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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 6, 2008 18:15:07 GMT -5
Thanks for thinking of Merry and Poley and me, we're really lucky to have your support and kind thoughts! The boys would never have made it this far (and me losing my mind along the way) without your guidance! I'm definitely feeling better today. I think I'd "downloaded" the germs to my hubby -- it's now his turn to feel lousy! I had been having a hard time with getting Merry to stay focused and eat his soupy. He'd take a bite, then start running away. It was kinda frustrating to chase him around the kitchen table with a spoon. Then my hubby made a comment about maybe Mer doesn't like to eat out in the open. And he's right, we put Mer alone in the cage with his soupy, and he just slowly work away at it like a good boy!!! I guess it makes sense, I would be more relaxed if I can eat dinner in the safety of my home without worrying getting picked off by big bad predators. Gadget's might be paying the price for his pig-out session the other day - his poops are looking really weird. It's kind of a beige-y grey, the colour of cooked chicken. Do ferrets get indigestion? ???His appetite seems to be fine though. I took your suggestion and left some chicken chunks for him for lunch, and he polished them off even before I left the house. Tassy wanted to share a couple of bites but Gadget actually hissed at him! I guess I'll have to start leaving each of them their own bowls! Poley is doing well with his chicken mousse. He's eating it out of the dish but he's still having problem with texture. He stops when he hits the smallest chunk of fat. Picky little booger! I actually have to hit the grocery store to get more ground chicken after work. I can't get to the butcher today and the kids had already gone through the 4 lbs of ground we got last weekend! The week before 3 lbs lasted us the whole week. Okay, the cats are also starting to like the taste of fresh meat and we give everyone as much as they want so it's not entirely Gadget's piggy-ness... but we're definitely making progress! Man, where's my grinder??? You think Gadget and Tassy are ready for some real chicken? I got some drumsticks last night and I showed it to Gadget. He kinda licked at it but didn't really know what to do with it. So he did what any normal ferret would do -- dragged it off to his hidey-hole for future examination! So I took it back and cut the meat off the bone for him. But how can I show him what "gnawing on bone" means?? Gotta finish off work and get to the grocery store. Will check in with you later! --------------------------------------------------------- Gadget's belly is definitely not happy. He's not as enthusiastic at dinner time tonight and his poopies still look like cooked chicken. It's like the food didn't get digested at all... have you seen that before? I have some canned pumpkin puree but I'm not sure if I should introduce even more new food when he's tummy is not good....
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 7, 2008 8:28:39 GMT -5
Now I'm really worried. Gadget refused to eat the chicken for breakfast. Usually as soon as I set down the bowl he's starts to dig in. This morning he actually ran away from the bowl. When I touched some soupy to his nose with a spoon, he humored me and ate a few bites but started running away again. This morning's poops are a little more yellowy but seedy... I'm not sure what to do. There's EVO in the cage so he won't starve but I just can't stomach the thought that my little adventurous dude is back sliding all the way....
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Post by Heather on Nov 7, 2008 13:50:45 GMT -5
Sounds to me that greedy Gadget has a tummy upset. Now other than strange colour, he's pooping and peeing ok? No vomiting? He's related his tummy problem to his food, which may be why he's backpedaling. He won't be the first Take a small tsp of pumpkin and see if he will eat it (my guys won't so don't be discouraged) If he won't touch it put it in the food, it doesn't matter that everyone eats it as well, just try to get him to take some. He will probably require feeding...again...sorry The one consolation is he will probably be back to his normal self and eating all his raw foods again once he figures out that his tummy is feeling ok. and that it wasn't all that good food he consumed until his little tummy was fat and round The seedy poops are food that's going through but the fat isn't being absorbed (you're seeing little fat globules ) It probably means that he's starting to process some of that food surprisingly. He will probably be off his food for a couple of days but hopefully be back being himself soon. If he starts being reclusive or seems dehydrated you will have to try some pedialyte or make him some chicken broth (boil a whole chicken leg to death and add 1 tbsp of honey or sugar, and 1/2 tsp of sea salt. You may want to give him some anyway and start there with getting him to eat. He may also have whatever flu bug is going through your house??...remember your guys can get that I would try the pumpkin and see if that helps settle his tummy. Keep a close eye on him and I will check on you this evening. ciao
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 8, 2008 8:52:02 GMT -5
Gadget is swearing off chicken, raw or cooked. We made the chicken broth and he wouldn't take any by himself, so we squirted some into his mouth with a syringe. He took about 12 mL (probably spat out 5) but then trying to squirm out of the ferret burrito. I offered him some of the cooked chicken from the broth but he wouldn't have any. He's sleeping a lot and not playing much. But he's still pretty quick when he runs away from my spoon. And he took some of the organic chicken jerky treat so I guess he's not completely off food. Just caught him eating kibbles. He's blaming it all on the raw chicken Now his poops are more like the colour of frozen spinach (dark green) and more mucous-y. No vomiting. Peeing okay. Hubby's having full blown flu symptoms. Will definitely keep him away from the ferts. I still need to get the chicken for this week and I think my grinder is at the post office.... a little something to cheer me up:) Thanks Heather for your support. I'm always a basket case when the kids get sick and I'm glad that someone else other than me has a plan to make things better
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Post by Heather on Nov 8, 2008 16:08:47 GMT -5
Hey, your welcome...that's what we're here for Sounds to me like Gadget may have the flu...just going by how sick you were and now your hubby is sick too. Keep a close eye on Gadget, let him eat what he wants to eat, keep offering the chicken and try and get him to eat some but don't push it too hard. Make sure that he continues to drink. If he has the flu, he's probably feeling kind of crappy poor little guy. If he continues to be lethargic and his poopies don't come around (have you tried some pumpkin?) within a reasonable length of time I might take him to the vet. Truthfully though, it does really sound like a bout of the flu. It's just really unfortunate that it was right after a huge pig out of raw food . You're probably going to have to start over again from square one with him...but that being said he probably will come around again fairly quickly. You might consider looking into an ambertech product called vibactra. It's an antiviral, and I've had some really good success with it. Ambertech is an American company, but they have distributors up here. Now, it doesn't say anywhere that it's good for ferrets but years ago when I was trying to treat little Mischief for a heliobacter virus, the rep up here, contacted the company and we worked out a dosage. I've since used it for upper respiratory infections and some other viral infections too. It's a herbal concentrate so a couple of drops does the trick. It is expensive, but it's saved me more than a few times of having to spend big bucks for a vet and antibiotics. It's just a thought. I will check in with you again later this evening and see how things are going. Good luck ciao
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 9, 2008 0:57:55 GMT -5
Good news! Gadget is back on chicken again!! He needed to be spoon fed but that's a-okay with me, as long as he's not turning his nose up to the good stuff! He didn't eat as much as he used to (Thank god for that! I think he'd learned his lesson ). And I'm not going to push the issue at this point. I can't tell you how relieved I was. Thanks for reminding me to keep the faith! The pumpkin didn't go over too well. No body wanted it. Gadget's poopies are transitioning from spinach green to more of a yellowish brown and firmed up a bit. I'm not going to push the pumpkin for now. I'd looked up the Vibactra drops you told me about. Interesting enough, now the description actually says it can be used to treat ferrets! I'd emailed the distributor in Whitby and see if they can hook me up with some. Gadget probably won't need that by the time it gets here but it looks like it's something good to have around the house. Thanks! Picked up my new toy from the post office. I got the Sam Baere TS-110. Man, is that sucker powerful! Took a little time to set up though, but once it's up and running it ground up the meat real fast. A word of caution if you ever get one for yourself. We washed all the parts before we started grinding, but there's still grease and metal filings stuck in the holes of the grinding plates. Make sure you put some soggy stale bread or something thru the grinder on the first run so you don't get the crap on the good meat like we did. I got 7 lbs of drumsticks and 2 pounds of boneless thighs and we processed them in about an hour. The bony drumsticks take a bit of muscle to push down into the grinder. The bone marrow gives the meat a nice red colour. We had to put the grind thru the machine again to make sure there's no large pieces of bones. The kids really like this meat... will not so much in the beginning, not until I made them taste it. Now my question is, is the bone marrow alone enough or should I still throw in liver and heart? And what kind of meat to bone is good? Is there enough fat in drumsticks for the ferts? What would be a good mix of chicken parts? Or should I just get a whole chicken? I'm really surprised by how well the RBM went down and how much the like it. Hopefully I can get Poley bear on board soon as well. Gonna hit the hay... if you're working tomorrow, have fun and be inspired! Hugs and dooks! Alison
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Post by Heather on Nov 9, 2008 9:26:17 GMT -5
Just checking up before I go to work. I'm so relieved to hear that Gadget is on the mend. Yay, Gadget Sounds like you have an awesome little weapon....it sounds great. You will have to experiment a little with what will go in or not (density of bone). Pork might be a good one too....you know those little pork riblets. Another thing you can do is grind chicken necks (lots of bone) and mix it with another meat, say beef to give you a bone mix with ground meat. Yes, you should add some liver and heart to you mix. Ok, here's Billinghurst's recipe for raw mix. It's the one that I've used and adapted for years. You've got just about what's asked for right now. 7.5 lbs (I use 8 lbs) of meat and ground bones 1.5 lbs of heart, liver (these 2 are a definite, heavier on the heart you loose taurine when you freeze) and kidneys (these depend on availability) 4 oz of plain yogourt (I started leaving this out when I discovered that some of my ferrets didn't tolerate this very well...you could try kefir or some non-dairy equivilent, I just leave it out) 4 eggs (I use 1 egg for every lb of meat processed) 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cooked pumkin or cooked squash (to help take the place of the lack of fur in their dinner ) That's basically his diet...his first diet also called for garlic which of course isn't done anymore but this book is well over 10 yrs old. I'm sure he's modified his carnivore diet since then If you ground up the drumsticks as is you should just about have it right. Skin, bone and meat. You can also get chicken backs that will raise the fat content as well if you're trying to raise the weight on your ferrets I think I've just about covered it. I will check back with you later today. I'm really so glad that Gadget is eating again You and your guys are really doing well. Now, we only need to get Mr. Poley to like what everyone else is eating (of course he's got a good thing going ) and we'll be away to the races. Oh, lamb is another softer bone meat that you can add....but I don't know what cuts would be beneficial to you....I buy mine preground (no bone) pet food....so I can't really help you regarding what to look for. I find lamb rather expensive but you may be able to find it cheaper where you are. ciao
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 10, 2008 9:33:22 GMT -5
Thanks for the recipe! I almost forgot that the offal is for taurine! We're definitely going heavier on the hearts. The chicken pucks are going into the chest freezer and that's the deep freeze! The fresh liver really makes the soupy Mmm mmm good, so good that we can stop putting a/d in Merry's share and he'd still hoover it up! The little guy's undercoat is coming back in!!! I finally distracted him long enough this weekend to test his blood sugar and it was 3.0 mmol/ L. It's still kinda low but I probably should calibrate my glucometer against the vet's before I start worrying myself sick.
Gadget and Tassy are liking the new and improved soupy too. Gadget's pretty caution with portions these days which is good. Poley didn't mind the chunkiness of the bones but he still wouldn't eat it without the cream... picky boy.
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Post by Heather on Nov 10, 2008 14:46:10 GMT -5
Yah!!!!! You guys are doing great Mr. Poley and his cream...what a spoiled furbaby I don't know what I'm talking about really...I never spoil my furbabies I've got Napoleon sleeping soundly in my lap while I'm typing this to you. I would definitely calibrate it...there's no point in worrying yourself sick about it. You should see it go up or at least stabalize once you get on to a thicker soupy mix. That's great that you're no longer putting a/d on it just to appeal to our little Merry. So things are progressing very well. You should be pleased with yourself. This is fantastic. You might consider adding a couple of meat chunks...just small ones and not alot to see if they will eat those I will check in with you later and see how things are doing. ciao
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 12, 2008 1:02:20 GMT -5
it's been super busy at work but the kids are doing well. We made Poley's soupy pretty chunky today (instead of water we loosen the ground meat with cream) and he ate quite a few bites! Not as much as I'd like him to eat but it's a start! Gadget, Tassy and Merry are holding steady. We don't have to spoon feed them anymore but they still won't eat the soupy unless it's freshly made up, lukewarm from the microwave. All the soupy we left for them in the cage during the day was untouched... what a bunch of picky punks! BTW the pumpkin seems to be helping with the runny poopsies situation. I didn't even put in much (about a tsp among the 4 of them in one meal) and things really firmed up. I forgot to do that last night and today they have loose poopies again. Too bad I forgot to put the pumpkin into the ground chicken before I freeze them into pucks. Now I gotta remember to add it every meal... Sorry babies, mommy screwed up! I'd love to give them meat chunks but it will have to wait until the weekend when we can get to the butcher. I don't trust the meat from my neighborhood Loblaws anymore... It's been 2 weeks since Poley got his melatonin implants and there's still no sign of fuzz growing back :'(I really hope it's not his right adrenal giving out too...
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Post by Heather on Nov 12, 2008 2:08:37 GMT -5
Post in the medical portion and see if you can get some information about Mr. Poley growing his fur back. I think it takes some time...but I don't know, so I'm not much help. I know a couple of the mentors have dealt with adrenal ferrets so they might have some additional information. Are there any indications of shadows on his skin...this might be some indication that his coat is thinking of coming back. I will light a healing candle for Mr. Poley, he doesn't need to loose that other adrenal gland...poor little soul. Picky little sh**s, have to have their soupy warmed...it will come it just takes time. Don't leave them huge amounts out so that if they're hungry they will have enough to hold them until you get home. There's no point in throwing it out. I know that my guys don't eat near as much when they're locked in their room vs when they're bombing around the house, when they eat me out of house and home If I want to save money, I lock the sulky little sods up (I couldn't do that ) Pumpkin is an awesome bit of veggie If you have a constipated fert you give them pumpkin, if they have the poopies you give them pumpkin....you just can't loose. I've been putting squash in their ground meats for ages because of Aremis (he has trouble digesting food) and my senior cat, Samurai (age 20 yrs) also had digestive problems. The squash or pumpkin seems to help them digest. It doesn't hurt anyone who doesn't need it either, so it's a win win situation. Give Mr. Poley a big hug for being such an adventureous little fert and eating chunky meats in his soupy and some vicious fert belly tickles to Merry and Gadget for being such little stick in the muds and not eating their soupies unless it's heated and momma is there to watch them eat and be big boys I will check with you tomorrow . ciao
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 12, 2008 11:02:56 GMT -5
That's a great idea, I'll definitely post Poley's situation on the medical section. Maybe someone will have a clue. Oh you'd be so proud of Poley bear this morning. He ate all of his "cream of chicken soup", chunky bits and all! No spitting and no gagging! Still from a spoon but deserves the attention Let's see him keep up the good work tonight at supper! Gotta go back to writing a patent... the boring/ irritating part of being a chemist. will check in with you tonight!
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Post by Heather on Nov 12, 2008 15:19:26 GMT -5
You're a chemist...that's so totally awesome!!! Yay Mr. Poley....you're such a fantastic little fuzzbutt. You keep up the good work and you will be growing hair on the fuzzless butt of yours in no time. I saw your message, Suds' answer makes sense....I've noticed sometimes raw diets cause furbabies to suddenly shed....and I've had naked tails and naked bellies. If I'm patient until the next shed then they suddenly have these beautiful splendid furry tails. So knit Mr. Poley a winter coat and come spring he will have all his fine suitings on I will check in with you later this evening ciao
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Post by Alliemegan on Nov 13, 2008 11:25:19 GMT -5
Yeah, if we need to wait til spring for Poley's own fur coat to come in, I better hook the little man up with ferret fashion. I wish I was more skilled with knitting or sewing but I can't even make a bloody pot holder! I kept looking at the Ferret Couture website and always felt a little Paris Hilton-esque to put clothes on creatures who are already cute to the max by themselves. But I think I'll order a fleece hoodie and a T-shirt that says "I'm not a rodent. I EAT rodents" for the Polar bear to keep him warm The big guy is doing really well with his creamy soupy. He always makes a mess with his Gene Simmons tougue flicking cream all over his own forehead! I was wrong about Gadget having learned his lesson. This guy REALLY likes his chicken. I gave him his supper in the cage with Tassy and he ate more than his fair share. And when hie came out to play, he starting digging in at the cats' bowls! We're now watching this little piggy like a hawk Back to work for me. Will check in with you later!
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Post by Heather on Nov 13, 2008 12:10:20 GMT -5
Sounds like your guys are moving very well with their diet . You should be very pleased with them and you I think Mr Poley would look fantastic in a hoody I'm not sure it would much to his idea about wearing clothes, though I have seen ferrets wearing various clothing You might try starting to thicken his soupy up so he doesn't make such a mess but he's coming along really well. Gadget...what can I say There always has to be one....he's probably learned not to eat quite as much...well...probably Just make sure that he's left enough for Tassy (poor little thing) Have you tried giving him bigger chunks, he then has to slow down and rip and chew this is my Attila in all his pudgy glory At a little under 5 lbs he loves his dinner bowl too Looks like you have everything under control but I will check back with you later. ciao
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