Trippyferret's Switching Thread/Sunnyberra

[trippyferret]

Thanks for the congrats! Today has gone about the same, however Gwen seems to be eating it from my finger a little more vigorously now! They both licked it from the plate a little, but it went much better finger feeding.
I think you are right about the jaw strength. This morning they had eaten about half of their wing from last night, but it seems the parts they left were the biggest parts of the bone. So I'm definitely going to try the hammer technique. All in all, I feel we've made good progress today.

[sunnyberra]

That IS great! I'd just keep doing what you're doing with Gwen (and for clarification, what exactly are you hand feeding her?) - it really seems to be getting her used to it. A lot of the time, it's all about the ferrent being able to prove to the ferret that what your offering is, in fact, NOT poison, hahaha, and that usually involves a lot of hands-on help!

[trippyferret]

Whoops, I should have clarified better! We're still doing ground turkey. I would've preferred chicken, but we got hit by a bad ice storm last week and the grocery stores around here have been out of a lot of things. In fact, I got one of the last two tubes of ground turkey. lol! I might go back to ground chicken after this weekend is over, since it should be easier for them to start on chicken bone than turkey bone when they get to that point. I read that turkey bone is a lot harder to get through, and I just don't think they have the jaw strength for that yet.

[sunnyberra]

I definitely agree about the bone. Chicken and game hens are great starters! And the turkey's fine, right now. We just want them eating some raw *solidly* right now, and we can worry about other things a bit later, when the switch is a sure thing!

[trippyferret]

Tomorrow I'm going to go to the store to get the ingredients for the soup you were talking about. I want to see how they might take to it. We're going to try ground turkey again in a couple hours. Will let you know how it goes!
I am even more eager to get the kids on raw now. I've got to take Salem in for a dental this week. Her teeth and gums are looking a bit rough. Grrr, kibble sucks!

[sunnyberra]

Definitely let me know And yeah, the soup might be what Gwen needs to accept first before she learns to love *raw* Picky little things, but you gotta love 'em.

My first male always had the same problem with his teeth on kibble (it also always scraped his throat into a raw, red mess, too :C ), and had to get cleanings done, but from the day he got onto a raw diet until he passed, his teeth stayed white and beautiful. It is a nice bonus!

[trippyferret]

It was about the same last night with the ground turkey. They ate just fine for a bit off my finger and Gwen even ate out of my palm. It seems like they get bored of it quickly though. I think they just don't like being held in one spot for too long. lol!
I just got back from the store with all the ingredients for the soup. Got the kibble soaking right now. Excited to try it, I hope they like it! Think I could mix in some baby food with it too?

[trippyferret]

The soup went over AWESOME with Gwen. She won't eat from the bowl, but she ate a ton from my fingers! Salem is going to take a few more tries to get her eating it at all. She was not having it.
The bad news is, I think I ruined my blender.

[sunnyberra]

Oh, no, how did the blender break? Oh, and yes, you can add baby food to it (gerber's stage 2 or similar, just meat and gravy - no entrees!)

It's great that Gwen liked the soup! If Salem isn't a soup gal, that's okay, if she's pretty good with the ground stuff. If she's not good with either, I'd def. focus on the soup, get her on that, and then gradually thicken it up and add chunks later while reducing the amount of kibble.

\o/ I'm so happy for you guys, good job!

[trippyferret]

Oh, it probably burnt itself out because I overloaded it with meat. Heh. Luckily it was a cheap blender.
So it's day 2 of soup, and things are going great! Gwen is now eating very nicely from a spoon, and Salem decided she'd have some licks off my finger this evening. The odd thing is Eve doesn't care for the soup, and she eats most things I put in front of her. Guess she doesn't like the different texture of the chicken puree? She makes the most comical faces when I try to feed it to her. I make the soup kinda thick, so it's somewhat like their baby food they are used to. It was all over me by the time I was done feeding three ferrets(Bomber can eat it on his own, thank God).

[sunnyberra]

That's great that Gwen and Salem are adjusting. Yaay!

Two things:
This soup has the kibbles in it, right?

Eve and Bomber eat raw food, though, correct? (last I heard, they were eating chicken wings and such?). If they are, they don't need the soup like Salem and Gwen seem to, and I wouldn't push them on that, if they seem uninterested. Instead, I'd just keep encouraging them with meat and bones.

If they're not (and being a bit "picky" isn't unusual and is no cause for concern), then you can try the soup (or a completely raw version of it, just don't add kibble to it).

[trippyferret]

Omg omg omg omg I am so ecstatic right now!!! Gwen just made some major progress!! She ate from the BOWL this morning. I had to convince her at first, but after that... she was gone to om nom land! I am so happy! I just wish Salem would take a leaf out of Gwen's book. She's about the same this morning, licks it from my finger but only if I hold her in place.
Eve and Bomber both eat RMBs for the most part, but I like to have them try a variety of different things. And I figure, if I can get them all eating the soups, I can take away the kibbles for good and work them all up at the same time.

[trippyferret]

Still doin great tonight! Gwen ate her soup with gusto for dinner. She loves it! Salem is getting better too, she ate from a spoon. Evie and Bomber are having another wing for dinner.

[sunnyberra]

That's really awesome! Soup's what they needed to spark that interest and it's working. When they start eating it completely on their own, I'd try thickening it or adding diced meat into it. Let me know how Eve and Bomber do with the chicken wing this time around

*\o/* go Salem and Gwen

[trippyferret]

It has been such a good week of progress. Not only is Gwen eating out of the bowl, Salem is eating from it too! Give it a day or two and she should be eating it really well, I think. I can't believe it, they are eating raw AND enjoying it(albeit in a soupy form with kibble).
Eve and Bomber finished about half their wing last night. I threw it out, and gave them a new one but they haven't bothered with it really. I'm going to give the big kids some chicken heart chunks tonight. Evie will eat the hearts whole, but Bomberman doesn't quite know what to do with them unless they're chopped up.
Thanks so much for your help through this. I never thought I would see the day that Salem would eat any raw at all.