little over 10 yrs. I have a small private rescue/sanctuary where all ferrets turned into me are switched immediately over to a raw diet that consists of ground raw/whole meats or frankenprey/ and prey diet. At present every ferret eats this full range of diets. I don't keep kibbles in the house All my furbabies are free roaming and have access to an outdoor play area that they can access at will. At present there are 16 little fuzzbutts who call this their permanent home. They range in ages of about 2 yrs to my little senior citizen, Babushka who is coming up on 10 yrs (she by the way has been my biggest raw switch challenge, which had me at times wondering why I was doing this to her) Now completely switched and putting on a beautiful dark black coat, teeth that are now nicely cleaned up, and she actually has a lot of fun investigating the house (she used to do nothing but sleep when she first was turned in). She has made me aware that every ferret no matter how old, can get a new lease on life by eating a species appropriate diet I will be looking forward to your updates on how your beef feeding went. Just a quick question from me. I'm guessing that your furbaby is still eating kibble? I will check in on you tomorrow and see how things are going. ciao |
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 21, 2009 21:46:10 GMT -5
ok, today, just a few min i fed duke his soup, with some RAW beef peiaces! im getting worried! he only ate a few. this is getting hard, he only ate so little, and he was hungry! any suggestions!?
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Post by Heather on Jan 22, 2009 0:22:53 GMT -5
Is he still on kibbles? or have you taken this food away? He ate his chicken yesterday? Beef has a stronger flavour and may not be as readily accepted as chicken. Are the beef pieces really small? If he likes his soupy try feeding it with a spoon and seeing if he will try it because his momma is feeding him. It works sometimes. Some of this isn't going to be easy, that's why we're here to offer suggestions and help you through this. Consistency, and a stubborn attitude is what you're going to need to get through some of the stages. Your guy chowed down on the chicken, so the idea that it was easy. Duke has decided he likes chicken so why should he try anything else. You know differently but you have to work with him. Let me know what you did and what foods he has available to him, please. I will check in again later tonight.
ciao
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 22, 2009 20:43:54 GMT -5
Is he still on kibbles? or have you taken this food away? He ate his chicken yesterday? Beef has a stronger flavour and may not be as readily accepted as chicken. Are the beef pieces really small? If he likes his soupy try feeding it with a spoon and seeing if he will try it because his momma is feeding him. It works sometimes. Some of this isn't going to be easy, that's why we're here to offer suggestions and help you through this. Consistency, and a stubborn attitude is what you're going to need to get through some of the stages. Your guy chowed down on the chicken, so the idea that it was easy. Duke has decided he likes chicken so why should he try anything else. You know differently but you have to work with him. Let me know what you did and what foods he has available to him, please. I will check in again later tonight. ciao oh! hes sill on his kibble cause he gets hungry at 3:00pm, or ealier. should i take it away? cause nobody told me to take it away.  the reason im not feeding his soupie today cause im very sick right now, wil that be ok if i didn't feed him raw with soup for today? cause i promise to feed him tommarrow. let me know |
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Post by Heather on Jan 23, 2009 0:50:38 GMT -5
Get better, don't worry. He's still eating his kibbles, that's fine. We will go back at it when you're feeling better. He's not on the brink of anything, so there won't be any harm done. It's far more advantageous for you to get better. No, I don't want you to take his kibbles away yet. Not until he eats his raw soupies on his own. I don't believe in starving a furbaby. We will discuss strategies when you're feeling better. Get well. I will check in with you tomorrow  ciao |
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 23, 2009 23:05:59 GMT -5
im still very ill but i fed him today idk if he was hungry or what! but he ate his soup up like crazy! i put tons of tiny pieaces of chicken, he ate it like a hungry pig! im soo happy, i figured, he does like chicken more then beef, so for NOW its chicken. i i grabbed a chunk of RAW chicken and let duke loo at hie, he sniffed it alot, but he didn't liek the fact that it was freezing cold, lol.
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Post by Heather on Jan 23, 2009 23:43:56 GMT -5
That's great that he ate his chicken soupy. Try pork...it's mild flavoured and sometimes referred to as the other white meat Turkey is another. Don't use huge amounts just take a little of your soupy and add a little of the meat that Duke hasn't tried. The idea is to keep waste to a minimum. As he becomes more comfortable with eating his raw meats, he will be more accepting of different ones. Unfortunately, most ferrets approach each new meat with the same amount reserve that they approach any food. They usually have to be pressured to try. Sometimes you will find a ferret who greats new meats with gusto, and they all have meats that they enjoy and others that are met with reservation. If you offer the meat without the assistance of soupy, it is often more readily accepted if it's offered at room temperature. You can either cut a couple of slivers and see if you can drop it into his mouth. Some scruff their ferts for this first little piece of meat. A scruffed ferret will often yawn and then it's just a matter of dropping the piece of meat in their mouth. This usually results in much choking, spitting and some really wonderful acting on the part of your furbaby After all they've just been "poisoned" by their most loving fertmomma Another way to do it is to get a chicken wing or neck and getting into a tug of war with your furbaby. You have to be consistent with this and do it more than once to get it to work...they are just a couple of options that are used to entice your furbaby to try whole meats. You take care of yourself and get better I will check in with you tomorrow. Give your little guy a great big hug for being so good with his chicken soupy. ciao |
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 24, 2009 14:37:34 GMT -5
well 2 hours ago, i fed him soup soup, with chicken, and beef, idk if he at ethe beef, but he sure did ate up teh chicken, im going to have to buy some chicken necks. im going to feed him again tonight, late. |
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Post by Heather on Jan 24, 2009 14:42:23 GMT -5
Sounds good. I will check in with you later tonight to see how the chicken necks went over. It would be great if he would eat the chicken necks as this would solve some of your bone problems Give him time, he will probably eat that beef eventually, it just may be that it's not one of his favourites ciao |
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 26, 2009 11:56:28 GMT -5
ugh. srry abotu yesterday, im still very ill i didn't feed him soup yesterday. tonight im going to feed him, and i told my mom to get me some chicken necks today, i'll let you know how it goes! |
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Post by Heather on Jan 26, 2009 15:51:57 GMT -5
Not to worry.....like I said get yourself better and then we will get down to the dirty with the furbaby. He's eating his kibbles so it's not going to be a serious problem if he doesn't get to eat soupy for a day or two.
ciao
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 27, 2009 8:30:06 GMT -5
ok yesterday i fed him soup with RAw chicken,, he didn't eat much, but he ate some. :/ we looked for chicken necks at publix, we couldn't find any so were going to have to search at the whole food store. |
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Post by Heather on Jan 27, 2009 12:00:22 GMT -5
You could try chicken wings too. My guys don't like the tips but the wings (the parts that we eat) are good and they can make use of the bone in that. I know that I can only get chicken necks on occasion at the store if I want them more often I have to order my necks from a supplier. You can also experiment with chicken legs. Now I find that for the most part they don't or cannot really eat the bone on the legs. They can eat the nobs off the top and bottom (which is good for them) but the main part of the leg has to be disposed of. He's doing well. One of the problems with feeding both kibble and raw soupy is that you're never really sure that he hasn't just eaten a little while before and you're just offering a top up.  Other times when you go to feed him he's ravenous and eats everything. Duke's doing well. I don't know what your schedule is like but you may want to remove the kibble for a couple of hours before you feed him. If I remember your intro he doesn't have any health issues right? This may mean that he's actually hungry when you offer him his soupy. Good luck, I will check with you again tonight ciao |
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Post by blf1234 on Jan 28, 2009 18:44:12 GMT -5
thanks for letting me know, ya know what? for now, before i go to bed, im going to feed Duke his soup, and then take his kibble out, until the mornibg, then he'll have it back. thats a good idea, thanks! yesterday, he te soem of the RAW chicken, not as much asual. today, i can't feed im soup cause i ran out of chicken baby food. the issue is, he won't eat any other soup with out chicken baby food, so i can buy some tommmarrow, and the chicken necks, i can buy them sat,. i have it ll plan, im going to take hs kibble out more, so that'll help ALOT! and thanks again |
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Post by Heather on Jan 28, 2009 20:25:07 GMT -5
Sounds like a plan, I will check in with you tomorrow and see how it went. Don't let him get too hungry, but being hungry when you try to feed him will help him progress faster and convince him that what you're offering him is indeed food. I will check in later to see if you've managed to get him to eat his supper. ciao |
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