Raw Commercial Rotation Question

[novemberkris]

Since switching Paulie I have been feeding a commercial rotation: NV Beef (he love love loves it), NV Lamb, and Primal Canine Duck.

Obviously, the duck was for transition because of high fiber and when I started running low I got a sampler of NV Chicken. A couple members suggested Paulie's stomach is only bothered by cooked chicken. However, when I feed a gizzards supplement to his foods with the chicken in rotation, his stool becomes loose and occasionally mucousy.

That may mean my original suspicions are correct: Paulie is sensitive to chicken. However, it only bothers him when he eats too much. Since I'd like to use chicken to introduce chunks (which he eats well in beef now), I'm going to have to phase out the chicken formula (thank goodness for one pound samples).

Now what? Rabbit is more expensive and sometimes hard to get. Primal feline is mostly fish or expensive, and hard to find (though I am checking into the turkey, pheasant, and quail [turkey is the most economical]). Is it okay to rotate three red meats (venison, beef, and lamb) while I search for other options, or do I need to get a white meat in there. Basically, I thought I would rotate the white meats in, but with less frequency. Would the Primal mixes with fish be okay, as I know that fish can be a smell issue? I could always do a four meat rotation with the chicken in it, but then I'll be taking up an obscene amount of freezer space.

Basically, I'm weighing my options before I have to purchase the next bag of raw for the rotation when I run out. That will be soon, I fear. Paulie's a piggy fuzzball. He eats 3 ounces a day, most days, sometimes more when gizzards are thrown in.

[sherrylynne]

Can you get urban carnivore where you are? Just meat/bone/organ, comes in an 8ob box, frozen in 1lb patties. They have all kinds of meats.

[novemberkris]

Wow! I wish I could get that. If I butter up my Uncle who lives in Ontario now I might be able to get a hold of some occasionally ... Nice selection too. I'd love to get some of the duck patties since he likes duck. *sighs* What's an Ohioan to do. Good suggestion, though.

[jojodancer]

I think your meat rotation is OK. You don't want to only give ONE meat for ever and ever, and you have a 3-4 meat selection. White meats will have less fat in them, but ferrets need fat, so the red meat seleciton is fine. Hopefully someone else will pipe up and let me know if I'm way off base.

shameless plug, but we have a pretty good selection of chicken-free products at Casey's Hidden Pantry.
> ziwipeak venison and fish
> ziwipeak lamb
> stella and chewy's lamb
> stella and chewy's beef
> AFS 100% beef patties
> AFS beef niblets

and if he seems to fare better with lesser chicken amounts we also have
> Stella and Chewy's chicken and beef patties
> AFS beef and chicken patties

I have one that doesn't do well with high concentrations of chicken. But if we put a S&C chicken and beef patty (or an AFS beef and chicken patty) and mix it with another meat, he doesn't have as much gastric issues.

[mustelidmusk]

Hi!
Some ferrets are senstive to all poultry, and ferrets have been know to do well on all red meat.

I feed rotate NV chicken, lamb, rabbit, venison frozen. Whenever I feed the chicken, it's usually "diluted" with a bit of red meat mixed in since I have twp ferrets that sometimes are a bit sensitive to chicken.

I also feed freeze-dried beef, lamb, and venison products (Tella and Chewy's, Wysong's Archetypal I.

It's always good to provide as much variety as possible. But, using all red meat can work well for ferrets as well. It's just not as natural as smaller prey.

-jennifer

[novemberkris]

Well, it turns out the Westerville Pet Supplies Plus carries a good stock of NV Rabbit and not much more expensive than the other standard varieties. I picked some up today, and for a ferret that couldn't stand the stuff in October, he hissed it up like it was the best think since NV Beef.

It is good to know that should there be another rabbit shortage, I can jump to a 3 red meat rotation. The next thing to rotate out will be Lamb for Venison. Lamb isn't his favorite, but if I switch between the two he still gets variety.

After another month or two on NV, I'm going to look into a freeze dried food. I'll probably try the Casey's sampler you keep adding things to. Paulie will have to like something in there . He definitely sticks his nose up at kibbles (yet not kibble based treats yet ) and is chunking out nicely on raw food. He's never been so excited to eat, so I totally want to keep the good stuff rolling in and keeping his tummy settled.