Duck Soup Recipes

[ferretfreke]

I am interested in seeing what some of you use in your duck soup. I have usually used a modified Bob's chicken gravy. I need something balanced and easily digested for my foster boy. He possibly has IBS and does have insulinoma. He's gone through 3 rounds of antibiotics for helicobactor and just finished a three week course. During this course I was feeding carnivore care and some home-made soup from the shelter. I've since run out of the shelter soup and that was the only thing he would eat on his own. The shelter sent me the recipe and I don't really like it. It's not a proper balance. He goes straight back to diarrhea if he doesn't have pumpkin and I want to keep him on a wet food so he doesn't dehydrate as easily. So please if you have a good recipe that could be fed more long term if you'll share it with me. I'm hoping it could maybe used to switch him to a raw diet. I'm kind of intimidated to switch him with his multiple problems, but if I can get him a little more stable first, I might be up for the challenge. I've spoken with Heather a lot about him and we've discussed getting me a mentor with experience in cases like his when it comes to it.

Thanks,
Nykol

[Heather]

What is the shelter recipe? Could we modify it to make it more nutritionally sound? He already likes it. I'd offer you my soupy recipe but it's raw It was little Mischief's favourite, Aremis liked it a lot too. In the end Aremis was eating baby food (veal, chicken and turkey) mixed with carnivore care. He was also eating prey but not enough to survive so I had to feed him. I think by that point in time the lymphomas wasn't allowing him to really process anything except the most bland of diets.
I hope that you find something that this poor little soul can digest and continue to enjoy his life.
ciao

[ferretfreke]

Heather this is the shelter's recipe:

Chicken Soup for Ferrets

1 whole chicken
1 3 pound bag of ferret food, best: Totally Ferret
1 small jar of banana baby food
1 jar of turkey or chicken baby food

Cook chicken in water in an extra large pan until completely cooked. Take out chicken, de-bone it, throw away all bones and gristle. Check to make sure all bones are out. Add ferret food (kibble) and let sit until kibble is mushy. Add baby food and then add medium size amounts to blender and blend. Add water as needed. Pour into jars or plastic containers, fill and leave last 1 ½ inch empty to prevent breakage, if using glass. Place into freezer for later use.


I don't even understand why you would put banana in a ferret food, but maybe that's just me. And what is the point of adding chicken baby food when it's already made from chicken? Seems pointless to me. Isn't chicken baby food just blended chicken anyways? I might want your raw duck soup recipe down the road, unless you think it could help Hunter now. I really don't want to make a soup out of kibble either. That's the other thing I don't like about this recipe. Basically I don't like this recipe at all.

[Heather]

Bleck!! Sorry
I don't know why the banana baby food either...talk about giving an insulinoma ferret a head rush
How about this....
Boil 1 whole chicken, until bones are soft and fat rendered or use pressure or slow cooker.
Remove skin and any hard bones...chances are any weight supporting bones will probably be hard unless you crack them open and boil out the marrow. Use all softened tendons, cartilage (this has calcium and even cooked is a good source of nutrients) Run it through a food processor, use broth to add enough moisture to make it a desired consistency (thicker if using spoon or thinner if using syringe). Add pumpkin and or slippery elm powder and 1/2 tsp of dried powdered egg shell for every 1 cup of meat mixture. Run it all through the food processor. There you have it. A cooked soupy. No kibbles, no grains...it's not entirely balanced but it won't matter right now. If Dr Murray (not sure I've got the right vet hmmm) anyway.... he stated that a ferret can survive and thrive on human baby food for 6 months before showing any signs of imbalanced diet this can surely be a lot better for him than the mixture from the shelter. If you think he's been on it too long (I fed Aremis for 1 yr on human baby food) supplemented with carnivore care. Aremis thrived and actually got fat on this diet. It's very easy to digest and it's species appropriate.
What do you think??
ciao

[sherrylynne]

Would putting in some taurine from a health food store, as well as some vit. A help to balance this out for a longer term? Or would it upset his tummy?

[Heather]

The taurine wouldn't. If I was going to use this long term I would probably search out a really good multi. for the mix too. You could add liver and heart to that as well. The taurine would be destroyed in the cooking...I not so sure about the vit a though....don't add the gibblets...they become little rubber cannon balls They don't go through the blender they just bounce around inside I think we did an awesome soupy...how about it You know you could do this with any meat, especially for the furkids who have sensitivities to chicken.
ciao

[sherrylynne]

When I've had to make a version of duck soup for an anorexic cat, I added the liver and heart raw just before blending the cooked meat.

[ferretfreke]

Well when I've made my ferrets soup in the past my mom lets me borrow her very expensive blender and it blends all the bones, even the large ones very nicely, it leaves no large chunks. So would it be okay to leave those in then or will they be too rough on his tummy? If I can use them would I decrease the amount of eggshell? How much pumpkin should I add? Can I use both pumpkin and slippery elm? How much slippery elm should I add if so? I still haven't found an abundant amount of chicken hearts in my area. I can get at the most three, but it's usually two in a package of approx. 30 gizzards. I have found beef heart, but have read beef is really bad for sensitive ferrets. How many chicken livers should I use? Sorry lots of questions. It does sound like you came up with a great soupy

Hunter has had some much better stools from last night through today.

I looked up the slippery elm in my natural remedy book and should I be giving that to my other boy that is being treated for helicobactor as well? I'm assuming I find that at a health food store?

[ferretfreke]

Oh one more question, why am I removing the skin?

[Heather]

Hey Hunter...you get better .
If you can grind up all the bones, don't add eggshell...it's low grade calcium anyway. Don't add skin...it usually gets wrapped around the blade, but if you've got a really nice blender (I'm green with envy here ) then it may go through. I just suggested pulling it because it makes a horrible mess and I have to spend valuable time pulling everything apart and picking the icky skin from around the blade. Add everything if you can. I would use slippery elm for 2 weeks and then use pumpkin for 2 weeks. You may actually see one work better than the other. You're using a 3 to 5 lbs chicken?? Say 1/4 c?? of pumpkin. You may have to use more but it's a good starting point. Your furbaby has to come off slippery elm to give his system a rest. Slippery elm and pumpkin is all I used as a tummy settler for Mischief (I went completely holistic with him) With Aremis, I went allopathic using antibiotics and sulcrate. I didn't mind using homeopathics and natural remedies with Mischief as we weren't dealing with lymphomas as well but with Aremis we knew from the beginning we were dealing with cancer as well as an ulcer and IBD
Beef gets a bad rap It's a heavier meat but it doesn't mean that your furbaby can't eat it. Aremis tolerated it fine, in fact liked it better than chicken, but Mischief had a devil of a time with it (he loved it but it didn't like him much ) I'm afraid that one's a trial and error as is so much what we do as the treatment differs from ferret to ferret. I think that's the one thing that drives vets crazy and why so many refuse to treat them.
I think I got all the questions....
Good luck, and you keep getting better Hunter, we're pushing for you little one
ciao

[jojodancer]

If you are concerned about a nutritionally balanced soup until little Hunter gets better, have you looked into commercial raw? You can get it frozen, or dehydrated. All you have to do with the dehydrated patties is add water, soak for 10 minutes, and serve. And every patty is 100% nutritionally complete.

[sherrylynne]

AND the fuzzies love them ANd seeing your post here, jojodancer, reminded me I need more Wysong's

[Heather]

Thank you for your information. I know raw but I know little about freeze dried foods and such, so I leave that to the pros . I've used commercial raw, not paddies but blocks, frozen. So, yes if one checks out the ingredients (not all commercial foods are created equal or are balanced) I do bellieve that you could make a good soupy out of this.
ciao

[ferretfreke]

Heather - I thought you said it would be best for him to be on cooked food right now because it is easier on his system. So I'm confused. I already have several commercial raw diets. I think it would be very challenging to get him to eat it. The shelter gave me a few more jars of soup and the last two days he wouldn't even eat that on his own very well. I adjusted his pred yesterday and tonight he ate on his own. I'm going to make him some soup tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to getting him to eat it. He is sooooo picky!

There is one thing I'm confused on. You said put him on the pumpkin for two weeks then the slippery elm for two weeks. So then I don't want to actually cook the pumkin or the slippery elm into the whole batch of food then right? But add one of them each time I serve it to him? How much slippery elm to a bowl of food? Is it not okay to give him both at the same time? I'm scared to not give him any pumpkin because he goes straight to liquid diarrhea without it.

[jojodancer]

I'm not an expert, but it really sounds like your little guy is not feeling well. When my guys are under the weather, picky about food, we back off on the raw and go as bland as possible. It's like when you are sick - you don't want beef chimichangas with extra salsa - you look for watery chicken soup and saltines. So, when my ferrets seem to have upset tummies, I back off on the rich raw foods, and go with plain watered down chicken baby food for a day or so. Then I add dollops of canned EVO. When he starts perking up, I add some dehydrated raw (but still mostly baby food and canned evo). I gradually increase the raw as he starts feeling better.