sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Jan 21, 2011 20:27:32 GMT -5
Before their poos go back to "normal". I realize they are going to be softer than kibble poops. But everyone here is loose, not liquid, but mucousy when they eat the raw. Whereas when they get their kibbles at night time their poops are back to normal with no mucous.
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 21, 2011 20:29:18 GMT -5
Are they getting enough bone? Loose stools can often be remedied by adding more bone and ferrets do need quite a bit of bone in their diet.
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sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Jan 21, 2011 20:31:18 GMT -5
I've put as much egg shell powder in that the recipe calls for. But I'll try adding a bit more. I tried adding pumpkin but then they won't eat it.
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 21, 2011 20:34:16 GMT -5
Hm eggshell powder is good for calcium but I don't know what it does for stool. It's a good way to make sure they're getting enough calcium but it shouldn't completely replace bone. There are nutrients in bone not found in eggshell. Plus bone is great for cleaning teeth.
I'm assuming yours are recently switched? Are they on soup right now?
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sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Jan 21, 2011 20:36:26 GMT -5
Yeah they are on the soup right now. They only get the kibble at bed time, and it gets removed first thing in the morning.
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 21, 2011 20:39:39 GMT -5
Their stools might just be loose until you work up to adding bone. Have you tried offering them chunks of meat or making the soup a little chunky to see how they do with that? If you can get them to eat chunks, gizzards are a great way to build up jaw strength to get them ready for bone.
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sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Jan 21, 2011 20:44:02 GMT -5
They are not quite ready I guess to eat chunks. Well 2 will eat chunks of chicken hearts but the other 3, well they are good at spitting it back out. I'm sure they will get there eventually. I will check and see if I can get some bone meal I guess at the health food store.
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taratee
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Posts: 255
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Post by taratee on Jan 21, 2011 21:32:35 GMT -5
if youre using heathers recipe with c hicken thigh what i did was buy thigh in chicken and then take the bone out leaving meat on the bone and let them eat that mostly while they were playing at first they didnt really do much but eat the meat off now they chew the nubs off of the bone and everything, but the marrow will make the stools softer, adding eggshell should help the consistency some, my ferrets have been on raw just under a month and theyre still not back to "normal"
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 21, 2011 23:18:50 GMT -5
For the pumpkin, if they don't take to it right away, just work at adding a wee bit to the soup at a time, and work it up from there. Remember- it's yet another different flavour, so they have to become accustomed to it. The reason the kibble stool is so firm, and so much larger is all the non digestibles- which you don't have with the straight raw.
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sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Jan 22, 2011 0:01:14 GMT -5
Thanks.... I just get paranoid with my fuzzbutts. So much can go wrong with them. Makes me crazy sometimes. The one ferret who surprises me everytime with food. The second oldest 6 years old, loves the raw, she hasn't eaten kibble in over a week, or her cooked soup, she just wants the raw. Today she finally ate some chunks. I tricked her at first, hid a chunk with some soup on a spoon. At first she tried to spit it out, so I picked her up and then she continued to chew and swallow it, then she ate 3 more chunks from my hand. It's just Huck and Lily, both a PITA, probably cause they are brother and sister, spit it out. I hold my hand near their mouth to try and stop it, they still spit it out, you think they ate it, only to find out it is stuck to your pant leg, how, who knows.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 22, 2011 0:26:06 GMT -5
Been there, done that ! They'll get there yet. Your others are doing so well!
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Post by mjohn143 on Jan 22, 2011 8:47:16 GMT -5
Can't you purchase ground bone? Or bone meal or something? Or is that something totally different, I just feel like I remember hearing about it somewhere?
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Post by cindyrads on Jan 23, 2011 11:37:57 GMT -5
It's ok if it is mucusy, that is their system cleaning itself out. Unless they are having liquid diarrhea then I wouldn't worry. Their stools will look different depending on what foods they eat, so as they start to eat different things on different days you will see different looking stools.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 23, 2011 11:44:14 GMT -5
You're thinking of bonemeal, mjohn. If you are lucky, you can get it from either a butcher, or a raw feeding pet store still in a raw state. Otherwise, it's usually cooked
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sherik
Going Natural
Posts: 105
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Post by sherik on Jan 24, 2011 20:09:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. I added more egg shell to the mix and everything looks wayyyyy better.
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