Hello!

[krazyferrets]

Hello, I am new to the fourm. I have been sharing my life with ferrets since 1999, and currently have 2 boys; Jago & Otter.

Jago has IBD and he has been on meds for it, he is only 1.5y/o.

I have been looking for an alternative diet, but I no idea what to even look for, so I came to this great forum in hopes to help my ferrets!

[Heather]

Hi and welcome to you, Jaggo and Otter
Please feel free to prowl the site, read posts and ask questions. Everyone is very friendly and always happy to pop in and lend a hand. You might want to pay particular attention to our nutritional section. There you will find a wealth of information to help your little furbabies on to better health by just changing their diet. Need assistance in switching to a natural diet check out the mentors and see if they might be able to help you in your goal toward healthier and happier fuzzbutts.
Good luck, I hope that I will be seeing you around and perhaps we can entice you to post some pics of your little ones .
ciao

[sherrylynne]

Hello to all of you, and welcome to the forum . I know some on here also have IBD ferrets, and the natural diet has helped them out. Looking forward to hearing more from you, and would love to see some pics of your guys!

[krazyferrets]

Hello!

I did sign up for the mentor program!! I'm excited to change my ferrets diet to better them (as silly as that my sound...coming from me, a vegetarian).

I did add pics of my ferrets, the thread "Jago & Otter"



How long have you been feeding your ferrets/pets a raw diet?

What should I be doing to get my ferrets ready to eat raw meat? I tryed to give them cooked ground turkey and they were discusted.

[sherrylynne]

They won't have recognized it as a food group Do you give them any form of soup? A number of us have started with that as a base.

[Heather]

I've been feeding a raw natural diet for over 11 yrs now. I start all my guys (I switched over 30 personal ferrets) with a soupy, same as Sherrylynne suggested. This is the recipe that I usually offer my students. Mine is slightly different but is generally the same. This is the one that most people can get all the components without much difficulty.
You will need a blender/food processor, and the following raw items:

8 oz raw chicken thigh meat (including skin and fat)
1 tsp of crushed eggshell powder (take a raw eggshell. Rinse it out. Let it dry. Crush to powder)
1 raw chicken heart
1/2 raw chicken liver
Water (use more to make it soupier, less to make it thicker) I generally suggest using the broth from a boiled chicken for this (don't use oxo or bovril or any of those gravy makers)

Blend ingredients together. Some prefer it at room temp. Try putting a dollop of "soup" onto your ferret's nose and they probably will lick it off. I use my finger. Sometimes this takes a little bit trying to convince them that you're not trying to poison them I find within a very short time they're licking this off my finger. When I see that they're willing to eat freely off my finger then I use a small spoon to try and get them to eat from that. Try to get them eating the soupy on their own. It might pique their interest. If they absolutely refuse to try the soupy, suck some of it up into the syringe. I'm not a big fan of syringe feeding and don't use it, but I feel that you should be aware of all your options. My biggest fear when feeding through a syringe is aspiration.

Most ferrets will willingly eat the food once they actually TASTE it, so the only struggle you *should* encounter is them not wanting to taste it. Don't be surprised if your furbabies' initial reaction is to gag, spit and look at you like, what are you trying to poison me with But don't let them get away with it The hardest part is to insist and be consistent. Please also be aware that after years of kibbles they aren't aware that what you're offering them is indeed food. Once they willingly eat from the syringe, or your finger and spoon, work to try and get them eating this out of a dish or plate.

Each time you make your soupy, use a little less water to make it thicker/chunkier. Replace soup with fresh soup every 4-6 hours. You can make a large batch if you like and freeze into ice cubes or cupcake trays. Then you just thaw a portion and serve. OR you can put a frozen "cube" into their bowl and let it slowly thaw.

Just remember, they don't recognise the meat you offer as food, so the whole idea is you being more stubborn than they are
ciao

[krazyferrets]

Thanks Heather & Sherrylynne

I have "force-fed" my ailing ferrets with a syringe, they hated what ever I was feeding them (usually a/d mixed with crushed ferret kibble & electrolites) but once they realized that it wasn't so bad they did eat it. So, I don't give in to their protests very easily.

I have to go to the grocery store, so I will take your receipe.


I was also wondering where you get your ferrets from? Because, some of the ferret pics I have been looking, look like they are lil' monsters. Is that from raw feeding or high quality breeding lineage? I just love big, beefy ferts.

[Heather]

My guys are all rescues except for my Napoleon who was chosen as a baby fert by Little Mischief when his cagemate passed away during a botched surgery. I have a small private rescue/hospice. Most are Path Valley, some are Marshals and Thor and Odin were bred ferrets. Most are troubled souls, biters and many have been abused either through neglect or severe disclipline measures. My guys are all mischievious little troublemakers who have been raw fed since they were turned in, who free roam my house, and range in ages between 2 yrs and 11 yrs . Some have very serious health issues but my vets maintain that their continued health and vigor can be directly attributed to their diets.
ciao

[Forum Administrator]

Oct 27, 2009 23:32:58 GMT -5 @krazyferrets said:

Hello!
How long have you been feeding your ferrets/pets a raw diet?

I've been feeding a raw diet since December 2006, so that will be 3 years this December. I've got experience raw feeding 10 different ferrets ranging in age from 6 weeks to 9.5 years old. 6 males and 4 females. I'm currently owned by two males.

I also raw feed my dog and cat. All my current animals have been raw fed since I brought them home as babies at 6weeks (kitten), 9 weeks (dog), and 8 weeks and 12 weeks (ferrets).

[Forum Administrator]

Oct 28, 2009 23:14:53 GMT -5 @krazyferrets said:

I was also wondering where you get your ferrets from? Because, some of the ferret pics I have been looking, look like they are lil' monsters. Is that from raw feeding or high quality breeding lineage? I just love big, beefy ferts.

I'm sure its a little of both. Some of our members have privately bred ferrest which are usually bigger then farm raised ferrets (Path Valley, Marshall Farms, Real Canadian). I dont have any scientific evidence to support this (only anecdotal) but it seems that ferrets raised on a raw diet (regardless of breeding) tend to be a little bigger then their kibble raised counterparts.

Older ferrets put onto raw tend to be more muscular, it seems, then their kibble fed counterparts. I attribute this to the higher protein and higher digestability of a natural raw or whole prey diet.

[sherrylynne]

I know with the ones I've had on raw since kithood tend to be more solid in build than ferrets I've gotten who've been kibble fed for a couple of years(at least) prior. But even those become more muscular once on raw for a while.