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Post by dearambellina on Feb 21, 2009 22:21:01 GMT -5
Which probiotic do you suggest? I have FortiFlora already because it's what I get form work but I don't know if that's ok for the ferrets.
I got my RodentPro order yesterday, boy the cats and ferrets are in heaven. The girls got their first chick today and they went to town!
My boy cats were REALLY interested in the chick but they are confused by feathers and fur, so I'm going to try plucking most of the chick tomorrow to see if that will help them realize that they can, in fact, eat it.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Feb 23, 2009 10:59:16 GMT -5
Forti-flora should be fine, so you can use that up since you already have it.
I'm so happy the girls and kitties are so interested in the chicks!! That's great news. It didn't take them long to realize whole prey at all, did it?
What's Dorian up to?
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Post by dearambellina on Feb 24, 2009 0:45:52 GMT -5
Dorian is still happily munching on kibble, avoiding chicken entirely, and if he so much as accidently licks it, he FLIPS out... Penelope's in the same boat; suddenly refusing any raw.
I didn't think I'd be able to do the whole prey thing, but it's so convenient, I couldn't NOT do it. I don't have to worry about cutting chicken to portion sizes, etc. I just slap together a meal of different aged mice, or a chick and hand it to them and they go to town! I love it. They love it. Win win situation!
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Post by spiritualtramp on Feb 26, 2009 11:41:23 GMT -5
True enough! Is Dorian's kibble still wetted? Adding ground raw?
What's up with Penelope?
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Post by dearambellina on Feb 27, 2009 12:23:51 GMT -5
I am starting completely over with Dorian and am going to buy more meat to grind today and start adding it to his kibble again. Circumstances beyond my control have made doing the transitiong process next to impossible. (We have a guest in the house and my mom decided it was a great idea to put the ferrets in the guest room, without consulting me, and the guest goes to bed before I get home from work.) So I've had to change my schedule all around and am starting to feed them in the morning now instead of the evening. I'm trying to get the ferrets out of the guest room but I need help moving the ferret nation cage and my mom prefers the ferrets in the guest room. So it's like pulling teeth. Penelope has decided that chewing is too much work and won't even chew her kibble. Her teeth look horrendous as a result and I'm trying every trick in the book to get her to chew & switch to raw and it's not working. I'm thinking about fasting her until tomorrow morning (she ate this morning, just kibble) and giving her ground raw mixed with canned food. I'm thinking about trying pork with her (because she absolutely cannot stand chicken), or searing chicken very briefly to see if she prefers that. My only issue with fasting is that she is stubborn as a mule and I'm pretty sure she would rather starve than eat chicken.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Mar 2, 2009 11:20:54 GMT -5
Chicken becomes that for a lot of raw eaters, I guess it's boring or something. My kids still eat it willingly but it's not unheard of, so don't feel too discouraged. Just step back a few steps with all that need it, and take a deep breath. The situation especially with moving them to another room can definitely make them uncomfortable and back them up a bit. My Tank man ripped out a nail a few months back, and subsequently quit eating raw. I guess he just wanted to be babied. So I had to back up to the soup stage and reintroduce meats slowly. What a brat he can be So, it's not unusual for Dorian or any of the others to have to step back. Especially since we already knew Dorian was the finickiest thus far. Just keep it slow and gradual and it should work. With Penelope, make sure that it's not a pain issue with her teeth that's stopping her. If she's got any decay it could be painful. If not, it might be worthwhile to pick up some freeze-dried raw foods, like Stella and Chewy's or Ziwipeak and attempt to get her eating raw via that route. Sorry I've been a bit absent lately, I do finally have the web up at my new place so I'll be back daily to check on your progress. Anway, hope all is well, keep me posted!
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Post by dearambellina on Mar 2, 2009 12:29:08 GMT -5
Jane hissed for the first time yesterday at Charlotte because I only put ONE chick in their cage and Charlotte wouldn't share. I was laughing so hard, then I went and got Jane her own chick. I will search for the freeze dried food, she may like that. I've been trying to mix canned with tiny chunks of chicken and she just licks the canned off the chunks and leaves them on the plate. What do you find is the best way to get probiotics into the ferrets (Fortiflora is powdered and I was thinking of mixing it in baby food?)
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Post by spiritualtramp on Mar 4, 2009 11:06:43 GMT -5
Yeah I've been adding a tablespoon or so to a pureed organ soup for my kids when I give it to them, so mixing it into baby food would be just as good! It's really helped my Ranger. A user on here, jojodancer, runs a small webstore for freeze-dried foods and has great prices. Check her out if you can't find any locally, or if you prefer to webshop. My kids get Stella & Chewy's occasionally and they helped when switching Tank especially, so it's worth a try. Casey's Hidden Pantry www.caseyshiddenpantry.com/products.htmlI love that the girls are really enjoying their chicks. That is soooo cute
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Post by dearambellina on Mar 7, 2009 11:16:01 GMT -5
I tried the 95% canned chicken. Penelope likes it, just not as much as her wellness chicken and herring. She still tried to lick around the chicken but I've cut it into such small portions that she does eat some. Dorian is still a stubborn butt. I can't tell if he's eaten any of the canned or not (I really don't think he has). I think I might get the freeze dried food and try it because they really like crunchy textures and that may be the key. When I was picking up the canned food at PetCo, I saw Solid Gold had some freeze dried food there and I was gonna pick a bag up until I saw the price. The petstore's price inflation is ridiculous! I'll be checking out that store you linked me to.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Mar 7, 2009 12:54:17 GMT -5
Yeah do check out jojodancer's site - her prices are VERY reasonable and she ships out same day! Very efficient.
I wouldn't bother with the Solid Gold stuff solely because of the price. I know my mind was shattered when I stumbled upon it at Petco once!
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Post by spiritualtramp on Mar 11, 2009 8:55:43 GMT -5
Just checking in - hope all is okay with you and the fuzzy crew. Keep me posted!
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Post by dearambellina on Mar 11, 2009 21:05:03 GMT -5
Yes! I'm sorry! I got sidetracked by life! haha. I was holding off on buying the freeze-dried food until i did my taxes. Now that I have and know I don't owe anything I'm gonna order some. Penelope still won't budge on the raw food thing, neither will Dorian. So I'm going to try the freeze dried.
I gave the ferrets a rabbit the other day. they ate about a quarter of it. It seemed like they still have to work on some jaw strength before they can really tackle the rabbit.
I offered the rabbit to the cats and Izzy tried so hard to get at it but didn't quite have the strength to tear into it the way she wanted to.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Mar 12, 2009 8:56:57 GMT -5
It does take time to work up the strength, but at least some of them do have the interest. Rabbit is popular so that's a good starting off point. Let me know how the freeze-dried goes, hopefully with that as background, you can get them to accept raw again. Let me know if you need any suggestions!
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Post by dearambellina on Mar 14, 2009 21:14:27 GMT -5
I may have to start separating Charlotte and Jane at feeding times. Even though there is MORE than enough for both of them, they fight. Which reminds me, I need to order from RodentPro again
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Post by spiritualtramp on Mar 15, 2009 17:48:49 GMT -5
I did that briefly as there was a lot of fighting and food-aggressive behavior. I used a temporary cage and fed Pilot separately from Diesel and it worked out. Now they can gnaw on the same bone together without any problems.
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