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Post by bluedove on Apr 1, 2009 20:00:44 GMT -5
Picked up some Duk soup today... will be trying syringe feeding her tonight. Keep your fingers crossed!
(I'm guessing I just mix it up as per directions?)
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Post by Jaycee on Apr 1, 2009 21:03:18 GMT -5
Yes, and you can mix it with a little ground chicken to see if she will take to it. Mine love the duk soup, so maybe it will help her on to the next step. How did it go?
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Post by bluedove on Apr 2, 2009 0:03:16 GMT -5
Well, I wouldn't say she loved it. Had to mix in the ferretone to get her to take any significant amount... even from the syringe. I'll keep working with her on the syringe feeding and try to get her accustomed to the taste. (Man, she's a slow starter! *sigh*)
I probably want her to eat the soup from a bowl before I start adding things to it, right?
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Post by Jaycee on Apr 2, 2009 17:49:52 GMT -5
We can definately do baby steps! Trust me...it is what I had to do with my large clan! Get her use to the soup taste, and if it goes well, then maybe grind up a little raw chicken into the mix. I also kept track of my ferrets weight during this transition. If it looks like Liddle is losing too much weigh we probably need to take a step back for a day and then move forward. I forget...did you weigh her initially? If not, maybe do it now and try to keep track every other day or so.
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Post by Jaycee on Apr 2, 2009 18:15:27 GMT -5
Hey, just a quick other question. Are you only feeding her soup, or are you just adding it to her diet. I wouldn't soley feed just the duk soup, but add it instead. Hang in there! You are doing great!
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Post by bluedove on Apr 2, 2009 18:26:47 GMT -5
Yikes! Thanks for mentioning her weight. I did weigh her initially, and after comparing her weight today... she's lost 80 grams! That's nearly 3 ozs... quite a bit for a ferret who doesn't even weigh 2lbs! I didn't expect she would have lost weight because I do still give her kibble daily... more than she eats, so I didn't think I was depriving her at all. I did switch up her kibble mix quite a bit though. Maybe she hasn't adjusted to the kibble yet either. I guess we're going to have to take a step back for a while and try to find things she will eat IN ADDITION to her kibble, rather than instead of. EDIT: Sorry, you posted while I was posting... no, I've been doing as you suggested and just adding some moisture to her kibble. But it did seem to be putting her off eating it. I think I will go back to putting some ferretone over her dry kibble and syringe feed the soup mix to get her used to the taste.
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Post by Jaycee on Apr 3, 2009 17:55:51 GMT -5
So how are things going today? How is she eating?
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Post by bluedove on Apr 3, 2009 22:45:21 GMT -5
I'll be honest. I'm losing my gumption here. It's very frustrating that she only seems interested in stuff that's BAD for her. She won't touch any of the meats I offer her... not even a nice stinky oily sardine! But if one of us is eating ice cream or cookies or something, we have to fight to keep her away!
She is back on dry kibble drizzled with 'tone and "treats" of 8 in 1 Ultimate Soft-Moist diet. I think she is eating better, I will weigh her tomorrow. The cats are continuing on canned and moistened kibble.
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Post by Jaycee on Apr 3, 2009 23:09:42 GMT -5
Don't give up. Trust me. I felt that way a hundred times during my switch. It wasn't easy for me. But I never gave up. My guys love chicken, and will hide it anywhere now if they thought I would never find it. Just take a step back, and then go forward. Soupie on the kibble as the first step. You will be thankful in the end, it just seems a long way off now, but you will get there. We are all here for you.
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Post by bluedove on Apr 5, 2009 19:00:40 GMT -5
Thanks... I think I may have chosen a bad time to try this, really... I've over extended myself monetarily with getting the mice set up and extra food and ferret supplies. Now I'm stressing over Liddle losing weight... *sigh*
She has two bowls in her cage... so I think I'm going to continue to free feed her kibble dry in one bowl and offer the soup in the other. So far she just hasn't been eating the kibble whenever I moisten it with anything... not the gravy, not the broth, not the duk soup... thus the weight loss. I just really don't know what else to do... :-\
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Post by bluedove on Apr 6, 2009 18:03:20 GMT -5
I gave her a container of the soup mixed with broth instead of water this time and a little tone mixed in. It was kind of a pasty texture... I can't really tell if she ate any of it. I'll try and make it more liquidy tonight.
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Post by Jaycee on Apr 8, 2009 17:33:30 GMT -5
So how are things going today? Is she eating anything? Has she lost any more weight or is she staying stable. There is also the possibility that she is losing weight due to seasonal changes as well. My ferrets weights all fluctuate with the seasons, so don't panic.
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Post by bluedove on Apr 9, 2009 2:00:31 GMT -5
Slight weight loss this time. She's weighing about 790 grams today.
I'm still free-feeding kibble... I'm just too worried to take it from her again... if she would only eat ANYTHING else! I think her weight loss is coming from the fact that she no longer has access to cat kibble... so I may add some to her mix.
She's not touching the soup as far as I can tell... the only way to get her to eat it is to syringe feed it. I guess I will start trying to get as much down her that way as I can.
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Post by bluedove on Apr 9, 2009 23:17:27 GMT -5
I think I'm going to have to put the switch on hold. Liddle has not been receptive to any of the things I've tried with her and I'm becoming less able to put the time and money in to help her along...
Feel free to lock or move/delete the thread. I'll get back in touch when our situation changes.
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Post by bluedove on Apr 10, 2009 17:45:28 GMT -5
OK, I believe I spoke too soon. I've been having trouble getting Liddle to cooperate with being held to be fed, so I talked with my man and he is willing to try and syringe feed her whatever concoction I mix up for her every night. (She is more closely bonded to him anyway...) So current status: Free feeding ferret kibble and syringe feeding duc soup w/ broth nightly. Cats are eating canned and kibble. Taking a step back with Peepers since the other cats are eating her moistened kibble... and leaving her with nothing to eat! So we free feeding dry kibble along side the canned again. Introducing the female mice to my male today. So will hopefully have some litters in 3-4 weeks.
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