KieruNatsuki's Switching Thread/Heather

[Heather]

Name: Lauryn
HF Forum Username: KieruNatsuki

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
My mom breeds yorkies, and was a dog groomer. She frequently added in a raw diet to help with her show dogs' coats, muscle, and teeth. I learned about it for ferrets when i first began researching them about 2 years ago.

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 definitely want to get Monday (and any future ferrets) to a complete raw diet. As far as whole prey goes, i will NOT feed rats as i own a few as pets, but since my mom and i have raised snakes and dragons i am ok with mice. Live? Maybe eventually. Frozen? That i can do.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
I have seen what a raw diet can do for a ferret in general. Healthier, better body, better coat, more active, etc. While i want this for Monday, i also want to one day show her, and i am not going get very far on a kibble diet. Plus, she's chunky with kibble.

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 committed. 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?
I am completely willing to go through any time it takes to get my picky eater to a raw diet. Yes i will commit.

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 have one ferret.
Monday
10 months old
Female
No health problems that i know of.
I don't have a scale, but considering the amount of pure pudge she has, i'd consider her overweight for her size and age.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)
She is currently on a diet formed by her last owner. I.e. a mix of Marshall's dry kibble, and a Walmart ferret kibble.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
I''ve tried feeding her raw chicken, ground beef, and steak, as well as cooked steak. She hates it all. She gags and retches when i get it in her mouth.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
Hmmm, i'm 19, female, grew up in a grooming business and a mini zoo. I've owned various animals from dogs and cats to rats, snakes, bearded dragons, leopard geckos, day geckos, frogs, millipedes, various birds, rabbits, fish, axolotles, turtles, and many many other critters. It was a fun place to grow up. I currently own a cat named Crook, and four female rats named Army Dizzy Butternut and Momo,and now my first ferret. I am in school for veterinary and hope to one day have my own wildlife refuge (primarily wolves). I also draw.

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
I have 24/7 access

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).

Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Heather....whoo hoo that's me ) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new 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. 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

[Heather]

Hi
I'm Heather, and we're going to be working together for the next little while trying to convince your furbaby to change to a healthier diet
I've been feeding a raw/natural diet for a little over 10 yrs. I have a small private rescue/sanctuary, just outside of Toronto, Canada where all ferrets turned into me are switched immediately over to a raw diet that consists of ground raw/whole meats or frankenprey/ and prey diet. At present every ferret eats this full range of diets. I don't keep kibbles in the house. All my furbabies are free roaming and have access to an outdoor play area that they can access at will. At present there are 13 little fuzzbutts who call this their permanent home. They range in ages of about 1 yr to my senior citizen, Mad Max who is over 10 yrs. My most difficult switch was a little senior who was turned in at 9 yrs of age (she by the way has been my biggest raw switch challenge, which had me at times wondering why I was doing this to her) She eventually was completely switched and putting on a beautiful dark black coat, teeth that were nicely cleaned up, and she actually has a lot of fun investigating the house (she used to do nothing but sleep when she first was turned in). She has made me aware that every ferret no matter how old, can get a new lease on life by eating a species appropriate diet. She eventually passed on at 11 yrs of age to complete organ failure....old age.
Raw soupy is my favourite switching tool and one that I've had the most success with.
You can try to get them to eat a raw soup immediately. You will need a blender/food processor, and the following raw items:

8 oz raw chicken thigh meat (including skin and fat)
1/2 tsp of crushed eggshell powder (take a raw eggshell. Rinse it out. Let it dry. Crush to powder)
1 raw chicken heart
1/2 raw chicken liver
Water or broth(use more to make it soupier, less to make it thicker)
Blend ingredients together. Some prefer it at room temp. Try putting a dollop of "soup" onto your ferret's nose and they probably will lick it off. I use my finger. Sometimes this takes a little bit trying to convince them that you're not trying to poison them I find within a very short time they're licking this off my finger. When I see that they're willing to eat freely off my finger then I use a small spoon to try and get them to eat from that. Try to get them eating the soupy on their own. It might pique their interest.

Most ferrets will willingly eat the food once they actually TASTE it, so the only struggle you *should* encounter is them not wanting to taste it. Don't be surprised if your furbabies' initial reaction is to gag, spit and look at you like, what are you trying to poison me with But don't let them get away with it The hardest part is to insist and be consistent. Please also be aware that after years of kibbles they aren't aware that what you're offering them is indeed food. Once they willingly eat from your finger and spoon, work to try and get them eating this out of a dish or plate.

Each time you make your soupy, use a little less water to make it thicker/chunkier. Replace soup with fresh soup every 4-6 hours. You can make a large batch if you like and freeze into ice cubes or cupcake trays. Then you just thaw a portion and serve. OR you can put a frozen "cube" into their bowl and let it slowly thaw.

This is a good way to slowly ease them into wet foods. I use this method to switch all my furbabies and I've personally switched approximately 30 ferrets of my own in the last few years.
I will let you read through and if you have any questions please ask.
Good luck
ciao

[kierunatsuki]

Yay I'm so glad i get a mentor who knows what i'm dealing with in a picky eater. I'm really looking forward to this experience.


The only question i can think of right now, is if i can make the soup with out a blender? I don't currently have one where i live, though once i go back home i'll have one but that's in another week. Would it be possible to cut the chicken into teeny tiny pieces and mashing them or something? Everything else i already have, and if i can get away with no blender, i can get her started on soupies tonight!

[Heather]

You can give it a try. Offer her some tiny slivers of meat dipped in her favourite oil. Make sure the slivers are no bigger than the tip of your finger. Some ferts start on whole meat chunks. I've just found that the soupy is the easiest to start them on because the meat is basically mush. Part of the problem with the whole raw diet and ferrets is texture, so you take out as much texture as possible. You are welcome to try any method that you think your little one would like to try or you for that matter There is no tried and true method, each ferret is different and there are as many methods to switch as there are ferrets and ferrants
ciao

[kierunatsuki]

Alrighty then! I shall try cutting the chicken into teeny tiny little pieces. And i'll be sure to take pics to log my venture better

One other question, reading back through recipes, i find that most use the innards of the chickens like the liver and heart. Where could i find those? I searched my Super Walmart today, but all i could find were necks, cow liver, and the normal human consumption meats.

[Heather]

This is where you and I might have problems supply information. I get mine at the local grocer. I don't think our walmart carries it either (I've never actually looked). I use a couple of different sources, grocer, butcher, raw food coop and a raw pet food store. A lot of people here use rodentpro and haretoday (online raw pet food suppliers). I wish we had suppliers like that up here. The biggest difficulty (short of getting your little one to eat raw, is finding your suppliers). You can post and ask for suppliers in your general area. If there's anyone else in your area they will probably post where they get their food. People are fairly quick about telling their food sources.
Now you can use cow liver in place of chicken, but remember it's a bit richer and sometimes can cause some loose stools. Does your store have beef heart because you can use that too. This month the guys are getting turkey liver and hearts because that's what was available through the coop. I'm going to pick up some chicken livers and hearts and gizzards (the hearts never seem to come without the gizzards) as I saw them at the local grocery store. This is how things are done, that type of thing, hearts, livers, gizzards, kidneys...they're all available but supply is not always consistent, so you buy them when you see them Not much help I'm afraid. Good luck and happy hunting
ciao

[kierunatsuki]

Well i can for sure search when i get home, kind of pointless right now though haha.

As far as my makeshift soup? It was ACTUALLY a success! I used a quarter of a piece of chicken, an egg (no white), crushed egg shell, and crushed kibble. I figured the smell of the kibble powder would make it more intriguing. And it worked . I cut the chicken into teeny little pieces, crushed the kibble, and mixed it all together.





Doesn't really look like SOUP, but it was as good as i could get without blending it

Om Noms

She's actually eating it!

And enjoying it

Sorry for the huge pics :/

She ate about half the bowl, and mostly licked up the egg and chicken bits. I'm so proud of her. Later tonight im going to try cutting the chicken again, but seeing if she'll eat it plain.

[Heather]

Your little one has made the most difficult part of the journey...the taste If she won't take the chicken as is, keep going with the soupy, just each time you make it use less and less kibble until she's eating just the meat. Then you start cutting back on the liquid. Each time during this process you offer her the meat plain, chunked. Each time she refuses then you go back to the accepted place in your soupy mix. You can use a whole egg if you want (white, yolk and shell) No more than 3 times during the week. You can do this because you're using the whole egg. An egg is entirely balanced when you use all of its components... I try not to feed more than 2 or 3 times a week as it will cause "rat tail", made that mistake when I first started feeding raw to ferrets
ciao

[kierunatsuki]

Well she officially ate tiny chicken pieces. I left some in her bowl for dinner, and in the morning they were gone! I'll be moving home on wednesday, so i'll be able to make some actual soups, and be able to locate some internal organs

[Heather]

Great news....you two are doing so well. You'll have her eating raw in no time
ciao