Regarding the watery stools after switching to EVO, then taking ferret
off EVO . It isn't that there is TOO MUCH protein in EVO, rather there
is more CORRECT protein TYPES in EVO. Ferrets really should NOT be
expelling mounds and mounds of thick, tootsie roll sized excretia.
Yes, this is touted as being "normal" in many of the ferret care guide
books - but its based upon a diet that ferrets really shouldn't be
eating.
Don't try to turn this into a kibble vs. natural food debate - its not
going to be.
From the common sense perspective the more dry matter, indigestible
products going IN to the ferret, the more dry matter, indigestible
comes out - hence when you feed kibble full of grains, by products,
vegetable derivatives, additives, and such- well that's what ends up
coming out.Crap in -crap out. Couple that with the fact the ferret has
to eat three or four times the quantity just to get his nutritional
needs met- well it doesn't take a genius to see what contributes to
the piles o poop in the pan! Years of constantly feeding poor quality
kibble is why the ferret care books always say to keep food in front
of your ferret all the time. But day after day of all this dry
indigestible gunk is NOT healthy for the ferret!
Anytime a food product is changed the animal's gut bacteria get a slap
in the face and the gut's environment changes - hence the change in the
stool. More animal protein sources in EVO and some other high end grain
free kibbles will often cause stools to darken and loosen. This change
is NOT a reason to be discouraged from feeding your ferret a better
kibble! Give the ferret's guts two to three weeks to adjust to the new
food products and the stool should firm up a bit and the new odor will
minimize.
It is HIGHLY recommended to not feed just ONE kibble source- in other
words feed a minimum of three different types and don't feed until
completely gone. Refill your mix container when you have about a week
left, that way as the new product gets mixed with the older your
ferret's guts won't experience another slap in the face and the
deposits will remain stable.
I have never received a response to my inquiry as to whether EVO (and
some other mfrs) create their product according to a specific recipe-
or according to the market value of the ingredients. A recipe would
ensure that ingredient quantities are ALWAYS the same from batch to
batch, where as a market value end product will have widely varying
ingredients even though the end product may fall within their
"Guaranteed Analysis" and this would mean differences in batches and
cause dietary changes for the ferret's innards. My suspicion is that
they use market values - as this is usually more cost effective. I
only know of one horse feed manufacturer that produces their feed
according to recipe and my experience is that this practice offers
the most consistent quality as well as palatability.
For my one remaining kibble cruncher in my crew of 10, Da Vinci, he
gets a mixture now of Evo Cat Fish, Evo Cat Poultry, and Evo Red
Bites (for small dogs). According to their ingredients this gives him
proteins from fish, fowl and ungulate sources - basically covering all
bases. I was using Wellness CORE Cat grain free - until my EVO supplier
started offering the EVO fish. - Now I don't have to trek to different
places to get the kibble.
There are a few natural fed ferrets that like to take the kibble from
DaVinci's bowl and stash it. They don't eat it, but they like to save
it for a rainy day and in a flash DaVinci's bowl gets emptied. So I've
prevented them from doing this by simply feeding DaVinci twice a day
like the natural fed ferrets are. He gets fed separately from them but
is quite happy to chow down just twice a day. DaVinci came to me
weighing 28 ounces (and being "free fed") and now he weighs 39 ounces-
so obviously the twice a day kibble feedings are more than adequate.
The much higher quality of kibble offered DaVinci improved hair coat,
more energy, almost a pound of added flesh and yes - a definitive
change in his stools from the play-doh consistency of the vet
prescribed diet of before, to his cu\rrent grain free, animal protein,
higher fat content of his current diet.
These three bags of kibble yield 6.4 lbs of kibble. It gets poured into
a Rubbermaid container and mixed well. I write the date of purchase/
mix on the lid and store the container in fridge. 6.4 pounds (102.4
ounces) will last one ferret, fed twice a day, just over 2 months (64
days). This means he's eating just about 2 ounces by weight per day.
Volume wise that's about a third of a cup per day.
His deposits are always easiest to spot, because even though his
kibbles are grain free, they still have plenty of indigestible binders
as ingredients and this means his deposits are larger and more tubular
than any of my natural feeders.
Please allow your ferret to remain on the Evo, and offer more than one
type; let his gut environment sort itself out and you will be amazed at
the improvement you'll see.
There is only one way to reduce the quantity and odor of the poop in
that pan - and that is to feed a more completely digestible food source
to the ferret... but that's fodder for another day.
please visit:
for ferret help and info:
http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets
[Posted in FML 7022]
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