KD's Switching Thread/Sherrylynne

[Heather]

Name: Kelsy

HF Forum Username: KD

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? ferret.com forums sent me your way.

2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to: Not really sure how far how "extreme" I'm willing to go, as seeing pictures of fur covered prey kind of saddens me. Alas I am a virgin to feeding a raw diet, so I'm hoping I can be, I guess you could say, desensitized. Besides, the pros of feeding my little ones a natural diet EXTREMELY outweigh the cons of me feeling uncomfortable about it. I have to keep in mind that this is natural for them. *big breath*

I'm sure this is how most people start anyways, but I'd like to go from partial to a complete natural diet eventually.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet? Let me sing you a song. No, no we won't do that. Simply the fact that kibble has WAY too much filler, and after looking at scat dissections, it's apparent how much better a raw diet is.

4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? ..... Are you willing to make the commitment?
I'm willing, but scared/anxious.

5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? Two ferret butts residing here.... well their whole bodies, not just their butts. They are both about 2 years old:

Munster *moo* is male, as for health problems he does have an enlarged spleen, and I think is allergic to the distemper or rabies vaccine, but we haven't ruled either of them out yet (this was just a recent discovery, sadly). Also, he and Luna have TERRIBLE teeth, due to lack of care from their previous owners.

Luna *loon* is a female who was underweight when I adopted her, but seems to be a healthy weight now. Like Munster, her only medical problem that I know of are that her teeth are very very very bad. I'm taking her and Munster-moo to get dental work done next week, Luna for sure is having a few teeth extracted, and Munster may or may not need teeth extracted.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? I feed them a half-and-half mixture Marshall's premium ferret diet and kitten science diet. Supplements are pretty regular treats/doses of fatty acids (Ferretone), and inconsistent doses of ferret hairball medication(Ferret LAX). As for non-supplemental treats, their favorite is 8 in 1 peanut butter ferret bites (yes, I've heard raisins are bad), chicken ferret bites, and Bandit's banana/peanut butter treats.

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? No, I have tried to give them cooked chicken before but they wouldn't eat it. I did find that Luna likes pepperoni from my pizza, little thief *glares at her*.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share? I don't know anything about their first year of life, but I don't think it was a good year.

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer? I am a computer..... so, often is an understatement. Hehe.

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible). Gladly!
Luna:


Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (sherrylynne) 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

[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 6yrs, to 17(only one would eat raw, unfortunately :. I also have 9 ferrets. Boris and Vincent came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead. I got her when she was 2. She's now 5, 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 at that time. Also both adrenal, and on lupron.
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.Suki is the last one, I swear! She was a little 8 month old darling the pet store was having a hard time selling, so were getting ready to send her back!
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. Suki was another kibble head, but caging her in the daytime with Miss Emily showed her how to eat raw.
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

[KD]

Wewt a mentor, and an experienced one at that. If you can get the most stubborn of the stubborn to switch to meat, I should be able to get my crazies to do make the switch as well!!

Uhm, not sure how to start this, but maybe you could plan a menu for me? Perhaps with ways to initially switch over to raw meat that I could buy at the grocery store. I haven't found any good resources besides the packaged meat at the grocery store.

Also, do you have a feeding box? I thought that's what I wanted to do initially, but now I'm leaning towards feeding them in the same place I put their kibble.

Let me know your thoughts miss thing!

-Kels

[sherrylynne]

Hi, and yes, we'll get them there, never fear First thing I'd like you to do is get some chicken, around 8 oz(doesn't matter whether breast or thigh), some heart(1 or 2), liver(one chicken liver), and some eggshell powder(about 1/4 tsp) if you can. I have a coffee grinder kept solely for that. Just rinse the raw eggshells, and let them dry for a couple of days. Put them in the grinder, and presto- eggshell powder Some use a mortar and pestle to achieve those same ends, but frankly- I'm too lazy
Anyway- take all your meat(muscle, heart, organ), and puree it together with the eggshell powder. You can then freeze it in ice cube trays, and pop the cubes into a baggie.
Try offering some, see if they take it. If not, scruff and dab some on the ends of their noses. What we are trying to do here is get them to taste it. Sometimes that's all it takes. Do this repeatedly while they are out of cage.
Don't be surprised by any reaction. You might get spitting, gaggin, retching, twisting, etc After all- they ARE little drama queens in fur coats

[KD]

Hey there, I will go out and buy ingredients this week and I'll update you when I've attempted feeding it to the little buggers, haha.

Also, I did try letting them eat raw egg today, not the best reaction but with a thin layer of ferretone on top I caught them licking some of the egg after they had got all the ferretone, perhaps that is a good sign.

When I make the meat-cubes and put them in the baggie, should I continue to store them in the freezer? Also, do I thaw it before I try to feed it?

<sub>Don't mind this, just re-formatting your instructions:

+ 8 oz. chicken, breast/thigh
+ 1 to 2 chicken hearts
+ 1 chicken liver
+ About 1/4 tsp powdered eggshells
Puree ingredients and and freeze in an ice-cube tray and then pop the cubes into a ziplock.</sub>

[sherrylynne]

Oh, sorry! Yes, keep them frozen, and for now just take one out at a time and defrost. I find mine prefer them slightly room temperature to just slightly warmed. When starting out, warming them a wee bit brings out the aroma for them. Not enough to start it cooking, but a bit more than room temp. You can either defrost and warm in warm water, or do what I do. I nuke mine in 5-7 second bursts. After each burst, it gets a throrough stirring, and checked for temp to make sure there are no hot spots.

[sherrylynne]

Any updates?