Post by dearambellina on Jan 13, 2009 1:10:40 GMT -5
1. I have 3 ferrets. Dorian, male, was born June 6, 2006. Jane and Charlotte, females, are approximately 3 years old. No health issues. I've only owned Jane and Charlotte for 4 days.
2. Dorian is eating Zupreem (EW) and Jane and Charlotte are eating "Costco Cat food" (all I got from their previous owner was a baggie of kibble that had that written on it.
3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to? RAW RAW RAW!
4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet? I know it is much better for them. My dog is on the raw diet, and he's never looked better.
5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets? A friend on livejournal started her corgi on a raw diet, which prompted me to research it.
6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? I can weigh them tomorrow for a very accurate weight. Dorian is about 2.5 pounds I want to say. He appears underweight but he is starting to put weight back on (he lost weight when his cagemate, Ambellina got sick and had to be put to sleep and just recently started putting weight back on.) Charlotte looks perfect as far as "meat" to bone structure ratio. Jane is tiny tiny tiny. She is about the size of an 8 week old kit.
7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?) Dorian has mild tartar. Charlotte actually has amazingly clean teeth. Jane is missing an upper canine tooth and the gumline of the other upper canine appears to be receding. Very mild tartar.
8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat. Dorian is champagne, with a very coarse coat. Jane's coat isn't as full as Charlotte's but their fur is extremely soft. Jane is sable, Charlotte is Champagne.
9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom? Unsure. When I clean the litterbox in the evening most of the litter is disintigrated from urine and there are approximately 10 poops.
10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell? I can't smell Dorian's urine but the girls' urine makes me gag. Dorian's feces makes me gag, but not the girls'.
11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor? Dorian has a pretty strong odor. The girls I actually think smell good.
12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level? 8
13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)? Not very excited.
14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific. No I haven't.
15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share? Dorian is reluctant to try anything different. I've often offered him chunks of raw meat after preparing my dog's meals and he isn't even interested. I gave them a very small chunk of tuna the other day as a treat and Jane and Charlotte tore into it. They loved it. I don't know much about Jane and Charlotte, like I said before, I just got them. They are supposidly 3, almost 4 years old, but I don't know. Charlotte's teeth don't indicate an age that high and Jane's only issue is the canine's, but she gnaws and chews on EVERYTHING. So I think she may have broken that one canine off trying to rip something immovable. Their sizes are ridiculously small. Dorian is easily 3 times bigger than Jane and 2 times bigger than Charlotte. Even the female I had before, Ambellina, was about 1.5 times bigger than Dorian.
16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below: I will try to get this done tomorrow morning.
17. a.) Do you understand that by starting this thread you commit to posting updates on the progress of your ferret(s) diet switch atleast every other day?** Absolutely!
b.) Do you understand that if you will be away from your computer for an extended period of time you will need to exchange phone numbers (or email addresses if you don't feel comfortable exchanging numbers)via private message with your assigned mentor, so that we can monitor your progress and ensure your ferret's saftey during the switch? Yes.
c.) Do you understand that any threads that have not been updated in for more then a week (with no explaination as to why you are absent) will result in the deletion of the thread?*** Yep!
2. Dorian is eating Zupreem (EW) and Jane and Charlotte are eating "Costco Cat food" (all I got from their previous owner was a baggie of kibble that had that written on it.
3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to? RAW RAW RAW!
4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet? I know it is much better for them. My dog is on the raw diet, and he's never looked better.
5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets? A friend on livejournal started her corgi on a raw diet, which prompted me to research it.
6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? I can weigh them tomorrow for a very accurate weight. Dorian is about 2.5 pounds I want to say. He appears underweight but he is starting to put weight back on (he lost weight when his cagemate, Ambellina got sick and had to be put to sleep and just recently started putting weight back on.) Charlotte looks perfect as far as "meat" to bone structure ratio. Jane is tiny tiny tiny. She is about the size of an 8 week old kit.
7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?) Dorian has mild tartar. Charlotte actually has amazingly clean teeth. Jane is missing an upper canine tooth and the gumline of the other upper canine appears to be receding. Very mild tartar.
8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat. Dorian is champagne, with a very coarse coat. Jane's coat isn't as full as Charlotte's but their fur is extremely soft. Jane is sable, Charlotte is Champagne.
9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom? Unsure. When I clean the litterbox in the evening most of the litter is disintigrated from urine and there are approximately 10 poops.
10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell? I can't smell Dorian's urine but the girls' urine makes me gag. Dorian's feces makes me gag, but not the girls'.
11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor? Dorian has a pretty strong odor. The girls I actually think smell good.
12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level? 8
13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)? Not very excited.
14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific. No I haven't.
15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share? Dorian is reluctant to try anything different. I've often offered him chunks of raw meat after preparing my dog's meals and he isn't even interested. I gave them a very small chunk of tuna the other day as a treat and Jane and Charlotte tore into it. They loved it. I don't know much about Jane and Charlotte, like I said before, I just got them. They are supposidly 3, almost 4 years old, but I don't know. Charlotte's teeth don't indicate an age that high and Jane's only issue is the canine's, but she gnaws and chews on EVERYTHING. So I think she may have broken that one canine off trying to rip something immovable. Their sizes are ridiculously small. Dorian is easily 3 times bigger than Jane and 2 times bigger than Charlotte. Even the female I had before, Ambellina, was about 1.5 times bigger than Dorian.
16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below: I will try to get this done tomorrow morning.
17. a.) Do you understand that by starting this thread you commit to posting updates on the progress of your ferret(s) diet switch atleast every other day?** Absolutely!
b.) Do you understand that if you will be away from your computer for an extended period of time you will need to exchange phone numbers (or email addresses if you don't feel comfortable exchanging numbers)via private message with your assigned mentor, so that we can monitor your progress and ensure your ferret's saftey during the switch? Yes.
c.) Do you understand that any threads that have not been updated in for more then a week (with no explaination as to why you are absent) will result in the deletion of the thread?*** Yep!