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Post by Heather on Feb 13, 2010 0:33:28 GMT -5
Name: Kirstin HF Forum Username: MyFireBandit
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
From Guili's postings on the Ferret.com Forum.
2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.
I only want to switch to a PARTIAL raw diet. Meaning a meat meal at night. I plan to eventually switch them to raw, but it grosses my bf out (neither of us eat meat) and since they are partially his and he is involved in feeding/cleaning etc, I have to respect his wishes. But that doesn't mean the end It just means I have to acclimate him to the idea slowly hehe.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
I want them to be able to enjoy a nice meal and some variety. I want the smell to go down (even though they really aren't smelly), and like the idea of clean teeth and a luxurious coat. I want to switch them now while my little one is young so he grows to his full potential and is easier to switch.
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment?
I am willing to make the commitment.
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight?
I have two ferrets.
Sprout: female, silver, from Real Canadian Ferrets. She's a big girl, weighs over 2 lbs. Seems to be losing her winter weight and coat though, so she's not as cutely chubby. No health problems, and she's turning 1 at the end of February.
Bug: male, sable, from Marshall Farms. The boyfriend fell in love with him at the pet store and we brought him home when he was probably only 7 weeks old. He's close to 11 weeks now, and weighs 1.5 lbs. No health problems, and he's a real fatty when it comes to eating (even though he doesn't look it!)
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
They are eating Dr Foster and Smith's Superior Choice. Sprout gets Ferretone as a treat (Bug doesn't like it on it's own, but he eats it when it's in soup). Both get N-Bones on occasion (a couple small pieces a week). Also Sprout gets some vaseline once in a while. Bug won't touch it.
Bug eats chicken. I bought some drumsticks and he now eats the meat, skin, etc., and even crunches on the bones. I'm mighty proud of him He eats soup when I put it in to tempt Sprout
Sprout thinks the whole business is disgusting. I've managed to get her to eat some soup (kibble, pureed chicken meat, water and ferretone) off of a spoon, and that was a big step!! She is a VERY picky eater, and she doesn't like getting dirty. I think that may be a big turn off for her with the soupies. One the plus side, she does eat mealworms
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
Currently am trying (or beginning to try). Bug eats chicken and munches on bones. I started him with little pieces and now I can throw in big chunks of meat on the bone and he'll work away at it. Sprout takes a little bit of soup on occasion, but is a total kibble head. She is who I will need help with.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
Nothing I can think of... I'm unemployed at the moment and spend a LOT of time with my fuzzies. They sleep more than I would like them to
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Many times a day. Essentially always.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
I promise to get more pictures of Sprout... she's hard to get to hold still though.
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (sherrylynne) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentor is here to help you on this journey. ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 13, 2010 11:22:40 GMT -5
Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch First, a little about me. I'm 51, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 4yrs, to 15(only one would eat raw, unfortunately ). I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead. I got her when she was 2. She's now 3, and adrenal. She's on lupron, and I've decided against surgery for her. After that came my first deaf ferret, Lucrezia. A marked DEW. Then two foster ferrets, whom we fell in love with and adopted- Zeus and Athena, both two years old. After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's becoming a sweetie . Then, Emily. 1 month younger than Willow, and those two have bonded strongly. She's the only one Willow wasn't terrified of. While transitioning the first four, Boris was my hold out. EVERYTHING I gave him was poison, in his mind . Worst little drama queen I've seen yet . Twisting to get away, gagging, retching- he did all of it! Then one day- he ate it! Every single piece on the plate ! Those four haven't looked back. Although Boris would still be a kibble head if I let him. The next two for transitioning were the fosters. Until we adopted them, I could only supplement with raw. So in order not to cause unnecessary tummy upsets(mixing kibble and raw too closely can cause some problems- more about that later), I'd give them raw one day, and kibble on a different day. So, by the time we adopted, they had no problem with 100% raw diet. With Willow, I brought her home, and she flatly refused to eat the totally ferret kibble, so I went back to the pet store and got her a small bag of the crap they were feeding them there, and brought it home. I tried to give her some, but she just upset the dish. So- I tried her with some chicken breast. She ate it up! Hasn't had kibble since . Emily came to us as a raw fed ferret, so no issues there. And, I just recently got a little 8 month old kibble head named Suki. I'm in the process of transitioning her right now That's me and mine in a nutshell The reason I started looking a raw feeding was something my vet said to me. I was, at the time, giving them small pieces of fruit for treats. She told me that was VERY bad for them, and in fact, some studies have started to link early feeding of sugars with insulinoma later in life. So- I started thinking. Kibbles are full of carbs. It's all those grains/veg/fruits in them. Those are converted to sugars by the body. To me then, sugar= potential insulinoma. So, I started checking out various diets. I had no idea what an obligate carnivore was at the time. I found out! Not much wonder there was soooo much poop in the box! I may as well have been tossing my money in there. They can't process anything that's not meat based! So I feed meat Their fur is softer, their energy levels are amazing- no mad rushes then crashing. Even my three year old's teeth are amazing. No plaque whatsoever Healing is faster, and if they do get ill, they have more reserves to rely on than when they were just kibble fed! And there is a LOT LESS POOP!!!! Yay! I'm looking forward to helping your little ones get on a much healthier diet, and having fun while we're at it ;D Al right- let's get started Just to let you know, as long as kibble is still in their diet, the musky smell kibble fed ferrets have won't go away. Also, sometimes if kibble and raw are fed too closely together, the ferret can have tummy upsets(diarhhea, cramping, etc). So, since Bug is doing so well with meat already, have you tried him with segmented chicken wings? He'll be able to eat the bone of those a bit easier. For Sprout, since you only want to feed a meat meal at night for now, take her kibble away about 4 hours at least(preferably closer to 10-12), so she's got a bit of an appetite, and THEN offer her the spoon fed soup, see how much she'll eat of it that way. Let me know how they do!
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 13, 2010 14:25:10 GMT -5
Yay!! I'm so excited to actually start! Great to more officially meet you sherrylynne! 8 fuzzies! My two give me enough trouble!! So, a brief update: Bug is doing fabulously!!! He eats pretty much everything I put in there! I started him on drumsticks, then some ground up beef, then some hearts, livers, and gizzards, and finally yesterday introduced wings!! He eats it all!! He loves his hearts and gizzards and has tried to run out of his cage with them to hid behind the couch. He chomps on the chicken bones and eats most of them (he ate a whole wing yesterday - I chopped it up a bit, but the pieces were still pretty big, and only a few small bone pieces are left). I'm going to give him some pork tonight (which is new) and soon start giving him whole chicken wings. I'm sure he'll tackle them like a champ. He is actually pretty much entirely on raw right now... I've been giving him two meals a day, and he mostly leaves the kibble alone (much prefers meat. I'm proud of the little guy!) As for Sprout.... I've been taking her kibble away and trying to feed her a makeshift shoup (ground kibble, ferretone, water, and chicken or ground beef). She did NOT take to the chicken, but she will lick a little bit of the beef soup off a spoon. Only as long as I hold her and don't let her leave of course. So I'm thinking that beef is the way to go for now. However, she did have an episode of upset tummy (puked about ten minutes after I fed her the other day), but I gave her a day's rest without meat and she's doing great again now. So..... is this soup ok? Do you have any other suggestions? I haven't mixed and frozen any... I've been making it from scratch every time (already have ground kibble, just mix it with the water, ferretone and chop/mix the ground beef in as much as possible). I'm glad she's eating some of this stuff... but it's taken me around two weeks to get her here. Most of the time, no matter how hungry she is, she ignores it. She's taken to stashing her kibble during playtime in places I can't get it. Stockpiles for next time I make her hungry and she won't eat Also, I want Bug to eat some whole prey and maybe be able to do live mice at some point. Should I start him on them really soon, when he's still young, or should I wait a while until he's used to all of his raw meats? Lots of questions, and more will come up ^_^
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 13, 2010 14:28:07 GMT -5
Also, I am going to be leaving town this Tuesday to visit my family and am taking the fuzzies with me. I believe I will be able to continue, expescially with Sprout if I only need ground beef, but there is a possibilities of difficulties surrounding finding small amounts of meat for Bug. I guess I could just feed him chicken breast or scraps of whatever my parents cook for dinner (I don't cook meat so don't have that option, but they do). Anyways, I might need you to bear with me a couple days there
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 13, 2010 20:09:18 GMT -5
Not a problem! Yes, by all means, offer bug a frozen/thawed mouse. If he takes it, great, if not, we'll just start him on pinkies chopped up and mixed with his meat, and go from there. You may have to cut the mouse open so he knows there's good stuff in there, though. And just to let you know, it took me almost 6 weeks of spoon feeding Boris soup on my lap before he took off and started eating chunks on his own. If the beef is what works for Sprout, then go with it. I'd start by lowering the amount of kibble every couple of days, until she's just eating the raw soup without it, even if it does take some coaxing. As for being at your parents, no reason he can't have some servings of whatever you are eating.
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 14, 2010 18:58:02 GMT -5
Well, bug ate all the pork! I let him on the counter with me while I put it in his bowl, and he went sniff... sniff... lick...sniff... yoink! and grabbed and piece and started taking off across the counter Sprout is still the same, licking bits of meat soup off a spoon. I'm going to try pureeing the meat more so she tastes it more and eats more than mostly juices. She does sniff at Bug's food though... she checks it out, sniffs, considers, and decides to just eat her kibble. I believe there is hope still though. Stubborn girl.... she always has been.
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 15, 2010 10:35:45 GMT -5
Oh, there is definitely hope! Hey- if I could get Boris taking it, Sprout shouldn't present us a problem Pureeing it for her is likely a good idea. It's possible she's having trouble with the texture as well. You can also warm it slightly for her if you like. Not enough to cook it obviously, but just slightly warmish to the touch. This will also bring the smell out more for her, and that can sometimes make all the difference.
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 15, 2010 14:01:27 GMT -5
I thought things were going well. I decided against pureeing the beef soup up more, because Sprout took to it pretty well last night. I took her food away a few hours before feeding her (granted she slept right on through that). When I fed her her beef stuffs, she went for it. It seemed like her brain kept fighting it, but her tongue wanted it hehe. She would refuse until she got a taste and then would eat a spoonfull. Probably ate 3 spoonfulls before she decided she had enough (maybe more). She even briefly licked it out of the bowl. I meant to put her food back in the cage a few hours after feeding her, but forgot ;D I figured she would be fine, and fed her a bit more of the mixture this morning. She took to it fine, ate a few spoonfulls, but as soon as I let her go, she went to the other room and vomited ALL of it up behind the guitars This is where she puked last time too... it's becoming a tradition. Anyways, she's fine now, and this has happened before. I was super worried last time, but she was fine after the incident (probably days ago?). She's running around having a blast right now. So... what's the deal? Her poos are fine. She ate it last night without a problem, so I'm assuming it's not an allergy. Is it too rich for her? Could her stomache have been TOO empty?? The meat is also mixed with some ground kibble, which I know can cause problems, but the mixture I fed her today actually had LESS than the stuff last night. Should I wait until after playtime to feed her? Ugh, I'm at a loss of what to do. She was liking the beef, which is why this is discouraging... I didn't get anywhere with the chicken. Should I keep powering through and only give it to her at night? Should I try a different meat? Pork maybe? On the plus side, she does curiously sniff Bug's meat now... and doesn't seem as repulsed by it as she originally was. And Bug is still eating like a monster.
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 16, 2010 12:00:19 GMT -5
She most likely just ate too fast since she was hungry You haven't hurt her at all by doing that, so don't worry. Mine still toss their meal if they eat too quickly. It happens. Mine get fed when I get up in the morning, before they come out, and then after they go back in for the night. So keep giving her her soups, made of whatever meat she likes right now. You can also put whatever soup is leftover in the cage with her if you like. She may lick at it through the night.
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 17, 2010 19:06:53 GMT -5
I've been feeding her smaller amounts over a longer period of time - make her eat a spoonful, let her run around, and repeat after 5-10 minutes. It's working like a charm!! She ate more today than she ever has before, and no mess!! She ate most of what I made for her (Bug got a spoonfull), probably close to two ounces (?). She even ate some out of the bowl ^_^. But only until she realized I wasn't forcing her to eat and then she was out of there I'm a little concerned about leaving it in her cage overnight, because I think Bug will eat all of it really quickly. Soups are his fave, then meat, then kibble. Being in Seattle and away from my freezer, all I have right now is ground beef, but Bug is going to be getting kitchen meat scraps (my dad was disgusted at what I was giving him. He wanted to throw all the fat and tendon away and was appalled I wanted to give it to the cute little baby ferret ).
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 17, 2010 22:28:32 GMT -5
I know what you mean. People really do have trouble understanding all the fat, etc. that they need in their diets. You should have seen the face on the meat manager at my local grocery when I ordered a lot of pork fat, and told him it was for my cats and ferrets As for how much they've eaten, that's about average. My females eat 1-3 oz a day, my males from 2-4. Not a lot, unless you have 9 While you are away from home, give them whatever they'll eat. Hand feed if necessary. With my youngest, since the cage mate I gave her would eat all the kibble, I hand fed soups 3-4 times a day, and just put raw in the cage. It's possible Sprout was simply full, too! If they continue to eat what they are, they'll be fine.
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 19, 2010 19:44:05 GMT -5
Sorry about the delay in posting! I've been pretty busy with family and old friends Update: The soup I made yesterday was mostly beef and water... I added probably half of the ferretone and kibble I usually do. She was disgusted at first, but ate it! (With some persuasion of course). I'm going to do the same today, and maybe try to give her just water and beef soon. Through trial and error I learned that the consistency turns her off more than the taste... so more water is good. But she is still eating all the chunks etc. since I'm not pureeing it. She just likes having some juices in with the small chunks. Making progress!
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 19, 2010 21:09:40 GMT -5
That definitely is progress! Once she's eating it willingly, you can try mincing up some other meats as well. I'd like to get her on some other ones as soon as she's willing to. Try decreasing the amount of kibble every three or four days. That shouldn't put her outside her comfort level too much.
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Post by myfirebandit on Feb 21, 2010 22:21:45 GMT -5
So I'm back at home! The ferrets are VERY excited to be back (I've never seen Bug act so crazy and spazzy!). Now I can delve into this more again! Bug is getting a chunked up chicken wing tonight, but unfortunately I don't have any thawed out beef for Sprout. Hopefully it will be ready tomorrow morning. She's reallllyyy close to eating just water and beef... and she does eat the small ground up chunks. She still doesn't like eating out of the bowl (the bowls I have for them are pretty small and she doesn't like getting her face and whiskers dirty) so she's still eating off a spoon, but it is getting lower and lower to the food, and she does occasionally take little tastes on her own. I don't have to hold her anymore either... she just stands there and eats without me having to make her Should I switch her to pork or something before getting her to eat just hamburger, or beef chunks? I want to get her eating a variety, but I also don't want to lose the progress we've made... it's taken around 3 weeks to get her to this point On another note, just cause I want to share, the ferrets got Derby Eggs and a rice dig box! Sprout isn't too interested in the eggs, being deaf and all, but Bug is OBSESSED! He's been digging them out of the box and stashing them all. He's also a bigger fan of the dig box... Sprout will play in it for a little while, then get bored. Bug goes at it longer. Maybe it's his age ^_^. Srout seems to enjoy problem solving and causing trouble more than playing... she LOVES trying to figure out how to escape any situation or room, and is really really good at it... Definately too smart for her own good.
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 22, 2010 23:31:22 GMT -5
I'm thinking your best bet with her is trying a small plate for her food. Mine aren't to big on small bowls either, but love plates. By all means- try some different meats. Who knows- she may love them! My deafies love a dig box made with shredded paper. It has to be full enough for them to burrow in, but they adore it no other kind, unfortunately!
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