From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2006-07-13 15:31:28 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] please help out of options
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
There are as many food variations as there are people and a little searching in the archives will help find them well enough.
I just wanted to point out that there are diets which contain bone and egg shells or both which many swear by such as
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/duck_soup.htm
and
http://www.trifl.org/gravy.shtml
so that we can avoid a flood of people writing in the same things. Some people prefer to strain those foods. That is because there have been concerns because bone splinters which don't reach the stomach (get caught in the throat -- as one of our vets encountered in another's ferret who didn't make it) or which pass too quickly to be blunted by stomach acid can cause injury, and there was a ferret for whom there was postulation that shell pieces that were too large may have been involved in a ulcer problem:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=YG5289
So, just know that there are diets that are safe and contain bone. OTHERS CAN BE FOUND IN THE FHL AND FML ARCHIVES:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
and
http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html
A behavioral tip to get a ferret eating regular diet again:
Ferrets LIKE to the sneaky. It is in their nature. THIS INCREASES WHEN THEY FEEL VULNERABLE. The thing to do is to help them eat what is good for them in a way which is sneaky. THIS ALSO ALLOWS THEM TO RE-ESTABLISH HEALTH BEHAVIORS WHILE BEING SPOILED STILL.
Now I am going to emphasis this: You absolutely can NOT let your ferret know that you are aware of this "stash" (which you will secretly create and secretly refill) until the eating of regular food has become an established behavior for at least several days, but preferably longer. The 2 largest mistakes people make are they let the ferret see them create the "secret stash", or they let the ferret know that they have been observed eating, or they let the ferret see them either refill or check that stash. Remember that hearing ferrets learn a lot of words well and are intelligent enough that they can and do put together word groupings so don't go talking about it freely in front of the sick one either.*
So, secretly put the food you want the ferret to be eating into a paper bag, or an empty tissue box, and put it behind furniture or behind a door -- someplace the ferret will find it, and let the ferret find it in secret, let the ferret think about it in secret, and let the ferret eat from it in secret. Allow the behavior to become established before the ferret realizes that you know about it. Do not jump the gun. Give the behavior enough days before you show any sign of knowing about the eating or the stash.
Another way of using the natural tendency to stash and eat in secret to return to healthy habits is to hand the ferret a piece of food at a time and let the ferret run off with it, giving enough time for some eating at least every 5 pieces of food. Pretend to not know where the ferret is eating and listen for quieter than normal eating sounds.
The fastest way to shape any being's behavior is to use what are natural actions for that being to advantage.
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
Several illustrations:
1. Hjalmar had stashed a favorite treat in one of his own personal stash places. I mentioned that to him. Fritter overheard and immediately checked Hjalmar's favorite stash places rather than those of herself or the others till she found it and ate his treat on something like her third try in her mad dash to locate the treasure.
2. Steve needed Warp who was a kit and figured that she was asleep somewhere so he repeatedly said to Meltdown, "Meltdown get Warp, then Meltdown get treat." till she looked like she understood. Meltie climbed under our platform bed and came out gently dragging a sleepy Warp by the scruff, deposited Warp on Steve's foot, then looked him in the eye and licked her chops.
3. Asked to find the other ferrets, Sherman would take us to the sleeping location of each -- by specific name requested without error. We used the Sherman ferret locator technique most nights when it was time for them to go into their cage for years.
We find such ferret learning behavior to not be unusual when a limited vocabulary and limited sentence structure are used repeatedly and patiently.
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