What improvements have you seen in your ferrets

[ferretfreke]

I thought it would be great for those of you that have switched your ferrets to raw/whole prey to post your personal stories of the improvements you have seen in your ferrets physical and mental health. I think this could really help those considering whether or not to switch. There is a lot of info on the forum stating how it can improve a ferrets life, but personal stories are always great too.

Here is mine: All of my ferrets were adopted from the shelter or rescued from horrible conditions. Two of my babies were abandoned in a tiny cage in a Rite Aid parking lot on a cold winter's night. They appeared to be about 9 months old and there appeared to be about 9 months worth of feces in that tiny cage. They of course had issues. The male, who I named Unagi, was a lot more forgiving and after about a month of working with him he wouldn't bite me. The female (Alitasha) is an entirely different story on the biting. Before I made the switch I had owned her for 3 years and she still would occasionally freak out on me. I highly suspect abuse was involved as well as the horrible neglect. I definitely had made a lot of progress with her, but she still had anxiety. Since switching her to a raw/whole prey diet she hasn't had an incident for months! I showed her at the Boise Ferret show for the first time and she actually got great remarks as far as her disposition goes!

My boy, BillyBob, I adopted from the shelter. He had terrible chewing issues. He would practically eat entire blankets. I thought this would wear off after a bit, because I've had bedding chewers before that settle down after a few months of being in their new home. After a year he had not calmed down at all. I only put denim bedding in their cage to slow him down and he'd even chew through that. After only a couple of months of switching, he completely stopped chewing his bedding! I was even able to put soft bedding back in their cage, which made them all very happy. He is also a suckler and while that hasn't completely stopped it has gone down in frequency. I think he tends to do it now when he wants to be fed.

As far as physical health goes, all of their teeth and hair coats are beautiful, they have increased energy and muscle mass, and they are so excited for each meal. I'd say they are very happy babies.

[bindiferret89]

I began noticing the physical improvements with a raw diet early on. That musky ferret smell almost completely disappeared (and hasn't come back!) and their coats became super soft. The decrease in the smell of their feces has been a huge plus since I live at home and my mom isn't fond of litterbox smells.

Moki, my oldest, was an only ferret for the first year of her life and also didn't get as much out-of-cage time when I was in high school as she does now, which I think contributed to her having a consistently low energy level. After a few months on raw food, she is still more laidback than the others, but she wrestles, dooks, war dances, and keeps up with the younger kids, which is very rewarding to see.

Sullivan and Nuka, my youngest, who have been on raw since they were 3 and 6 months old, have a totally different, more solid body makeup than my skinny ex-kibble fed girls.

I feel like the raw diet has helped establish my ferrets' relationships with me and each other as well. Food fights are horrendous for me to listen to because most of my kids love to scream when they eat, but it's allowed them to establish a very clear hierarchy among the group, which doesn't affect me, but I imagine it's healthier (mentally) for them? Anyone know? That's just speculation on my part.

As far as my relationship with the ferrets, nothing is more rewarding than seeing them run straight to their bowls when they know it's mealtime and to watch them actually get EXCITED about eating, instead of picking at it lazily like they did with kibble.

Oh! And teeth! Moki's only two and was already getting horrible build-up on her teeth, but they look 100% better now and I don't have to do tooth brushing anymore!

[justahannah]

I've been in the process of switching for about a month now...2 cats (both 1.5 years old), and 4 ferrets (ages 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3). Though I've been through a variety of high quality ferret and cat kibbles since I got the first fuzzy in December, the ferrets have always had runny, sometimes seedy, stool. Right now I'm making my own frozen ground diet and for every cup of the frozen they still get 1/4 cup of Evo kibble mixed in so they aren't totally switched yet. Even so, for the first time since acquiring them their stool is firm and smooth, it's real poo! Their relative lack of scent is amazing too, even company noticed the difference while visiting and thought I was using some new cleaning product. Everybody's fur is thicker and softer and they're all more active. My cats go outside, so I haven't had an opportunity to check their stool, but I've noticed the same improvements in coat and activity, and they don't have a smell at all anymore...I can shove my face into their fur and all I smell is the weather (today it's a rainy day . Just knowing they've improved this much over a single month without having even completed the transition yet is enough incentive for me to keep them on raw for the rest of their lives...it really is incredible.

[ferretfreke]

Yay! Thank you for sharing. I love reading other's experiences. The body and poop odor was the one big thing I forgot to mention. I hope we get more stories on here.

[ls84]

My youngest ferret was probably about 3 months was I rescused him, so I switch him right away. I noticed the smell cut down a lot, and his fur is so soft and fluffy. He has tons of energy, and he also seems to have grown larger than most kibble fed Marshall's males.

My two newest adoptions, about two years old, are now completely switched to raw, and already I am noticing more energy, more eagerness to eat, and their coats are getting softer. My male had the little fat pouches on his stomach from the kibble, but was still bony on his back and butt. Now he is filling out and getting more muscular and losing the kibble fat.

I'm hoping my younger boy will always have his nice white teeth, and I am hoping that my older guys' teeth will get better with the switch eventually.

[ferretdroogies]

I switched my guys from EVO kibble to commercial freeze-dried and dehydrated raw (Ziwipeak, S&C, AFS, and Wysong) at the age of 4 months. I thought they were already pretty healthy, but boy was I wrong I can't wait to see them when they are eating more pure/less processed raw foods

Just from EVO to commercial freeze-dried/dehydrated raw:

1.) Smell went down a TON! The only problem is they smell like their food now (especially the ziwipeak) because they stash it in their bedding Most of the time though, they smell like maple syrup

2.) Their teeth compared to other 1.5 year old ferrets are so much cleaner (usually by this age you start seeing some tarter build up and yellowish teeth)! They don't eat RMB's yet either (they will be even cleaner when they do!). I think it's a combination of the lack of starches, grains, and sugar which sticks to the teeth and makes other things that normally wouldn't stick to them since it creates a film; Ziwipeak and S&C beef (I think?) have tripe added (tripe naturally cleans teeth from the natural gastric juices and enzymes); freeze-dried/dehydrated food is "chewed" more naturally than kibble which is actually abrasive and hard to eat.

3.) Their ears are cleaner! Weird, I know, but I only clean them before they get a bath, and they have a lot less wax in them and don't smell.

4.) Sari who had little to no muscle mass, stunk to high heaven, and was FAT at only 1lb when we got her at 6 months of age has completely turned around (she was previously on marshalls)! She is a healthy 1.5lb now, has great over-all muscle mass, and doesn't stink like s***

3.) Reks has had IBD since we got him at 3 months, and had the WORST smelly nasty looking poops I have ever seen, and was a little on the thin side. When we switched them, his poops started looking awesome (not sure how poop ever looks awesome, but yeah ). He gained weight and great muscle coverage, and started looking like a breeder ferret (no joke!).

4.) They all got much softer, longer, and thicker fur. Pandora (our DEW) has the most beautiful fluffy white coat, when before, she had a yellowed (she still has some yellow from hormones I think ) course, short hair.

5.) More energy, less sleeping than kibble fed ferrets. Also, when they are up, they slowly build up to their peek hyperness compared to when they (and other kibble fed ferrets) would have spikes of hyperness and be dead asleep the next second. They also don't "dead ferret" sleep as much, and when they do, they awake from it fast.

6.) Generally seem happier and healthier. No specific evidence, just something you know

[sherrylynne]

Improvements would be:
1) Teeth- clean and white, with no build up. Even the vet comments every visit about their teeth
2) Better, healthier looking coat.
3) Less smell to the ferret's body. People are amazed by the fact when they ask about smell, and I let them smell my ferret(s)! There isn't any.
4) Smaller poops!
5) Greater healing ability. One of mine had her tongue cut halfway across, and right through top to bottom. In one week, she was 95% healed. In two weeks, you couldn't even see a mark.
6) Reduction of nipping/biting. They've something to chew
7) More reliable, steady energy. No sudden hyperactivity then crash.
8) Improved muscle mass.
9) They are actually excited about mealtimes

[msktty89]

I just started this raw deal and am actually thinking once I get them eating more than a puree I'd like to go the whole-prey route (I used to breed mice for the snake, so I feel I could get back into it and benefit everyone)...

But I've already noticed the coat and energy improving... As well as the poop! It's smelly during the switching, no doubt, but it's so much easier to clean up.

[Little Wise Owl]

I noticed that my little one has gotten really beefy. Not fat kind of beefy. MUSCLE BEEFY.

And she's so soft now too compared to what she was when I got her.

[joclyn]

mine were getting evo kibbles and my homemade gravy...so were pretty healthy to begin with.

since i've been giving raw, i've noticed that their eyes look better. they are even more bright and twinkly than before.

and much more muscle mass and they've got much more strength as a result and do much more climbing and are better at it now.

and much less poo and much less stink to it (not that there was too much with the evo to begin with).

their coats are look a bit different. they were all in pretty good shape to begin with - even those with adrenal and i've had compliments at the lupron clinic about nice and shiny and soft their fur is. with the raw diet, that's even more so!! even duncan (who didn't need melatonin to assist with fur regrowth) has a much denser coat that has more 'umph' to it now than when he was eating kibble.

and their teeth are absolutely fabulous!!! i've got boo set for a dental - had to move the appt due to snow, so it's next week instead of last week - and i just took a look at his teeth again yesterday and he almost doesn't need the dental now!!!! he definitely did need it a few weeks ago when i set the appt up. they've been completely on raw for just about a month now...and, wow! what a difference!!! i could really cancel the appt because whatever is left will be cleared off within a month, i'm sure!

i can't wait to get the other 5 switched over!

[Lynxie]

I've seen great improvement in all of my ferrets after the raw switch, but the most obvious was in Citrus, my adrenal ferret.

When I got her, she was so skinny. She weighed barely a pound, and you could see all of her ribs. Her hips also stuck out real bad. She had these huge bald patches on her sides, and the rest of her fur was so brittle and weak that it would break off from just holding her. She was such a picky eater when it came to the good stuff, but when it came to anything with sugar or carbs she would jump right in! She had no energy, and when she walked her hind legs would slide out from underneath her.

Now that I finally have her switched, she looks so much better. She's up to 1.6lbs, which is amazing. Her teeth and eyes look so much better, and her fur is gaining strength. I just noticed yesterday too that her bald patches are gone, replaced by short, new growth. The fur on her head and neck is getting thicker too. She's also started playing and running around like a real ferret, and her legs don't really give out on her anymore.

She still goes after sugar and carbs and kibble like they are mana from heaven, but if that's what I get in exchange for how amazing she looks now, I can deal with that. :3

[Little Wise Owl]

Mine were very young when started on raw so I didn't really see any "improvements" but I could tell there was a huuuge difference in them compared to the ferrets I had a long time ago that were on cat food and ferret food.

For example:

- They don't smell other than if their poop piles.

- They're really active.

- Their teeth are pearly white (although they're still fairly young so I expect them to be white)

- They're fat. Well, not FAT but fatter and beefier than my last ferrets. They're fed twice a day as opposed to my old ferrets who were free fed. Some how the free fed ferrets were skinner and bonier.

- Their coats are sooo soft and beatiful. My last ferret's fur was kind of wirey and not really soft to touch.

That's about it for now though.