Starting off sort of?

[xeopse]

So I had a very nice post all typed out last night and then when I went to post... nothing. I'm attempting to re-think all the questions I had now!

My dog Leia has been raw feed frankenprey and some whole prey since 2008. I am not squeamish about dead animals as long as their heads are off. I like bunnies, mice, rats, etc too much to feed them totally whole. There's a lady that will be selling ground rabbit heads though with everything included - would this be worth it? She said you really can't tell what it is, which would be nice. So I want to get the little buggers on raw ASAP but go slowly because weight loss is still such a problem. They are SO tiny. Lulabelle is very weak all the time. I don't potentially want ot make anything worse, and I want her to have access to food all the time until she gets better.

So I have the 5 research ferrets that have never had anything but crappy Lab Diet food ( = to Marshalls crapola) Should I a) switch to a far more appropriate ferret kibble (and what brand that would be), b) just switch cold turkey to raw, or c) something else that I'm totally missing.

Leia and the other two dogs I had were SO easy to feed. They are garbage disposals. I never needed to do ground foods or whatever... I did in the very beginning and it was such a waste of time. I switched from BARF to frankenprey soon after many times of saying to myself "WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!!"

Ferrets aren't so easy, huh? I put a chicken thigh in their cage overnight. I previously took out their food so they'd be hungry. After a while I even put some of that ferretone oil on it since they'd pretty much drink a gallon of that stuff if I let them. No dice. Totally uninterested. Tried again with a drumstick. Nope. Leia was happy because she ended up getting extra treats, but I was not too happy.

So they won't go for pieces. The soupy sounds like a pain, and I'd prefer to skip it if possible. How about ground? I have a bunch of suppliers I can get ground whatever I need - rabbit, chicken, bison, turkey, quail, etc etc. Or commercial raw? Money isn't really the problem - time is. I go to school full time and I work 30 hours a week and every day is like I don't have enough hours in it.

I thought I saw a list on here one time of commercial frozen raw suppliers but I can't seem to find it anywhere so maybe I'm crazy. Or blind. Does anyone have a list to check out, or have any that you recommend? Or maybe some certain meats I should try out that they would like better than chicken? With dogs you start out with chicken... same with my cats.

In the meantime I'm assuming I should still give them the option of kibble to maintain weight though - so what do I go with? Some say feed whatever cats eat because they're the same, others say that's not enough... again, budget isn't the problem, I just want to make sure they get what they need.

Thank you!

[horse656]

a) switch to a far more appropriate ferret kibble (and what brand that would be), b) just switch cold turkey to raw, or c) something else that I'm totally missing.

you could switch them to a better diet(better kibble). there are some cat diets are that really good.
switching them cold turkey can be dangerous and unhealthy. healthy ferrets can go up to 12 hours without eating. so you might have to convince them some other way.
i suggest checking out the mentor board for some great ways to start the switch.
soup is a good way to go if you have kibble addicts that have been on kibble for years.
i believe your are under a year?
just to give them some meat to see if they'll eat it.

[sherrylynne]

To be honest, I'd try getting them on a soup supplement along with a better kibble for now. To switch a kibble, start with mixing the new with the old, maybe 20% new with 80% old, mix well, and try them with it. If they simply continue to pick out the old after several days, then mix the same ratio, put it in a container and shake it up well. Leave it for at least a week for the flavours to mix, then try it again. Every week, increase the amount of new kibble by about another 20%, and decrease the old by the same amount.
For the soup, you can do a raw version, or a cooked one. It's a really good idea to have them accepting some type of soup, in case they become ill. That way they'll likely have something they'll be willing to eat, instead of having to syringe feed it. And soup is an easy way to get a stubborn ferret onto raw.
You can try the ground, though. Just mash it well with a fork, and mix in enough water to make it "soupy"

[xeopse]

What kibble to switch to? What have others had success with? The pet supply store sells Evo, Taste of the Wild, Wellness, etc etc. I fed my own cats Evo, and they did well with it. There's a lot of the back and forth arguments that ferrets have the same nutritional requirements as cats, so just to feed cat food. Others say not enough protein. Judgment on this?

And what ground? Is there a particular brand or supplier that ferret parents or ferret kids like better?

[sherrylynne]

Evo cat and kitten is good. As is Wellness Core. Taste of the Wild isn't too bad.
As for ground, you can just use the ground meat at the store if you are only using it as a transition food, or make up your own.
I'd start with taking out the kibble for a few hours before trying the soup. After they've had a bit(some may take to it right away, some not), you can always put the kibble back into the cage for them. Then take it out again a couple hours before trying the soups in the evening.