Horse656's Switching Thread/Sherrylynne

[Heather]

Name: Katrina
HF Forum Username: horse656

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
i heard about them for dogs and wondered about them for ferrets.

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'm not exactly sure what they would go for. i would be willing to try anything for them.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
i read up on it on here, and I'm thinking it would be much healthier for them and help their immune system. my one ferret had a bad reaction to the distemper and reading up I'm thinking raw might help him,

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 commited. 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?
yes i am willing to make a 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 currently have 2 ferrets.
Joe- male, about 3 years
Belle- female, about year and half
no health problems that i know about. i would consider Joe under weight most of the time, but he gets it on near the winter months. Belle could use some fat on her too.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
kibble currently, Zupreem its called. i feed treats, generally something with liver, but belle won't eat those, she'll just go for the sugary treats.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
kind of. i tried giving Joe some cooked food and he didn't go for it, and I've tried raw liver and he didn't go for it. i haven't really tried anything with belle.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
i want my ferrets to be healthy, i also have two cats in the house, which i wouldn't mind switching, I'm not sure. the older cat is around 10, so.... i think think he'll take to it, but if he does great all the better, and the other is 1 so she'll be easier i think. they've both had some.

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
yes all the time, unless it breaks or something.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).
belle:
i732.photobucket.com/albums/ww321/horse656/my%20babes/belle.png?t=1270235929

Joe. i don't have any recent when hes up:
i732.photobucket.com/albums/ww321/horse656/joe.png?t=1270235977


Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (sherrylynne, I will be assisting as she's really busy and I've also been working with you already) will introduce herself and we will start helping you move ahead on your 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. As you will note that both Sherrylynne and myself are mentoring you. That way you will get your questions answered and we can also help you switch your kitties if you need help. 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

[horse656]

hello.
i have been been feeding joe a soup mix that i make every few days and feed him that. he is taking it most of the time willingly.
i do have belle eating other thing. she has had chicken, and i think this morning she ate some beef.

i shall introduce my ferrets a little more
i got Joe about three years ago, as a christmas present. what a wonderful present so he's my babe. Belle i got about sometime in November for a friend for Joe, i can say that he didn't like his friend when i first brought her home. now they have settled into a great living arrangement, sleeping on top of belle!
i think belle will be willing to try about anything.
thats all i can think about right now

[sherrylynne]

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

Heather and I will both be helping you with this switch, since we found out we both were anyway
I gather Joe is eating it from the bowl on his own? When you say Belle is eating meat, large chunks? tiny chunks? And is she also taking any soup?

[horse656]

yes. she is taking chunks. maybe up to the thumb knuckle big? she will take the soup, i think she prefers it, but i try not to give it to her that often unless I'm trying something new with her, i put some soup on top of the new meat. shes had chicken, for the first week or so i had her on it, i got some turkey, i don't think she's had lots of it, maybe a few pieces, and some beef. which she had this morning.
Joe is being really stubborn he was taking it from the plate on his own, but now that i don't have any kibble in it, he is sort of refusing sometimes and other times he'll eat it all up. i feed them in the morning and at night.

would you think its ok to leave meat in their cage? or will it go bad? because i did leave a few pieces in the cage while i was at school and i came home and it was gone, or hidden

[sherrylynne]

That's great! And yes- I always leave some meat in the cage. Usually up to about 24 hours, depending on the meat. If it goes bad, they won't eat it anyway. Unless, of course, they've "jerkified" it themselves
With Belle, just keep introducing new meats right now. As she accepts them, start leaving out the soup, except maybe some once a week or so. It's a really good idea to keep it in their diet, so they are used to it.
For Joe, I'd just start the "scruff and stuff" method if you need to. With Boris, I still have to offer him some from my finger before he'll willingly eat it, and sometimes we have to do the lap feeding with a spoon. It's just the way he is. We both enjoy it anyway, and it's a great bonding time.
Just make sure to remove the kibble either overnight, or all day before offering the raw to them. You can always put it back in later when they settle for the night(or day!)

[horse656]

i have removed the kibble all together now. they haven't been eating kibble for awhile.
i think Joe is losing a bit of weight, so i might just put it back in over night stupid crap.

I'm not sure on how to get Joe to eat chunks. hes such a drama queen. does everything.
any ideas on that?

[Heather]

What size of chunked meat are you trying to get him to sample? Considering that he's not realy big on trying "new" things make sure it's really small, not bigger than a finger nail end. I, too have on occasion used the scruff and stuff. If I can convince them to start eating chunkier soupy I would sooner use that as they do find it stressful to be stuffed but some are very finicky and are just difficult...I think sherrylynne has the worst little drama queen on the forum at the moment, and was quite difficult to switch and still can be a pain when a new protein source is added. You are in good hands
ciao

[horse656]

thanks
well he did get a chunk in his mouth last night and was chewing it up but he didn't eat it just spit it out on the table while making a mess.
im not sure what belle is eating anymore. shes such a pig when it comes to soup. joe didn't eat all of his last night so i gave her the rest, she shoved her mouth in it and started slurring it all up. my little pig

[sherrylynne]

Since he's not eating enough, you really do need to leave the kibble in overnight at least, for him. Try to make sure Belle is stuffed with the raw before it goes in, and leave some in the cage as well.
For Joe, You may have to take a step back with the soup til he's comfortable with eating it again without the kibble in it.

[horse656]

ok.
its just that i don't want belle to not eat the raw if she has the kibble again.
would it be ok to sprinkle kibble over top of the soup instead of mixing it in? that way i can reduce it gradually?

[Heather]

You can try it that way. There's no real wrong way to get him to eat it.
Belle may eat some of the kibble but the way she's tackling that raw, just stuff her up before you return them to the cage and she shouldn't really need to eat. She may snack a bit but probably won't make much of a meal of it. Your little Joe, still hasn't made the leap of faith yet so he needs to have kibble accessible to him at least during the times that you have him locked up. As sherrylynne mentioned leave some meat in the cage for Belle, you'd be surprised what might happen having one ferret eating meat might teach the other. Ferrets are very much about copying one another. I've had ferrets switch without me ever having to touch them (not many mind you ) but some have been more than willing to just watch and see what the big deal is. Odin, Thor and Loki come to mind.....they were originally left to be "babysat" while their ferrants went to Brazil for 3months. They switched while playing with my guys. Their kibbles were available to them during the day and at night (I would lock them in their cage to munch out). They just started helping themselves to the food around the house. I never had to do anything .
ciao

[horse656]

cool.
i do leave some raw in the cage, and if she doesn't eat it then it stays in there, for awhile. when i come home from school, there is usually a piece of meat on the platform on the top. i find it cute that she brings up her food to where she sleeps.
i guess ill put some food in over night, but then he'll eat it and not be hungry in the morning...

[sherrylynne]

That's why you leave out the kibble for approx. 8-12 hours of the day. If it's going in overnight, just take it out in the morning, and focus on switching him in the evening.
The main thing right now is to make sure he has enough nutrition. When they don't eat enough, they(like us) become nauseated, and don't want to eat. Unlike us- they see no reason to force themselves. It can rapidly become a downward spiral with a ferret that winds up refusing to eat enough to survive.

[horse656]

ok.
ill try that then.

[horse656]

i gave Joe some soup, with kibble on top, and he still didn't go for it. but whatever stupid drama queen.
but he did eat most of it. (force-ably though)

i tried to feed belle some gizzard i think it was, or maybe heart. but she didn't eat it while i was there, it might be gone in the morning, it might not. she likes chicken and beef, she doesn't seem to like turkey so much. i haven't tried pork yet.