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Post by ccretarolo on May 26, 2009 15:27:14 GMT -5
I've already got him eating N-Bones. I hate the ingredient list but they've done wonders for his teeth.
In any case, my food processor broke last night (it was old and I got it for free) so I don't know how long it will take to get a new one... Hopefully I'll be able to give some more mush tonight.
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Post by ccretarolo on May 27, 2009 0:40:29 GMT -5
Well... Nevermind about giving more mush... There was no chance to get to the store for a real shopping trip (my bf had his son today so everything was rushed...).
I may have to relearn some super cutting skills to get Mogli to keep eating raw. At this point I doubt that he'll eat anything larger than a super fine mince... I may do it tonight but I think I may wait until tomorrow...
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Post by bigsis7 on May 27, 2009 15:07:50 GMT -5
Bite size usually works. You can try that and see if he'll except it!! Ground meat also works well if he likes mush. It's about that texture. Let me know what you do!
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Post by ccretarolo on May 28, 2009 17:08:53 GMT -5
He won't take anything he has to chew. I'm going to ask my bf for the money I need to get a new food processor so I can keep giving Mogli raw.
I'm starting to think that I may want to continue having a high quality kibble in the cage for him though. He refuses to do more than lick at raw meat so I think I may need to keep him on mush meals twice a day with full access to a blend of EVO feline and Wellness CORE.
I want to make eating raw as stress free for both Mogli and I as possible. I knew it was unlikely that I'd be able to completely switch him so him taking a mush is more than I ever expected.
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Post by bigsis7 on May 28, 2009 19:22:36 GMT -5
It takes lots of patience and time to switch a ferret to a raw diet, sometimes. Eventually he'll get the idea. Let me know when you get the processor!
Have you tried putting mush on or in with the kibble? This may get him to "chew" something that tastes like meat. Also ground meat is very easy to chew, but it's thicker then blended meat.
I totally understand about keeping it stress free! Switching ferrets can be stressful, so we'll take it at whatever pace you want :]!
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Post by ccretarolo on May 28, 2009 20:51:47 GMT -5
I did put mush on kibble a few times but decided to stop doing it. Mogli would only take a few licks of the mush and then Ozzy would go in and eat all of the kibble. He has no interest in the stuff otherwise so I'd like to keep it that way.
I will probably eventually integrate freeze dried foods into the boys' diet in the future. At this point however, just getting it is a problem. I can either make my bf take me to go get it in a different town (about a 30 minute drive) or I can grab his credit card and order it online. I'm also thinking that this will make having a pet sitter easier.
I'll have to talk to my bf about it when he gets back from work tonight.
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Post by bigsis7 on May 29, 2009 8:56:28 GMT -5
Hmm yeah that's a problem.
Well I can say nothing but good about the commercial raw diet! It's convient, easy to feed, the ferrets love it, etc. It can be a bit spendy, but Caseys Hidden Pantry has great prices! If you have any questions about it let me know!
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Post by ccretarolo on May 29, 2009 23:06:36 GMT -5
I think that Mogli's switch is going to be put on hiatus for a few days. My bf works every day until monday so I have to wait till then to either get a food processor or commercial raw.
Another factor is the weather. It's going to be really hot (high 80's) over the weekend. This means that there will be no raw left in the cage for more than a couple of hours and there's no way I'm going for a walk anywhere in this weather.
I'll get back to you on Monday evening to let you know how things are going.
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Post by bigsis7 on May 30, 2009 12:37:02 GMT -5
Alright! Totally understand! Any weather above 80 degrees I refuse to walk in, lol! Talk to you soon!
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Post by ccretarolo on Jun 1, 2009 21:06:02 GMT -5
Got the food processor and found out that I need to go back a couple of steps.
I had to use beef heart instead of chicken heart in my mush... And Mogli was not pleased to say the least. He took some while I was holding him but will not take any on his own. I also think it was a bit too rich for him since he threw some up. I was able to get him to stop puking by giving him some hairball laxative and getting him to drink some water though. I'm going to try and see if he'll keep it down if I add a little more ferretone. I made a pretty big batch of it but I know that Ozzy will eat it if all else fails.
If he isn't keeping it all down within a couple of days, I'll go back to poultry only for him.
And I forgot to add... I talked to the bf about freeze dried raw and he said no. He's already having problems keeping track of how much he's spending to feed the pets and doesn't want to add more to it right now. It sucks but I can understand. We might not be extremely poor but we're far from being well off. So no commercial raw unless I get a job... And the job search is just not happening. As a young student with no car I'm pretty much unhireable in the area I live in. All the jobs are either minimum wage which I guess I'm too educated for... Or they require either a car and driver's license or a degree.
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Post by ccretarolo on Jun 2, 2009 1:46:37 GMT -5
Another update: I tried to give the mush to Mogli again and I don't think I will again. As soon as it touched his tongue, he started dry heaving. I had the hairball stuff to get the taste out of his mouth but I don't think I'll try beef again.
It just figures that I get to have 2 pets that have an intolerance to beef... I'm thinking that beef is going to be a human only thing in my house from now on. That is once Ozzy finishes off the nearly 2 pounds of beef heart mush I made.
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Post by bigsis7 on Jun 2, 2009 8:37:08 GMT -5
Hmm that's interesting cause Ollie has the same problem with beef. He won't go near it. Chewie has no problem with it, but prefers poultry.
I totally understand about the freeze dried!!
Have you tried some pork yet? Maybe you could try boneless pork to give him a bit of variety in his mush. Or you could do half chicken heart half boneless pork. Something like that!
Anyways let me know if you add another meat to his mush!
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Post by ccretarolo on Jun 3, 2009 2:23:30 GMT -5
I have some boneless pork but I'm going to just give him chicken heart to restart with. I got a pretty big pack of it tonight so I'll make him some more mush tomorrow. After a couple of meals of just chicken, I'll add in some boneless pork and/or some turkey.
I've decided that I'm going to take things slow with Mogli and I honestly have no idea if he'll ever get past the mush stage. I don't mind if he doesn't as long as he has some raw in his diet. I have one cat already that eats kibble so I always have high quality cat kibble on hand. Having to buy a little extra won't make a huge difference in the long run.
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Post by bigsis7 on Jun 3, 2009 8:28:21 GMT -5
Alrighty!! Sounds like a good plan! I would add one meat at a time as to not overwhelm him.
Yep that's totally fine if you want to take it slow! Sounds like Mogli's really not interested in going any faster. As long as he has some raw meat in his diet then he should be fine ;]!
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Post by ccretarolo on Jun 3, 2009 22:02:24 GMT -5
I gave Mogli his chicken heart mush and I can tell he missed it. He's back to only taking it from my fingers or a spoon but I don't think that will last long. I'll add in some pork or turkey to the mix tomorrow if he's taking it on his own.
It was encouraging to not have to make him taste it before he started licking at it.
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