Tikki, Mis, and Coco Switch!

[Zoshi]

That's good to know, I'll start thinking how I'd like to arrange things. I like mixing the meats right now, since they seem to get really excited if they have different flavors; both Mis and Coco will eat a piece of chicken, and then take a piece of beef, and then go for the chicken again. x3

As for Tikki, I gave her probiotics the day before I took her to the vet, but I'm not giving her any right now. I actually talked with the vet about it, and she said it'd probably be better to wait until after she's done taking her antibiotics, since there's a chance the medication would just end up getting rid of the probiotics as well. Once she's off her meds, though, the vet said it'd be a good idea to give her a round of probiotics to give her a little boost.
She's doing really well, pretty much back to normal, and she hasn't lost too much weight (2 ounces) so it's pretty much as if she'd lost her winter fat, only sped up... xD
She's eating a lot again, and war dancing all over the place when I play with her, so it's good to see her with her energy back.


Annnnd here's the run down for the foods so far:

Yesterday the kids had Lamb and NV Rabbit in the morning (I ran out of everything except lamb over the weekend! They eat too much, haha...).
I got them 2 cornish game hens (they only come in packs of 2) a pack of boneless chicken thighs and a pack of veal.

Last night they had two wings from one of the hens and lamb.
This morning they had veal and chicken thigh meat.
Tonight they got veal and some rehydrated Ziwipeak Lamb.

Mis seems to like freeze-dried things. He goes for anything freezedried pretty easily.

Tomorrow I'm planning on giving them one of the hen's backs, split for morning and night, along with chicken thigh meat to even out the bone-to-meat ratio.


Other than that... I was a little fluttery the past few days, since my sister-in-law gave birth yesterday! I was hoping for the baby to come on Sunday, so I could share a birthday with her, but she held off for a day. xD So I'm an aunt again, and my brother and sister-in-law are going to be busy even more (they already have a two year old daughter). So I apologize beforehand if I happen to disappear for a day.

[luci]

How exciting! I'm only an aunt one time over, but my SO has six nieces and nephews, so there are always plenty of child type events happening.

I'm excited to get Tikki on raw so that in the future she will likely be more able to fight off little issues like this on her own. You have good instincts and I'm confident we'll make it happen.

[Zoshi]

The more kids come, the crazier things get, haha! But it's all fun, and they're always so cute when they're little. :3

I got ground chicken to prepare for Tikki's second try. xD I think she might take better to having ground in her chicken baby food first before I start giving her cut up pieces of chicken, it'll be harder for her to spit it out...
Her poops are pretty much back to normal, although she still has a week left on her meds, so I'm not sure when to start her switch. Ughhh... Oh! She did seem interested in the kids's chicken last night, and gave a piece a few licks, and almost, almost chewed on it before losing interest. I'm taking that as a good sign.

The kids got veal and pork tonight! Yum yum, they were quite happy. :3 They eat like little piggies...

Annnd I got a whole bunch of stuff today, and divided it up. I got chicken liver and gizzards, and lamb hearts that I cut up (hearts, though, count as muscle, not organ, right?). Well, I divided them up to make little organ-packages to freeze to make life easier.

Now, also, there has been a bit of discussion between me and my parents about the raw feeding, and while they're totally fine with it, they're were asking me about having the kids have kibble sometimes just in case something happens, and they need to feed them and I'm not around... Sooo, here is a tentative schedule, including the kibble:

Sunday: Organ Day! Technically, Liver/gizzard/heart+NV Rabbit formula to make it a mush-- Rest of the day kibble.
Monday: Chicken with bone in (wing, neck, ribs) along with some other chicken meat (thigh, etc)
Tuesday: Two of the following: Beef/pork/lamb/veal
Wednesday: Chicken with bone in along with other chicken meat
Thursday: Two of the following: Beef/pork/lamb/veal
Friday: Chicken with bone in along with other chicken meat
Saturday: 1 meal of Mixed meats = Chicken wings/necks with either beef/pork/veal/lamb, rest of the day Kibble


Chicken will either be straight up chicken, Cornish Game Hen, or I might substitute turkey breast/thigh meat instead of the chicken.
The other meats will probably features the beef/pork/veal more than lamb, unless I see a good price, of course. :3

So it's five days of pure raw, two days of raw+kibble. I aim on giving them their raw in the mornings on the weekends, so that they have time to digest before they start eating any of the kibble. Pretty much, give them breakfast, and then give them a bowl of the kibble.

Right now, I give them two large meals a day, and I think I'm starting to get the amount right, since they pretty much eat it over the day, and not just right away when I give it to them.

Oh, and I've got Evo Feline for them, that Tikki is eating right now.

Tomorrow, the kids get cornish hen legs (I'm going to pound on the bones a bit to help them out, it's their first time with the leg bones) and regular chicken thigh meat.

[luci]

Yes, heart counts as muscle. I haven't found a type of heart that my critters don't eat up like candy.

Have you researched freeze dried food to use instead of kibble? If you are going to feed kibble as a regular part of their diet my only concern would be digestive upset. Give a good 8 hours after a raw meal before offering kibble and then take it away again so there is another 8 hours before raw again.

Your menu looks good. Now to get Tikki to think so too!

[Zoshi]

I'm going to talk to my parents about that freeze-dried idea... I know the kids both like Stella and Chewys (they've had both chicken and beef from that). I'll look into that some more, too.

Okay, so I'll do this tomorrow: Morning, between 7-8, they get their meat for the day, and then I'll give them the kibble around 5, and then take it away at 10 or so. Sunday will be the same deal, morning food at 7-8, kibble at 5, then take it away at 10. From monday we'll start their regular schedule again.
Doest that sound good?

Argh, each time I think I have them down to where I know how much they eat, they trip me up. xD They've pretty much devoured the hen legs, and most of the meat, but there's still a bit left.

Yes! I'm glad the menu is looking good. :3

Also, I'm pretty sure Monday is the day Tikki starts getting her switch started again; I have the ground chicken ready, and the chicken baby food, and with a little luck I'll have her convinced soon enough to start munching on yummy raw.

[luci]

Yeah I think that schedule should work well. As for food amounts... hehehe... get used to it. Ferrets LOVE to keep us guessing. It's totally normal for them to be piggies one day and barely look at their food the next. I was so happy once the little buggers learned to leave their food in their cat proof dens because I could finally leave their food out and available. They eat when they feel like it and I can give them their meals at the same time I feed the cats. Even if they're sleeping. Made my life so much easier. It does suck when I have to throw food out, but I don't think there's a way to predict what food mood they're in each day.

My two have been lazy today. They haven't even gone to check out what dinner is yet. I'm sure that as soon as I have to do something they'll be circling my ankles. Bless 'em, the rotten stinkers.

[Zoshi]

xD Ha, silly guys... they always like to get involved at the least likely moments... Tikki will be running around everywhere, but as soon as she notices I'm cleaning her cage, she climbs back in to "assist" me and let me know which stashes are okay to clean up, and which stashes I should stay away from.

Coco and Mis have gotten to the point that even if they've had full bellies all day (and they've left pieces of meat in their bowl, so I know they're not really hungry) they'll still go ballistic over their evening dinner, and start diving into it, even though they don't want to eat anything just yet. They're so excited about the food! I've never seen a ferret so excited over something that isn't Laxatone or a 'banned" treat.

I finally got a plastic container for them to use as a food den, and they love it! I've been using cardboard boxes until now and that was such a crazy hassle. xD They love it; once I get all the cages connected and all the ferrets in one large cage, one section is going to be purely for eating, and they're going to have two-three dens in there so they can stash things if they want. (Hopefully that'll keep Tikki from trying to carry raw food to her bed, once she gets switched).

I wanted to ask, what do you use to disinfect their things? I'm using Nature's Source to do regular cleaning, and I've got a spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and one of Vinegar to use for disinfecting (I've read on her about people using it).


Also, I'm amending what I said earlier, and Tikki isn't going to start the switch again until next Monday (aggravating, I know D:) but she's finishing her meds on Thursday, and I want to get some probiotics into her before I start giving her raw again, just to help her out.

EDIT: I checked out my meat stock, so here's a schedule for this week.

Feeding Schedule: 5/17-5/23

Sun:
AM: Organs-Wing-NV Rabbit
PM: EVO

Mon:
ALL DAY: (split into two feedings) Game Hen Chicken Back and Breast w/bone

Tuesday:
AM: Beef & Veal
PM: Pork

Wednesday:
ALL DAY: (split into two feedings) 2 Whole Game Hen Legs

Thursday:
AM: Beef & Veal
PM: Pork

Friday:
AM: Chicken Wing Each
PM: Game Hen Breast w/bone

Saturday:
AM: Chicken Neck each + 1 Chicken Thigh meat, deboned
PM: EVO


And weights:

Mis: 2.2 lbs
Coco: 1.8 lbs
Tikki: 1.3 lbs

Tikki lost a bit of weight while she was sick, I'm hoping that now that her stomach is settling down she'll be able to get most of it back. I know that at least part of her weight was her winter-fat, and the last few years she was at 1.5 during the summer.

[luci]

I love how excited my ferrets and cats get about their food. Even when, like you said, they're not particularly hungry. Ferrets seem to be very good at knowing "when to say when", so it's nice to know that they won't overeat.

Your menu for the week looks good. Keep an eye on the poops to make sure you have a good balance of meat:bone. Have we discussed using squash or pumpkin to use for fiber? Since we're not feeding whole prey it replaces the fur and feathers they would ingest. It works to "brush" out the digestive tract. I give some once a week. Just something to think about.

For disinfecting I use a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle for pretty much everything. I also use Nature's Miracle for potty accidents. I line their plastic tub feeding dens with paper (I cut up paper grocery bags) and swap that out every two days. I clean the tubs with vinegar and water twice a week or whenever it needs it. Some of the juicier stuff seeps through the paper, but this has been working well for me.

[Zoshi]

That is an awesome idea with the paper bags! I think I'm going to steal it... ;D
Pumpkin, I keep forgetting to pick up pumpkin... I need to make better lists for when I go to the store, haha...

During the middle of last week, the kids had poops that were looking crumbly, but this week, so far at least, they've been having well-formed poops after their bone-in meals, and even the poops from their pork and beef days is formed well, although it's a bit more runny than the bone-in days.

I just noticed that one of the stores near me has fresh sweetbreads, and I had to come home and look it up to find out what it is, heh.... turns out it's the Thymus gland and the pancreas, and this store has lamb sweetbreads, and maybe veal, I can't remember right now. I'm thinking of getting some and chopping it up into portions to add to their organ-mix on Sundays. What do you think? It'd be an extra dose of organ meats...

I've started giving Tikki some crumbled up pieces of S&C's chicken mixed into her kibble, and I've found them hidden in her stash spots, so she might be starting to think of them as food. I toss the pieces I find back into her food bowl, since they're dry and look fine...

Everyone is still seperated, btw. When I'm cleaning cages, though, I put Tikki in their cage while I clean hers, and then I put them in with her until I'm done with theirs. They seem to enjoy exploring the new places...

[Zoshi]

I just found that the store that has the sweetbreads also has frozen dressed wild rabbit! It's 3.99 a pound, though, so there was a 2 1/2 pound rabbit for almost $10. Either way I'd have to introduce it to them, although the kids eat the NV rabbit. Still, the NV rabbit formula has pork liver and something else in it, so it's taste is probably different than straight-up rabbit.
Still, I'm excited about this! I'm going to go back tomorrow probably and ask them if this is just a seasonal thing, or if they have rabbit year-round.
Right now I'm holding off on getting any rabbit... I want to see how much they know about the rabbit, too, and if all sounds good, and they have it year round, then maybe I can get the kids real rabbit every now and then.

[luci]

Yes yes! Go for it. My animals love love love rabbit. I found a place that will sell dressed carcasses to me for $3.75/lb. But I only get the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs. Very jealous of you finding sweetbreads. You've inspired me to look for them again.

[Zoshi]

Sweetbreads, and rabbit it is! Maybe I can get it tomorrow... probably yes... x3 I love shopping for these guys, heheh...
I'll cut the rabbit up as well as I can... I'd do a once a week thing with it, and since it's bone-in meat, would it be all right if I switch it in for the Saturday morning meal?

It's so weird in what kinds of places you can find stuff... Who knows, maybe some of the stores you go to have started carrying it finally? I'm still amazed by the kinds of things I'm finding in this store, it's called Produce World, and they have such a crazy amount of stuff in there. Funny thing is, the rabbits, along with young ducklings, are in a freezer case right next to the fish section, so that's probably why I wasn't even aware they had it in the store!

[Zoshi]

Got the sweetmeats today, haven't gotten the rabbit yet though... I'm going to get it on tuesday, and I'm going to need to let it thaw a little bit before I chop it up. Can't wait!

While surfing around, I found this yahoo group: pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Meatrabbits/
I haven't asked any questions yet, but I want to see if there's anyone with meat rabbits in my area, and see how much they know about it. :3

Oh, and I got the pumpkin, so we'll be seeing this weekend how they take it.

Back to the sweetmeats; You know, I can handle a lot of meats without being, ahem, affected by their smells, but this was something totally different. I mean, it sort of smelled like veal, but with a tangy after-smell. xD Interesting, to say the least. At least I'm just chopping and freezing, and then thawing and serving, and not eating it myself! I hope the kids don't mind when I add it to their mix.

Tikki's meds end today, and I'm going to give her a dose of probiotics tomorrow. I'll get some ground chicken defrosted and start giving her small amounts of chicken baby food and raw ground over the next few days and see how she takes it.

[luci]

Wonderful! I'll be interested to hear what they think of it.

I mix my squash purée with their weekly organ soup and they don't seem to mind it. They don't like it plain, but my cats do, so I suppose it's possible that they might.

[Zoshi]

Quick update:
Haven't tried the pumpkin yet, I will tomorrow. The kids are eating no problem, of course, and they're having pretty consistent poops this week, although I did notice their poops were darker during the days they had beef (red meat does that, right?) and not quite as dark on the chicken days. Firmer on bone days as well, of course, but the non-bone days weren't runny, still formed just softer.

Tikki has stopped her meds, I gave her probiotics today to give her a boost. I pulled out some of the ground chicken I had for her, and she chowed down on a half-teaspoon of baby food with about 1/4 teaspoon of ground mixed in. This seems to be working better with her than before, where I was using chunks of chicken. Also, I've managed to notice through all this that she likes eating smaller amounts at once, so this half-teaspoon size seems perfect for her. I'll keep this mix for a few days, maybe slightly slightly start raising the amount of ground over the days. I think she might remember how the baby food tasted with the chicken in it last time.

Other than that, nothing much else to report. Hope your weekend is good!