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Post by mindfield on May 6, 2009 18:08:23 GMT -5
Yesterday I went to the vet again, Jack was due for his full vaccination and they also did a check up on him again. The vet was trying to feel at his stomach to see if there was anything in there and she couldn't feel anything.... probably because it's cloth. I did notice though that some of his poop have a bit of a blockage still. I am going to try out your suggestion and see how it goes.
Jack really loves his meat! I can't believe how much he eats in a day. I'm still trying to give Fern some of the freeze dried treats. I have liver/chicken/beef. I been sprinkling this on her food lately but she won't eat it alone. Right now for treats she only has nbones and they aren't the best.. so i only give her some every other day.
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Post by mindfield on May 17, 2009 9:55:00 GMT -5
So guess what? I saw Fern take some of Jack's treats this weekend. I think she's been doing it all by herself for awhile now and i just noticed! Fern eats freeze-dried liver! I was really surprised because she never ate anything without her kibble!  |
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Post by tss on May 18, 2009 12:29:18 GMT -5
That is great!! It's cool how they just decide to surprize you sometimes, isn't it??
How are their diets looking right now??
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Post by mindfield on May 23, 2009 14:49:41 GMT -5
Right now Fern is eating kibble with chicken and still the occasional liver and egg shell powder. Her treats consist of Freeze Dried chicken and liver. Jack's right now is chicken, beef, and every other day chicken with bone. He likes the freeze dried chicken but will not eat the liver...
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Post by tss on May 24, 2009 20:40:01 GMT -5
Ok, for Fern we just need to get her eating bone and she needs a bit of variety too.
Jack sounds good, he also needs a bit more of variety. Will he eat fresh liver??
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Post by mindfield on May 25, 2009 19:50:06 GMT -5
Hi,
Yes, Jack eats fresh liver chicken and beef but will not eat them freeze dried. Not sure why though. Do you have any suggestions of what else I can feed them? Thanks!
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Post by tss on May 25, 2009 22:55:27 GMT -5
You don't have to worry too much about him not eating the freeze dried stuff... It's not required or anything.
As for other meats, you can feed boneless pork, turkey, deer, goat and lamb.. You can feed bone-in rabbit, squirrel, quail and piglet. I know a few of these are harder to get a hold of but I am just naming what comes to mind.. My ferrets love all of it.
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Post by mindfield on Jun 8, 2009 9:53:18 GMT -5
Hello Hello,
Sorry it's been awhile but I went on vacation. I introduced Fern and Jack to some pork, turkey and ground beef. You're right about it being hard to find some of the other stuff. Right now I been giving them mostly pork turkey and ground beef just to get them use to it. GUESS WHAT THOUGH?! Fern finally started eating chicken by itself... she still will not eat the bones though. Jack is having a hard time accepting the new introductions but what I do is blend the turkey/ground beef and make it soupy like. Fern will try to pick out the turkey and ground beef that's mixed in with her kibble..I am grinding it up soup like as well.
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Post by Heather on Jun 10, 2009 2:16:27 GMT -5
Hi, I'm just popping in to give you a bit of an update. Your mentor has had to take a sabbatical. Her little fuzzbutt has become very ill and requires a lot of care, so for the next while she feels that she cannot give the time that she should to her switching students so has withdrawn for awhile. Either I will help you with your furbabies or I will find you a full time mentor. It sounds like your furbabies are starting to eat a greater variety and this is what it's all about. We're going to have to work toward getting them to eat more bone. Have you tried taking a hammer to a wing bone and just pounding it and seeing if they will eat it that way? Have you access to premixes (commercial raw) as they are sometimes very good for getting them to eat some of the more exotic meats and they quite often come with ground bone and organ meats. It's just a thought.
It's often a good idea to take a meat that they like and mix it with a meat that they're either not comfortable with or think they're not fond of. First adding very little of the new meat to a larger portion of their favourite meat and gradually increasing the new protein and decreasing the favourite meat until they will eat it on it's own.
I will check in with you tomorrow and see where you and you're guys are at.
ciao
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Post by mindfield on Jun 10, 2009 21:24:50 GMT -5
hi, this is really some upsetting and sad news. I am hoping that everything turns out fine!  I am trying to get Fern to eat more bones..I have tried using a hammer but Jack doesn't seem to have a problem and just Fern. but Thanks! I will be taking your advice and get back to you on this! I am just glad right now the Fern is actually eating chicken without her kibble now. I have been giving her egg shell powder as sub for the bones. For now Fern is eating chicken raw but everything else is mixed i with her kibble...shes getting turkey, pork, beef and liver once in awhile. This is the same thing with Jack except he doesn't eat kibble and will eat chicken bones. I have been mixing in some meat that he isnt really fond of yet with the one he likes....I will keep at it! |
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Post by Heather on Jun 10, 2009 23:18:44 GMT -5
Unfortunately, little Weezie passed on some time today  His notice is posted in the rainbow bridge part of the forum. Start cutting back on the amount of kibbles that you're feeding Fern when you mix it with her meat. Just slightly, you don't want to make it really noticeable but start backing off on it and adding more meat. As long as you're getting kibble and egg shell into Fern she's going to be able to keep her meals balanced. Keep offering her small amounts of bone. Play tug with her with the bones getting her to clamp down and really tug with those meaty bones. Some ferrets take to it right away others,...they just want to take their time. They will do it though. I just keep offering. I use a ground mix (it has finely ground bones in it) and then I don't feel uptight about getting my guys to eat the larger bones. I just keep offering it and eventually they decide they're hungry and they'll eat it. I think it also has to do with how comfortable they are with eating meat. I think that Fern is just not quite there yet. You're doing a great job, I will check in with you tomorrow. Good luck  ciao |
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Post by bigsis7 on Jun 12, 2009 9:02:12 GMT -5
Hi mindfield!
Well as you know Maria's ferret sadly passed away. So I will be taking over for her, for now. I believe I'm a temporary fill in, lol, but possibly permanent! If permanent I'll introduce myself a little better later hehe. Everything Heather suggested sounds good! Definently start reducing the amount of kibble. Like Heather said though, just a bit. What's her favorite toy? Or I guess how does she like to play with her toys? Throwing the bone in the bath tub for her, could get her to tackle it like a ferret would a toy. Tug of war is also a classic play for the ferret. Or drag the bone around for them to catch. Usually when they play these games they grab the toy with their mouth and shake. This should tear some of the meat off and get her/them to chew on the bone. Not sure if my "games" will work, but the tug of war should! Let me know how it goes!
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Post by mindfield on Jun 16, 2009 17:40:47 GMT -5
Hello, i read this awhile back and thought i replied to it. Jack is pretty much eating everything for the most part, he loves running away with the bone into his little feed den. Fern on the other hand does eat chicken with eggshells, liver, and beef but will not eat bone. Although im still happy with the progress! The hard part about playing with her with a bone is that she rarely chases things (besides socks and me) She's more of an explorer and loves to climb. I slid the bone on our cement floor once though and she chased it but sniffed it and walked away! Jack eats bones already but he needs more food variety.
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Post by bigsis7 on Jun 17, 2009 10:08:55 GMT -5
Hi!
Alrighty, is it possible you could cut up a chicken wing for Fern and put ferretone on it? Assuming she likes ferretone. It sounds like you're trying different meats with Jack? Is he showing any interest yet? Blending chicken with another kind of meat to mix the tastes could help. Turkey seems to be a good meat to try out first with a ferret eating chicken since they're both poultry. Anyways sorry if I missed something! Look forward to mentoring you!
Oh and this is permanent, so I'll introduce myself :], lol!
I'm owned by 3 ferrets Oliver, Breeze, and Chewie. I got Oliver from a pet store April 19th, 2008 when he was ten weeks old. Chewie's my second ferret who I rescued from a neglect situation. I'm at least his third home, possibly more. I got him July 3rd, 2008 when he was 5-6 years old. Breeze is a recent addition and I love her to death! I adopted her from a breeder May 31st, 2009 and she's 2 years old!
My raw feeding expierence has been great!! It's helped my ferrets in a lot of ways! When I got Chewie it helped his energy level a lot and helped him gain some much needed weight. Chewie's stomach for some reason does not agree with "whole" raw, though. Right now they're on commercial raw and Chewie gets some kibble sadly. But it can't feel good having diahrrea all the time either. Ollie loves meat and I'm trying to get Breeze to eat some right now :]! She's not buying it yet, lol! Anyways I look forward to mentoring you!
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Post by mindfield on Jun 18, 2009 21:08:05 GMT -5
Hey, all three of your ferret look amazing!
Jack pretty much eats anything and everything so he is eating showing interest in all of them...i think the one thing he doesn't like much is ground beef..it's probably too mushy for him. He doesn't take the soupy stuff too well....but he'll eat everything else just fine. Some days he can be picky and will only eat a certain food when he's hungry..the only thing he'll every eat always is chicken and liver and gizzard..mainly just poultry stuff. He has a lot of getting use to with the other ones. We also give him bones but sometimes leaves some behind.
As for Fern, she is a bit more tough! I think I got her when they were about to get rid of her at the pet store so she was use to the kibble they fed her. I was at first told to swtich to EVO and so I did...boy was that hard. I then decided to switch her on raw and have been mixing evo with chicken/turkey/liver/gizzard/beef.. She eats all of them only with kibble. I don't put as much kibble as a use to..and have seen her go into Jack's food bowl but most of the time she will still be looking for her kibble. Also we been giving her eggshell powder as a suggestion because she hasnt been eating bones yet and will not. I tried using it as a play toy but she's not really into that stuff.
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