Vixen's Switching Diary

[VixenPro]

I've already signed up for the Mentor Program, but I'm not sure when (or if) I'll be assigned a mentor, so I decided to get my toe wet on my own for now. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some advice on this thread, too!

Here's a little history on me and my babies. I'm a fulltime college student majoring in Business and minoring in Marketing. I am owned by three ferrets

Sookie (sable female), Loki (silver male), and Pip (albino female).

Sookie is 15 months old and weighs around 1.8lbs. Loki is nearly 6 months old and weighs 3.1lbs. Pip is 4.5 months old and weighs 1.8lbs.

Sookie was one of my first ferrets. I bought her along with her brother, Marley, from Petco when they were both 3.5 months old. Marley later died from Juvenile Lymphoma 2 weeks before his first birthday. As you all can imagine, Sookie grieved and stopped eating. I purchased Loki and Pip (from two different Petcos) soon afterwards to help her through this tough time.

Loki is a rambunctious boy who loves to play and swim! He's quite a pig, so I think he will make the switch easy if he sees another ferret interested in the food.

Pip is a sweetheart who loves to cuddle, but she can dook and wrestle just as well as the others Unfortunately, along with all her good qualities comes quite a stubborn streak. I think Pip will be the most difficult to switch to raw foods.

At the moment, Sookie LOVES Gerber Chicken Baby Food, followed by Loki in a close second. Pip, once again, is giving me trouble. She has started to eat it, but not with as must zeal as the others!

I think that the baby food will give me a good starting point when introducing them to raw. At the moment, I don't have any chicken or organs to blend with their baby food, but I plan on buying some from the butcher within the next few days. I'll then incorporate the chicken and organs into their baby food, slowly making it chunkier. Someone once suggested this to me, though I can't remember their username. However, credit goes to them!

I'll keep everyone updated on our progress!


(See signature for pictures of my ferrets).

[sherrylynne]

That sounds like a good way to start them Mine were accustomed to a cooked version of soup, so that's what I used! Just added a wee bit of raw puree, and slowly increased raw amounts, while decreasing cooked. You may find you have more success if you remove the kibble a few hours before attempting the baby food/raw mix.
As long as none of them have anything like insulinoma, it will be fine.

[VixenPro]

I was able to buy chicken thighs, chicken livers, and calf livers today at my local grocery store (along with more baby food). The butcher told me that if I wanted other organs and muscle meats like hearts, I'd have to go to Fiesta, which I will in a few days.

My question is, how much liver should I include in their soupies? I heard from someone that too much liver can lead to an overdose of vitamin A. Is this true?

Thanks.

[sherrylynne]

Before that happens, they'd be "pooping through the eye of a needle at 50 paces"
Liver and other organs can cause loose(r) stools after eating them. And they'll be blackish with the blood from the organ meats. Good rule of thumb is no more than one chicken liver sized piece of liver per ferret per week. So, put in the soup, since you'd make a larger amount and freeze it in portion sizes, put in one? It really depends on how much soup you make.

[VixenPro]

Thanks!


Okay, so I've tried creating soupies from hearts, livers, and chicken thighs. While Sookie loves the soupies, the others do not, and quite frankly, it's soooo messy. I can only imagine how messy it will be if/when they switch to raw body parts. Also, there is the worry with bacteria. So, I've been considering other options.

Sookie LOVES Wysong Dream Treats and Burgers. My other ferrets won't touch it. I'm starting to think that I want to switch them all over to commercial raw because it's easier and cleaner and has the same nutritional value as raw, but I have no idea how to go about introducing this to the other ferrets.

Any suggestions?

[Heather]

Excellent ideas,..... but what you should do is decide on a process and stay with it for a time. If you keep bouncing around they only get confused. Ferrets have already imprinted what their food is by the time they're about 9 months old. Any time after that involves how flexible they are (personality) and how frustrated you get. Like Sherrylynne I work with a soupy for my beginners. It's easier and less messy than some of the other methods. I just sit them on my lap and feed them with a spoon. I'm in the process of switching 2 new rescues that were dumped off here a couple of weeks ago. I moved too quickly for Yuri, though Nakita was good with it. So, I had to backtrack and take a step back to once again get Yuri to eat again. Every time they run by, they get grabbed and are offered some soupy. This is not something they do on their own, usually.
Feeding commercial foods isn't wrong. They don't get the tooth cleaning action and they don't get the stimulation of pulling and tearing at the meat but most are reasonably balanced and easy to feed. Just remember that not all commercial food is created equal and there is the tendency to feed way too much bulk or veggie matter (this is cheaper than meat). You have to do your homework.
I feed commercial grinds, commercial frankenprey, my own ground mix, frankenprey and prey both live and frozen. The more different types of protein sources you feed the more nutrients are covered and the better your ferrets diets
ciao

[sherrylynne]

For me, in some ways, I've found the commercial raw I give them to be just a bit messier at times Especially when they all grab the same medallion, and scurry off to their own corner of the cage with it!
Let's face it- it's all going to be messy. It's how you deal with it that matters. For quick cleanups after meal times, I just use a 50/50 vinegar/water mix in a spray bottle. Disinfects, and works like a charm. Obviously, I don't get it on the meat they have in there.
But even to get them on commercial, you are likely going to have to start them off with a soup of some kind. You can use the commercial patty, and just blend that up to the right consistency if you like, then slowly thicken it.

[VixenPro]

Good news!

Sookie and Pip are now on commercial raw! Pip watched Sookie eat Wysong Burgers and Dream Treats for months before suddenly FIGHTING over them! No soupies were involved. Yay!

2 out of my 3 have made the switch

[Heather]

Congratulations, that is so fantastic. Commercial can work very well for some ferrets. I love the stuff and use it quite often to do the initial switching. It has it's flaws but in my opinion it's 100x better than kibble so even if you go no farther, you've given your little ones a higher chance at a healthy and happy life. You just have to keep checking their teeth. The nice thing is that you can now go at their pace to switch to whole meats.
Great job
ciao

[sherrylynne]

Congrats! And with two of them eating it now, it shouldn't be too long before the third wonders "what is this stuff, and why do my friends like it so much"