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Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 26, 2010 20:23:26 GMT -5
Maybe it's because my brats eat more ground stuff and chew fewer bones. when I use meat trimmings, hearts, livers, etc, I'll sometimes clip the antler into tiny bits and mix them in with chunks - or even freeze-dried raw that's crumbled. They like the antler better than egg shell - they'll get a pinch of ground egg shell here and there as well. I bet the dogs will eat them -jennifer
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Post by katt on Oct 31, 2010 22:49:58 GMT -5
Not really much to update on. He has the occasional yicky poop, but overall is still doing pretty well. Thankfully!
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Post by sunnyberra on Oct 31, 2010 23:50:14 GMT -5
My Pixie has the same thing, except her trigger is usually chicken. She actually had to go on the same regime once (IBD + heliobacter, back when she was three). After that, she was put on famotidine, but - and this is just in my experience - I found that a mix of canned pure pumpkin + baby food + Carnivore Care 2-3x a week worked much better at soothing her tummy than anything else (besides eliminating chicken from her diet). I also do use probiotics, and I ordered something called retrosyn feline gel (it's a probiotic but it is also supposed to help rehydrate and recolonize good bacteria). It's just for if she has another episode (her last one was a couple of months ago). Besides that, I do a series of bene-bac every now and then when I think she's getting stressed/something new is about to happen. I don't know if that helps you or not (or if I'm just retreading old ground). Just a few thoughts! Good luck with your little guy
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Post by katt on Nov 3, 2010 23:59:13 GMT -5
Thanks sunnyberra. I wll be adding probios into his diet soon I believe. Just an update, I think we can say he is stabilized! *woot woot* He is pooping very consistently, big fat solid poops. I want to bring the amount of pumpkin down, but I think I need to do it slowly as I added less once and his poop was not so good. I upped the pumpkin again and he pooped great. He does have the occasional off poop, but nothing near what they were looking like! So, I would like to hopefully start adding some variety back into his diet soon...especially bones! Right now his only source of bone is the ground rabbit. (I haven't given him mouse in a while as I ran out. I have a new batch of babies that will be edible in a few weeks, but just haven't managed to get around to buying more.) Thoughts on what to add back in first? Maybe some chunks of lamb (instead of ground)...?
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Post by sunnyberra on Nov 4, 2010 7:01:43 GMT -5
lamb would be great, and I find that turkey is a really, really gentle meat for Pixie (as I didn't have access to lamb until recently). So chunked turkey or lamb would be great to start with!
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Post by katt on Nov 4, 2010 15:46:00 GMT -5
lamb would be great, and I find that turkey is a really, really gentle meat for Pixie (as I didn't have access to lamb until recently). So chunked turkey or lamb would be great to start with! Well he us already getting ground lamb and rabbit as his current diet, and that was to get him stabilized. He was having very mucousy, runny, bloody poops and even a heavy round of meds didn't totally clear it up! The diet change helped so now that he is feeling better, we are trying to find out what he is and isn't sensitive too. I worry that he might be allergic to all poultry, but I hope he can at least have turkey. Chicken of course would be nice as it's the easiest source of organ, but I have a terrible feeling that he will be allergic to it. *sigh* I have some lamb shoulder that I will give him some chunks of to start probably, but I am hoping to try some new species of meat soon too so he gets his variety back. Anyone know about range-fed chicken? I remember it being mentioned that the poultry allergy is possibly due to the grains they are fed...so would free range chicken/turkey be better? I can get that locally...same for eggs, but he will not eat eggs unless they are blended into soupies anyways. Also, I was thinking about the mice I give him. For the live mice, what if I took them out of the cage into a separate cage a day or two before feeding, and fed them veggies and stuff (as opposed to dry mouse food - which probably contains grain) so that their bellies have better stuff in them?
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Post by katt on Nov 8, 2010 14:38:04 GMT -5
So we are good on mice, ground rabbit, ground lamb, and lamb chunks. Better with pumpkin, ok without. What food should I add next and how much? Should I say, mix some ground turkey into the lamb/rabbit and see how that goes over, give him only turkey, chop up some chicken hearts...?
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Post by Heather on Nov 8, 2010 16:56:18 GMT -5
Try the turkey. There is no limits to the protein that he can try. It's just what he can handle Turkey is not chicken. I've got little ones who are sensitive to chicken but who can eat turkey. I've never tried the free range....but what you have to find is someone who has free range but doesn't feed corn (if that is indeed his sensitivity). I know a number of people who free range their poultry but they do get grain. Free range just means that they're not confined to a box and fattened on chicken kibbles, even organic chickens are fed corn (it's just organic corn ) ciao
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Post by katt on Nov 9, 2010 23:12:33 GMT -5
Gave Koda ground turkey last night. He didn't eat much, and ate a little this morning, but still not very much at all. Not eating well, he didn't poop most of the day. When he finally did it was back to dark, goopy poopy. Should I mix turkey in with some lamb/rabbit and keep giving it to him that way? Should I withdraw it and re-stabilize him, then try to mix it in? Keep giving it plain a few days and see if he adjusts?
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Post by Heather on Nov 10, 2010 0:04:02 GMT -5
Take a step backwards. Stop the turkey, stabilize and then try again. If you get the same result you will know that it's off the list of edible foods at least for now. This is so much trial and error. I really wish there was some type of science involved, if nothing else to prevent their poor tummy aches. You might also want to watch how he eats a protein. Mischief, seemed to instinctively know what he couldn't handle. For 6 months straight he ate nothing but rabbit (and all the other misc. parts organs and such). I was really concerned by this because of the study involving cats and that rabbit in large quantities doesn't cover all the bases. I had an old time ferret breeder tell me to let him have what he was created to eat. So, I did. No stomach episodes for the 6 months. Then one day we were back to square one. He also stopped eating rabbit and started on another protein (chicken this time) and he could actually eat it. At this point he was eating all types of poultry (these were foods he couldn't have eaten a few months previous.) So, this seemed to go on. He never could eat beef or lamb but for a time he ate pork and duck (the duck just didn't add up, hugely fatty meat but he managed it). Good luck, give the brat a big hug and tell him to get better. ciao
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Post by katt on Nov 10, 2010 4:07:24 GMT -5
Well now I am confused. He pooped two more times and each poop (he has still only eaten turkey) was progressively better. I put lamb and rabbit in his cage tonight, but should I add a little turkey tomorrow since his poops were improving? Perhaps it was the sudden change rather than the turkey itself? I'll post pics later..
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Post by mustelidmusk on Nov 10, 2010 9:37:18 GMT -5
Many IBD ferrets do better with slow changes from one food to another. Also, irritation can develop from feeding the same thing all the time. And sometimes, things just don't make sense. this is the reason for keeping a log. I recommend adding a little new meat at a time and switching the ratio more slowly. you may be able to switch as quickly as "half/lamb/half turkey for a couple of days and then feed all turkey. you may need to change slowly. You may find that all turkey works well for only a couple of days and then you need to switch to something else. You may also find that even though you can get away with feeding all turkey upon occasion, it's too unpredictable and turkey works best when it's only part of the mix. And most confusing, you may find no constant pattern at all -jennifer
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Post by Heather on Nov 10, 2010 14:17:23 GMT -5
Isn't that the truth ciao
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Post by katt on Nov 10, 2010 14:30:03 GMT -5
Great. lmao Ok so this morning his poop looks "normal" again, but it is pretty yellow like the last ones I think I posted. Any reason why this may be? I did put in some squash baby food, but the last yellow poos (before getting turkey, but on rabbit and lamb with no fiber) were the same color/texture. Since he seems to have come back up to normal (appetite too!) I will mix in some turkey with the lamb and rabbit later today.
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Post by katt on Nov 11, 2010 22:04:52 GMT -5
I posted the latest greatest poops. lmao I don't know what to think. It looks like he had some normal but yellow poops, and some slimy poops. Thoughts? I will keep giving him a little turkey mixed in and maybe increase it to see what happens. It's like his belly is upset, then not... He ate a lot... Also, why are his "normal" poops yellow? I thought the color was due to the pumpkin and squash, but if anything when I took the pumpkin out they looked less brown (bc of the orange of the pumpkin I assume) and more yellow. Should I be worried about the yellow? I know when he was having mucousy poops the vet was less concerned about the mucous and the dark (bloody?) color, and more concerned by the yellow/orange hue in the mucous. Thoughts?
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