From:
ferretlovertwo2000@yahoo.ca
Date: 2004-02-23 18:03:03 UTC
Subject: DESPERATE - My 2 Ferrets WILL NOT eat dry kibble!
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6683289.1077559383622.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Dooks and Good Thoughts to all!
I have a desperate, ongoing situation with my 2 Fuzzies, Rosie and Charlie,=
and I am EXTREMELY CONCERNED that I am causing them future health problems=
because of it.
Right now, they seem to be reasonably healthy, though lethargic and all the=
y want to do is go to their favorite hidey hole most of their play time.
I KNOW they are not happy, as I have only seen the wardance only VERY brief=
ly, and that was when they were younger. I have NEVER heard even one Dook =
from either one of them.
Rosie turned 4 on 19 to 21 Dec 03, and Charlie will be turning 3 on 1 Mar 0=
4.
They never want to play with me, and they very rarely play with eachother.
The last time they went to their vet, I was told they were OK, except for R=
osie having an enlarged spleen, and needing a good teeth cleaning later thi=
s year.
It all started when I got Rosie as a kit. Even then she wouldn't eat much d=
ry kibble, or even when soaked.
In all, they hav been to 3 different vets, including their own, about this.=
Rosie has always been a VERY strong willed little girl, and I am th most w=
eak-willed, non-persistent person one could meet. Anyway, even her Vet, a =
couple of years ago, threw up his hands in frustration about her eating, an=
d said, "OH!, JUST FEED HER ANYTHING SHE'LL EAT!! I then started trying di=
fferent food, as she would not go near the kibble,...Knorr Swiss, Bovril, t=
he original Quaker Oats rice cakes, without the junk on them, and we finall=
y settled on mashed, warmed, (like a baby bottle), Brunswick Sardines in Sp=
ring water, AND romaine lettuce!!! (Stupid me, with the lettuce I was tryin=
g(?) to give her the bulk she was missing from just drinking the sardine ju=
ice, for she would always spit out any sardine pulp she would accidently pi=
ck up in her mouth. During this time, there were frequent visits to te vet=
, as she kept losing a lot of weight, and quickly!. Out of desperation, I t=
ook her to another vet for a second opinion, and VERY foolishly, it was the=
HOTTEST day of that year, and by the time we got there by bus, the vet pro=
nounced that she was going to die, and he put her on Hill's a/d. At first =
she wouldn't touch it, but by adding far too much water at first, I managed=
to coax her into eating it, and gradually lessened the water until it was =
fairly thick. Meanwhile, I had taken her to another vet, and all I did was =
waste my money, because when I told her she wouldn't eat dry kibble, all I =
got from her was an "OH! COME ON, NOW!!!" Even her regular vet accused me =
of letting her "playing you for the fool", which he still does.
I am not a very intelligent person, and I am very bad at writing, so I hope=
I can be forgiven for prattling and making this such a long message, and I=
hope that it is edited if it is published, but I do have to try to get the=
point across, because I LOVE my Rosie and Charlie DEARLY, and they are the=
joy of my life, and I feel VERY GUILTY that I did not ask for help when I =
first became a member!
Anyway, while all the above was going on, I decided to get Charlie,(they're=
both Marshall Farms babies), not only because he stole my heart, but as co=
mpanion and playmate for Rosie, and I was hoping that she would see him eat=
ing dry kibble, and do so too . . .NOT SO!!! Now I don,t know which one of =
them is the alpha, (if either is), for I couldn't tell an alpha from a beta=
, or zeta, but, he picked up on her ways instead. Oh yes, I forgot, I had e=
ven tried dooked lean minced beef, and cooked liver & cooked chicken livers=
. I don't know what I DIDN'T try!!!
But they wouldn't touch ANYTHING! Except that I managed to get Charlie to e=
at SOME dry kibble from the 8 in 1 Fruit Treats, which was his sole diet wh=
ile Rosie was on the sardines. Thank God that their regular vet offered to=
board them and try to get them on TOTALLY FERRET dry kibble. That was last=
May, and 23 days and $800 Canadian later I was told that I could bring the=
m back home as they were eating the dry TF kibble. If they were, it was new=
s to me, for yes, they were eating the TF, but ONLY in liquid form for me. =
I am VERY thankful that at least now they aren't on any 'junk' food any mor=
e, but the only instructions I received was NOT to feed them ANYTHING but =
TF, and I haven't, but my problem now is not knowing how feding it as a mil=
kshake consistncy alters the quality and amount of nutrition compared to th=
e dry kibble? I give the amount recommended on the bag, and their vet insi=
sted that I go by that as a guide, and not by the volume of liquid, i.e., h=
ow much water I mix in. However, I am TOTALLY confused, and am feeding th=
em blindly, as I think I either give them too much, or too little. All I c=
ar about is that they get their proper quota of daily nutrition, especially=
so it doesn't cause them medical and/or health problems in the future!!!
My great hope is that somebody of you can help me to get them to eat the TF=
dry kibble, or is that not possible after all this time? If that is not f=
easable, I need technical, and DETAILED instructions on how, what, what amo=
unt, what consistency, how much exactly of dry kibble to puree, how much to=
feed at a feeding, how many feedings per day, measurments in cc.s, after I=
've mixed the proper proportions, (I do have feeding syringes to measure am=
ounts before I put it in their bowls),etc, etc....
I must here confess that I am a complete sissy, and am a hyper, stressed ou=
t person who is not a persistent person, who is easily confused and forgetf=
ull, so any help offered, which will be V E R Y GREATLY APPRECIATED!, MUS=
T be spelled out for me to the very last detail, as if speaking to a small =
child!
I wish to thank you all VERY much for your patience in reading through all =
this, and I hope that I never have to do this to all you kind people again,=
and I thank You All, in advance for any help you can be to me and my poor =
suffering Rosie and Charlie.
Tons of Good Thoughts and Dooks and Blessings on all your beautiful FurKids=
!
Sincerely,
Joe Ruggier
of
Rosie, Charlie & Joe,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
THANK YOU! =
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