horseyliz
Going Natural
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Posts: 144
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Post by horseyliz on Jul 14, 2009 16:59:39 GMT -5
i plan on adopting two ferrets that have adrenal disease and are on kibble. i would like to swich them to raw, but they are picky eaters. Is there any thing i need to worry about due to their health issues?
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 14, 2009 18:10:41 GMT -5
The only thing my vet was worried about was how long Sinnead would go with no food in the cage(as in if they ate it all at once). Since I feed IN the cage, I usually put in enough to last them through to the next feeding time, and just remove any extras. It's not been an issue to date.
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horseyliz
Going Natural
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Posts: 144
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Post by horseyliz on Jul 15, 2009 13:08:23 GMT -5
so i can swich them to raw as long as they have food in the cage, 24/7? i ussually feed my ferrets twicee a day, but their is always food left over that they snack on between.
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halbear
Going Natural
Raw Feeder[/color]
R.I.P. My Dear Sweet Hallie Bear
Posts: 106
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Post by halbear on Jul 16, 2009 0:24:31 GMT -5
Hey horseyliz! I am definitely no expert on raw feeding, but I definitely think you can switch them to raw! I have two female ferrets, and both of my girls have adrenal disease. They are 61/2 and 51/2 years old. I have been feeding them a raw diet since September of 2008 and they are doing great!!! They both have insulinoma which is basically low blood sugar in a ferret, so therefore I have to keep kibble out for them 24-7. Again, I am no expert but as long as your ferrets don't have insulinoma, then they probably would not need to have food available 24-7. If they are insulinoma free then it is probably better to withhold the food for a couple of hours maybe 2-3 until they are hungry and then offer them the raw diet. Eventually they will eat it!! You can always spruce up the taste by adding a couple drops of fish oil or emu oil. Mine were a bit skeptical at first, but they eventually ate it and now they love it!!!
NOTE: until you know for sure whether or not your ferrets have insulinoma, I would not withhold food. The best way to test for this is to have your veterinarian run a blood glucose level. Normal blood glucose levels in a ferret range from 80-100. If it falls below 80 then the ferret likely has insulinoma. Also, it gets a bit tricky because an accurate blood glucose requires fasting the ferret and you definitely do NOT want to fast a ferret with insulinoma, so this is where it gets tricky. My best advice is for you to talk to your veterinarian. There are however several signs of insulinoma such as listlessness, starring off into space, hind-leg weakness, etc. Again, I am definitely no expert, but this is just a bit of knowledge I have acquired over the years. Good luck to you and your little ones!!
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Post by Heather on Jul 16, 2009 1:05:17 GMT -5
You should have no problems switching them to raw. Just take your time and as long as insulinoma isn't one of your side issues you should be fine. With sick fuzzies I just make sure they have enough food to have food available almost all the time. If they run out for a couple of hours, you should be ok. Even with insulinoma ferrets you may need to continue to feed kibble but you can supplement with raw giving them many of the benefits of eating a raw diet. Good luck and a special thank you for taking on two ill ferrets, they will love you for it  . ciao |
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