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Post by quill on Jun 10, 2008 21:46:15 GMT -5
Is it possible that my ferret could starve to death if refusing the switch?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 10, 2008 22:24:56 GMT -5
Yes, if you let him/her go for food for several days. During the switch I ALWAYS stress not letting a ferret go for food for more then 24 hours. 24 hours without food is NOT going to get your ferret anywhere near starving to death (its just going to make them pretty darn hungry). If you starve them for like 3-5 days, THEN you would have serious problems. Fasting is a good way to encourage switching, but you should never use this method for extremely underweight, insulinomic, or very ill ferrets.
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Post by quill on Jun 10, 2008 22:29:05 GMT -5
Thanks, Giuli for the honest answer. Does this mean that "He'll eat when he gets hungry enough" is not necessarily true?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 10, 2008 22:32:03 GMT -5
No problem. I wont tell you it CANT happen (lol that would be pretty unbelieveable haha). The HF site will address the issue of insulinomic and underweight ferrets and how to approach a natural diet for them. There are a few important things that need to be noted with each type of ferret, and we take time to chronical those things in depth.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 10, 2008 22:40:35 GMT -5
Thanks, Giuli for the honest answer. Does this mean that "He'll eat when he gets hungry enough" is not necessarily true? Yes and no. It depends on the ferret. You have to understand that a.) the ferret might not recognize the new "substance" in their food bowl as food and b.) even if the ferret DOES realize he can eat it, he might not know how. Eating raw requires different muscles and movements then eating kibble. For a young ferret, yes, he should eat when he's hungry enough. You might want to help him "taste" the food by putting some of the pureed raw meat onto his nose (to have him lick it off). Also, if he doesnt eat, you can use a feeding syringe to put the purreed meat into his mouth. After eating from the syringe he should realize it as food, and then he should eat it on his own. My 8 year old ferret was gingerly eating beef chunks, I thought she was eating more then she was and I noticed in the last week she looked SLIGHTLY skinnier then normal. I put her in her own cage and gave her the purreed meat and she gobbled it up. She's really old so she doesnt understand that meat is food NOR does she 'get' how to eat it. This is why I suggest starting with small chunks and working your way up. Because it takes a little bit of time to develop the muscles in the head, neck, and jaw so that a ferret can eat their food without getting tuckered out.
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Post by quill on Jun 11, 2008 5:51:36 GMT -5
Makes sense! Thanks
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