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Post by littleweasels on Oct 20, 2010 12:28:22 GMT -5
I brought her to the vet when I first got her and she was healthy. I want to bring her in now but I just brought the guinea pigs in to be treated for mites. When I have more money I can bring her in but what can they do if she has adrenal disease? I cannot afford surgery. Is it possible she has something else?
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Post by luci on Oct 20, 2010 12:35:24 GMT -5
There are lots of options if it is adrenal. Melatonin, lupron, deslorelin implants... there is a lot of info on this forum about it. Search through the health and medical board.
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 21, 2010 19:37:35 GMT -5
I am going to get Rena on lupron shots at the end of the month. Will that help her to gain weight? Should I just keep feeding her soup or should I also feed her kibble? She eats the soup every time I put it in their cage.
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Post by luci on Oct 21, 2010 20:12:04 GMT -5
Once she starts feeling better she will likely get a healthier appetite.
If she is willing to eat soup and you think she is getting enough calories that way, stay with that. If you start offering kibble again we may have to start all over.
How are the other two doing?
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 21, 2010 22:24:35 GMT -5
The other 2 are doing great. They have both been eating lots of soup and gaining weight.
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 23, 2010 16:41:34 GMT -5
Rena has gained .8oz
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Post by luci on Oct 24, 2010 0:11:11 GMT -5
That's encouraging!
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 24, 2010 11:35:19 GMT -5
Yesterday they ate 9 cubes of soup!
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 25, 2010 21:41:36 GMT -5
Would it be easier to get them to eat whole prey? We dont seem to be getting anywhere with the raw.
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Post by luci on Oct 25, 2010 22:52:26 GMT -5
You can try, but honestly you haven't been trying for very long. It is not unusual for it to take months to switch them. That's why this mentor program was started. Most people give up because it's frustrating and it takes a long time. But if you honestly think that they may recognize whole prey as something to eat then by all means go for it. I would be surprised if switching to whole prey would go any faster than switching to raw.
Keep making the soup the way they will eat it and always have a supply around. We have not gotten anywhere near exhausting all of our tricks for getting them to eat. My first two ferrets were very picky too. I tried soups, baby food, minced meat, pureed meat, warm, cold, from a spoon, off my finger, on a plate, in a bowl until I finally hit on what they would eat. I ended up having to cut up chicken breast into one inch cubes, blanch it for a minute in boiling water, cut it into kibble sized pieces and coat it in smashed kibble powder. I did that FRESH for every meal, twice a day for weeks before I started cutting back on the amount of kibble powder. Then once we were down to no kibble I slowly started cutting down that amount of time I was cooking it in the boiling water. Then I worked on making the pieces bigger. Then other meats. Then bones... which caused a setback and I had to go back a step. Then organs. This whole process took a long time. There are no shortcuts here. You have to follow what they are willing to do. But once they're switched life is so much easier and your ferrets are so, so much healthier.
So, to sum up... do what you feel is best, but have realistic expectations.
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 25, 2010 23:34:35 GMT -5
Im not going to give up switching them I just thought maybe whole prey would be easier. Maybe I will get some pinky mice and see if they eat them. If not Oscar will. They have been eating more soup. Rena is still gaining weight. She is now 30oz.
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 27, 2010 22:07:07 GMT -5
Rena has been maintaining 30.3oz. They have been eating about 7-9 cubes of soup a day.
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Post by luci on Oct 29, 2010 0:53:24 GMT -5
That seems like a good amount. Are they excited about mealtimes? Do you still have to handfeed Rena?
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 29, 2010 10:28:15 GMT -5
When I put food in their cage they most of the time they will wake up and start to eat. I wake Rena up if she doesnt because she likes to eat the fresh stuff. I do not hand feed her any more.
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Post by littleweasels on Oct 30, 2010 22:23:35 GMT -5
There hasn't been any change.
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