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Post by Heather on Sept 21, 2010 14:37:35 GMT -5
You might get some tummy issues (loose stools) but most of the newbies I've got switched kibbles with no problems (other than that  ) That was one of the reasons why I switched to raw as soon as I get my brats. If I'm going to deal with tummy upsets I might as well deal with it only once ciao |
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Sept 21, 2010 20:34:14 GMT -5
I may not have to use kibble at all. I put 4 to 5 pieces of the cat food in a tiny bit of water, softened it up and added finely chopped, chicken breast, heart, liver and egg shell. Very small amounts of each. I think the pieces of cat food gave it just enough flavor he started eating it off my finger and i got him to eat out of the bowl for a little bit. I am going to keep him in the cage with it for a while and try to get him to finish it between naps.  |
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Post by Heather on Sept 21, 2010 22:47:57 GMT -5
That certainly sounds promising  ciao |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 22, 2010 8:54:44 GMT -5
That does sound really good  |
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Sept 24, 2010 20:04:38 GMT -5
No change yet, it will be a really slow process. Rufus is so funny. He gets a piece of the raw and wants down and runs to a spot sometimes eating it sometimes spitting it out.  I tried mashing up the kibble but he wasn't going for that at all, so I will keep with the chopped raw and a couple pieces of kibble till he eats it by himself. I have been putting Kibble in his cage at night. He is a big baby, he makes sounds while he sleeps and when him and Stitch are playing he sometimes cries even if Stitch isn't being rough.  Stitch is eating Raw perfectly, I hate the way he lets it sit for a while first but he eats it and his stools look dark but pretty firm even when he eats his liver. |
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Post by Heather on Sept 24, 2010 22:39:47 GMT -5
Most of my guys do not like their meat fresh out of the fridge. They like to let it warm to room temp You're seeing progress and that is what counts. Each ferret has their own timetable ciao |
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Sept 26, 2010 15:27:44 GMT -5
Rufus is proving to be somewhat of a challenge. He must of been in his cage a lot with a constant supply of food. He knows now that I feed him so he is at my feet everywhere when he wants food (seems to be a lot) and doesn't like it mushy...refuses the chopped raw now.  Sooo, I wet the kibble down to half soft and I ground up some chicken and put a tiny bit in there and mix it up really good, seems to be working fso far, I will add a little more at a time and see how that works. |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 26, 2010 17:46:06 GMT -5
That sounds like a pretty good idea. Sometimes, for whatever reason, they simply decide they aren't going to do this anymore, and you have to take a step back. Whatever works! He'll get back to the point that he was at before pretty quickly, I'd imagine.
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Sept 28, 2010 21:01:19 GMT -5
It seems to be working, I am almost to half and half on his kibble/ground ratio. |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 29, 2010 9:56:51 GMT -5
Good! I'd start upping the raw every two or three days, just by a little bit, til he's fully raw.
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Oct 9, 2010 14:59:21 GMT -5
Update: Moving right along with Rufus, I have him about 3/4 raw now, he doesn't eat as much in one sitting but he finishes all of it two times a day. |
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Post by sherrylynne on Oct 9, 2010 18:25:58 GMT -5
Maybe now is a good time to try him with just the raw. If he still won't touch it, try just sprinkling some crushed kibble on top.
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Oct 10, 2010 23:13:06 GMT -5
Good idea, thanks. I will give it a try. |
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jules
Gnawing on bones
Posts: 82
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Post by jules on Oct 12, 2010 3:00:28 GMT -5
Good news! He ate it all with none leftover this morning and another helping this afternoon. So, when he came wandering out a little while ago I went to the fridge and tried to give him a little bit by hand and he ate it no problem. I put a little in his bowl in the cage and he ate it all up. I'm so proud of him! I don't think it will take much to get him to eat pieces, the ground is home ground from all the dark meat of a chicken so there are some chunks in it here and there. A different meat though may be a challenge now, he didn't even want to lick Stitches Cornish hen. Yay! Thanks for all the help through these switches, I wouldn't of been able to do it without it. I have a question though, if I mix up the liver, egg and ground in cubes like I do, would it hurt to put some type of supplement in there? He loves the cubes. I give him half a cube every morning for his egg and liver for the week. He gets picky sometimes and doesn't want to eat what I give him and I end up throwing half eaten meals away. I tried cutting it up smaller and giving him less but that didn't seem to help any, it is mostly the duck he does it to. |
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Post by sherrylynne on Oct 13, 2010 19:25:50 GMT -5
If you want to give any kind of a supplement, I'd get taurine for him. Maybe one 500 mg capsule in every lb of meat. That, and eggshell. 1/2 tsp per 8 oz of meat. And that's fantastic he's taking his mush so well To introduce another type of meat, you can either go with chunks of what you have now, and add some smaller diced bits in once he's taking these chunks well, or you can continue with the ground you are doing, and start adding a bit of a different one into that, gradually increasing the new, decreasing the old til he's taking all new. |
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