New FMLer's
If you have a ferret who is unable to eat due to illness or depression or
whatever, or will not or cannot eat for any reason, or who is old or
debilitated and needs supplemental nutrition or needs to intake supplements
of many kinds that are difficult to give by other methods, then "Duck Soup"
is exactly what you need to know how to make up for him/her. Duck Soup is a
liquid food that almost every ferret seems to love and greatly benefit from
eating at some time or another. Legend has it that it was named after the
first "lucky duck whose owner figured it out!" Thank you whoever you are.
Some ferrets need a bit of encouraging to get started eating the soup, as
they may with any new experience. Put a bit on you finger and see if they
will eat it off. If not, put it on their mouth. Keep trying. Ferrets need
to eat to live.
There are several recipes for duck soup and you can custom design the recipe
to your ferret's specific needs. It is a good idea to always have on hand
the ingredients for a simple soup that can be made up easily in the event of
an unexpected illness. Please print out the recipe I am including today to
have on hand and get supplied up now. Tell anyone you know who has a ferret
about duck soup and give them a copy of the recipe also. The recipe can be
halved or doubled according to your numbers of ferrets and needs. Store the
recipe in the refrigerator only a couple of days to assure freshness safety.
It can be frozen for use within a couple of months. Some people use ice
cube trays to freeze cubes of the recipe, then put them in freezer safe bags
and label and date them. Duck Soup Recipe:
Duck Soup
1 cup of dry ferret food (remember, ferrets are carnivores and the food
their daily dry diet should be primarily meat
based. Check ingredient labels to see if meat is
listed first.
High quality ferret foods and cat foods are the
best always best for your ferrets. Taurine is
also essential to a ferrets diet for heart health.
If it is not listed, it is not in there!) Ferrets
cannot digest fiber, they need meat.
1-1/2 cups of Pedialyte, fruit flavor (generic fine) just make sure to use
fruit flavor.
2 small cans of Hill's or Science Diet canned A/D. This can only be
purchased at veterinarian's clinics etc.
Grind the dry food to a powder in blender, or soak it in warm water until
it is mush. use only enough water to soften dry food kibbles.
Begin adding some pedialyte and puree the mush (or "powder"). When it is
fairly thin, like pea soup, add the 2 cans of A/D meat.
1-2 Tablespoons of Ferretone or Linatone oil. If you do not have this
ingredient, make the recipe without it. Consider getting this essential oil
for you ferret's diet and for treats. They love it bestest of all!!
Blend these 4 ingredients until smooth (ferrets dislike gritty pieces in
their soup). Ferrets do not like this soup cold, so warm a serving size
amount for them. Use extreme CAUTION to make sure their are no hot spots
in the food before you give it to them. I use my pinky finger and to stir
it with, works well. It should be about the temperature you would warm
human baby food. You may need to encourage your ferret to get started
eating duck soup by putting a bit on your figer and then putting it up to
her/his mouth. Keep trying. A ferret must eat to live. Normal healthy
ferrets who ate dry food before they needed the soup should be gradually
gotten back on to their dry food as soon as the need for soup subsides.
Some ferrets may need a just a small bit of soup daily the rest of their
lives. This is where the frozen cubes can be really handy too. Seek out
others who have ferrets and share all good information you come to learn
and ask them to share and so on and so on. The need is so great. Hug a
ferret today.
From Jan and Don and Poto, Koto, Georgie, Laddie, Zena, Sammy, Joy, Tika,
Robbie, and Nellie.
[Posted in FML issue 2324]
|
