by debferret

HOW TO MAKE PUREED CHICKEN

Sometimes, giving your ferret supplementary pureed kibble aka duck soup or soupies is not enough for a ferret struggling with their weight. Most often this is a ferret with health issues; Insulinoma or adrenal disease or perhaps just old age weight loss.

Perhaps you simply want to provide your ferret with a pure protein meal as a treat. You could go out and buy a jar of “Chicken with Broth” from the baby food isle of your supermarket. You will pay a premium price for that tablespoon of food in that jar. Or, you can make your own pureed chicken from scratch and it will be even better than the store bought version. Why? You will be processing the skin and bones along with the chicken to make a more robust puree.

You will need a pressure cooker and a good quality blender.

Place your chicken into the pot and add water to the marked water line. I turn my element on hi to bring the chicken to a boil. Once I hear the steam, I turn the element down to high simmer (3.5) and set the timer for 3 1/2 hours. This length of cook time will cook the bones until they are soft and can be pureed. You want the good marrow in those bones. You want the good fat from the skin. **Remember to remove all the string from the raw chicken.

Set the lid on my chicken and start the boil

This is what the chicken will look like after the 3 1/2 hour cook time

Using a ladle, I can easily break apart the chicken

Remove a bone and test to see if you can mash it easily with a fork

I mashed the bone with a fork and it took no effort. I tested the bone the first time I did my puree as I wasn’t sure how long to pressure cook the chicken to get the bones soft. Once you have your perfect time for your particular pressure cooker, you won’t have to test the bones the next time.

Puree the chicken using the juice to make the puree a nice thin liquid consistency.

I pour the chicken puree in a large bowl as I go so that I can stir up the puree making sure that the portions pureed with bone are fully mixed in with the puree that was mostly meat. Once all the chicken has been pureed and the mixture thoroughly stirred, I pour the puree into half cup or one cup containers for freezing until needed.

One scoop of kibble puree in background and one scoop of the chicken puree ready to be warmed up in the microwave.

One serving of puree combo ready for feeding. If you find the mixture is a little too thick for lapping up, add a few drops of water to thin to the right consistency that your ferret likes.

This batch of 14 containers of pureed chicken is the result of cooking two (2) average sized chickens. One of these containers probably holds the equivalent of 3 jars of “chicken with broth” baby food. You are welcome to do the math and see in dollar and sense just how much money you are saving. I repeat myself, but this chicken puree is so much better because it contains the bone marrow and fats that ferrets need.

This puree saved a ferret named Spud who was starved almost to death. He was within hour or two of crossing the Rainbow Bridge. I started with one teaspoon every hour on the hour. After 48 hours, Spud was up to heaping teaspoon and then he never looked back. Our vet said it was a miracle that his body was able to process the food.

As of today (January 15,2022) I have five elderly ferrets on four meals a day of the kibble/ chicken puree.

This is Flash who is slowly putting weight back on after an illness

09.03.21

by debferret

Your ferret’s Medications!

Over the years, I have taken shelter ferrets to the vet for a variety of issues. I am very happy when I come home with banana flavoured Amoxicillin; even better if the ferret received an antibiotic injection of Convena. I’m crying inside if I have to give the poor ferret Metronizodole.

The Amoxicillin dispensing label will state Refrigerate. Easy Peasy! But there are so many other medications prescribed for our ferret that come in little dark brown bottles. We know that the dark brown bottle is because the medication is light sensitive. Got it! The label states the dosage, perhaps the label will say Shake before use or give with food. All good!

Where do we store the medication? Well, somehow most of us over 30 have grown up with the universal knowledge that to keep anything “fresh”, you store it in the fridge!! This mind set carries over to medications especially since the odd medication states right on the label, highlighted in yellow, REFRIGERATE.

Turns out most of us have been wrong, wrong, wrong when it comes to medications for ourselves, and our pets. A recent event brought the issue to the forefront. A foster parent accidently put the fostered ferret’s Prednisolone in the freezer along with the home made duck soupies. A phone call to our pharmacist confirmed what I already suspected. The Prednisolone was spoiled. That was a $25.00 Owie! The pharmacist went on to explain that Prednisolone should be kept away from light, in a cool, dark place. I nodded sagely and said all my medications were stored in my fridge.

Imagine my surprise when the pharmacist scolded me gently. He told me 90% of all medications in liquid or pill form should be kept at room temperature. But, but, “cool dark place” I said; the fridge is a cool dark place. Apparently cool as in you don’t want the medication sitting on the ledge over your stove and against an appliance that generates heat. You don’t want the medication sitting on your work desk under a lamp. You want the medication to be away from direct light, in a cool place. The pharmacist went on to say that a cupboard in your kitchen is a perfect spot; not the medicine cabinet in your bathroom which is a hot, humid place at the start of each day!

So I challenged him; Sulcrate – cool, dark place, Pepto Bismal – cool, dark place, Kaopectate – cool, dark place, cat hair ball remedy – definitely room temperature, bandages – your medicine cabinet. We had a good laugh.

I then spoke with our vet clinic and sure enough all medications should be kept at room temperate, in a dark place. Keeping the medication in the fridge can actually cause the medication to degrade and affects its stability.

The only medication that is weird is the Medicam for Cats. The external packaging saying refrigerate, but some vets will tell you to keep it at room temperature. Apparently it is one of those medications that can handle it both ways.

So, unless the label states in yellow highlight refrigerate, make room in a cupboard in the kitchen for all the medications. I want a white lab coat so I can pretend I run a pharmacy lol. I had to go out and buy a small two drawer cabinet to put all the assorted medications and ointments in for the shelter ferrets. My medications and vitamins are all now in a cupboard in the kitchen!

03.06.17

by debferret

Ferret Fur Everywhere!

Our ferrets blow their coats twice a year. Around the end of February into March, ferrets will start shedding that beautiful thick luxurious winter coat. Your ferret may “blow” his coat in one or two days coating everything in sight with fur or he may decide to spread the shedding over several weeks with tufts of fur left behind in his hammock.

Cheech getting a good brushing from Fred

Ferrets become very itchy when they are shedding. Using a soft brush on your ferret helps to loosen the fur and give them a good scratch at the same time. You don’t want your ferret inhaling all this loose fur! Worse, you don’t want your ferret to groom himself and ingest all this loose fur. If he licks and ingests too much of his own fur, he can give himself a life threatening blockage requiring major surgery and a huge vet bill.

I have tried many types of brushes over the years and thanks to my friend Colleen, I have fallen in love with this round cat brush. This brush fits nicely in the palm of my hand. Made of soft rubber, it contours the ferrets body nicely. It’s easy to remove the accumulated fur and of course very easy to wash with soap and water. **Don’t leave this soft rubber brush lying around after brushing. Your ferret may decide to chew on it because it’s soft rubber and give himself a blockage!**

soft rubber brush for short haired cats

I have discovered that this rubber brush is also great for getting that thick mat of fur off the split hammocks. I have already worn out a washer and dryer due to an accumulation of ferret fur that doesn’t seem to get caught by the filter and gets into the guts of the machines. I had a split hammock that was “loaded” and I certainly didn’t want to spend an hour picking the fur off of it. One or two swipes with the brush and the hammock was relatively clean of the fur. Wow!

split hammock with “some” fur

excess fur removed prior to washing

condensed mat of Cheech’s fur in the hammock

mat of fur removed from inside split hammock

After using the brush to get as much fur off the hammock; I will wet my hand and pass it over the bedding and get the fine fur that the brush didn’t pick up.

Tiko, a gorgeous sale male came to the shelter in the late fall. He adjusted to shelter life while he awaited his forever home. I was getting to know him. On litter box changing day I inspected his litter box as I do for each and every ferret. It is the best and quickest way to determine if your ferret is sick. When I looked into the litter box I immediately saw a strange poop! Red flag went off. I removed this poop so that I could examine it in minute detail. It was not your normal fecal matter. It was a poop containing nothing but FUR!! Tiko was a ferret that groomed himself lots and seeing as it was shedding season, he had ingested all his loose fur. I was very lucky that he was able to pass this blob of fur. He could have died as I would not have suspected a blockage and may not have gotten him to the vet in time! Tiko could have easily been looking at major surgery to remove a blockage caused by his own fur. Tiko is a ferret that you cannot forget to give hairball remedy on a weekly basis. The hairball remedy ensures that his fur is “greased” and can pass easily through his system!

poop made up of ferret fur

poop dissected revealing it’s all fur

02.16.17

by debferret

Jill – Part 2 – Lies challenged

I’ve blogged about Jill. Jill and her bonded partner Jack were adopted by a young lady. Within a week there were complaints of the ferrets being itchy and possibly having fleas etc etc. As explained in my previous blog; eventually she called me to tell me that Jill was dying and she needed to surrender her because she couldn’t afford vet bills. She refused to return Jack at the same time. Jill was not dying; she was blowing her coat and only had her soft undercoat. She was a nice solid weight. It took some time, but eventually Jill was sent to live at our satellite shelter with Bridget and her new ferret friend China Girl. Jill had found love again.

Well, there was so much more “dirt” I could have shared but, I took the high road. Turns out, that the young “lady” has been busy telling “alternate facts” regarding the adoption. How do I know this? Turns out she began bad mouthing me to a current member of our association telling our member all about this terrible adoption. I was so happy to here that this member defending me and put this young “lady” Kayla in her place. Our member did not know anything about Jill and Jack, she just knew me and how I conduct the shelter business and it wasn’t adding up! This member uses the services where this young lady Kayla works. I would sure love to be a little bird watching what happens if she runs into the Kayla now that she has all the facts.

So, let me now share the facts with the corresponding documentation. We are a non profit charitable organization and so everything is and has to be documented. It made it so easy for me to challenge her lies! I have blacked out her last name and address and phone number – if I was a mean person I could let the whole world know what a liar she is. It’s not slander when you have the documents substantiating everything.

Adoption processed May 2, 2017. Receipt issued. Jack and Jill a bonded pair discounted to the adoption fee of a single ferret – $80.00 plus membership of $35.00 for a total of $115.00. Received $120.00, and gave her the $5.00 difference. Now most folks have donated that $5.00 to the shelter, but she wanted her change.

Jack & Jill’s Adoption Receipt

Jill adoption page 1

Jill Adoption page 2

A week later I received a call from her complaining Jack and Jill were scratching a lot. I made suggestions about changing the laundry soap, using vinegar in the rinse and their cigarette smoking outside away from them. I made my first offer to gave her the adoption fees back and take the ferrets back. Offer declined.

The complaints continued so on May 11th, they met me at our vet clinic. At our cost, I had the ferrets rechecked by the vet. Our vet gave them both a clean bill of health except for ear mites. I paid for Revolution. The vet bill came to $125.55 (with my discount). Do the math. I am now $5.55 in the hole on this adoption. Not the point because our shelter isn’t about profit but about placing ferrets in good homes. If we break even, we are happy.

Jack & Jill re exam May 11th

Kayla and her mom were not happy with the vet’s assessment. In front of the vet, I offered to take the ferrets back with me right then and there and refund them their money. Kayla declined, stating she loved them but she was sure Jill was a sick old lady and no way was she 3 year old. I suggested that they take the ferrets to a vet of their choice for a second opinion. Kayla and her mom again refused stating they didn’t have the money to waste on that! They knew what they knew, I had sold them an old and sick ferret. Jack of course was ok.

I let a week or so go by and then I sent off an email asking how things were going and telling them I looked forward to seeing them at the Spring frolic in June. I watched for them at the frolic but they did not attend.

The next time I heard from Kayla,it was July 7th around mid morning. Kayla was calling me from her doctor’s office . She was crying and told me that Jill was very sick. She had stopped eating. She couldn’t afford vet bills, so she wanted to surrender Jill but she didn’t want to give up Jack. I told her that as a bonded pair, if Jill was coming back Jack would have to come back too. The conversation became heated and at one point she had her mother call me and that conversation was not pleasant. My integrity, my vet’s integrity were both called into question. Kayla did not have gas money to bring them back, whining about me living all the way across the city from her! Funny how the drive to adopt them wasn’t too far!

I contacted our President to advise him of the situation and to request that he accompany me when I collected the ferrets (at this point I was still hoping for both). At this point I was expecting to pick them up around 5ish. I put the vet clinic on standby that I may be bringing in a sick and dying ferret. I didn’t want Jill to suffer and if she needed to be euthanized, I wanted to make sure they would have an appointment time for me.

Kayla kept pushing back the time I could pick them up. I have kept the texts from that day on my cell phone.Kayla had gone out for the evening and was now stating that she wasn’t dying, just had stopped eating. Fred and I ended up collecting Jill just after 10 pm that night, July 7th (notice it’s 2 months). She showed me that Jack was healthy (that was the final negotiation I could work out). Fred and I drove two blocks and then took pictures documenting Jill’s condition. She was a perfectly healthy weight, bright eyed with her soft undercoat and no guard hairs.

Jill Surrender form, page 1

Jill surrender page 2

As soon as the vet clinics opened, I contacted a different vet clinic and took Jill in as an emergency. I asked them to do a full work up health assessment and to provide documentation. This was another expense that was totally unnecessary! As Fred and I expected, the vet pronounced her a perfectly healthy middle aged (approx. age of 3 years) ferret.

So, Kayla! If you must tell people what a horrible person I am. You are welcome to tell everyone how you dislike me the person, but DO NOT MALIGN the shelter. At least state the facts!

I did not adopt out an old sick ferret.

You did not return her within 2 weeks.

I did not refuse to return the adoption fee; offering several times to return the full fee for both ferrets.

I did not end up giving you back half the adoption fee.

I am happy to hear that Jack’s health did not decline over the loss of his beloved Jill. I do believe that you love Jack and that was why I chose to keep our interaction quiet and move on. It’s too bad you couldn’t do the same.

11.20.14

by debferret

I stole Mommy’s Desert!

Curled up on the couch watching TV. The different groups of ferrets had just been put back to bed and I let out Jocko for his Mommy time. This wild little boy bounced from one end of the living room to the other. Little fart makes me laugh sooo much!

I decided to have my strawberry yogurt for desert. I peeled off the lid and stirred my yogurt. Vroom, Jocko was standing at my feet begging to be picked up. Such a sweet boy!

Next thing I know he has turned himself around and he has his nose in my yogurt. Now, yogurt is actually good for ferrets. When they have diarrhea you can add yogurt to their duck soup to help put the good bacteria back in their gut.

I’m eating Mommy’s yogurt! Yummy

Had to take the picture! Well he went to town on the yogurt, not even coming up for air! After a few minutes I put him down, but he jumped back at my legs wanting more. Little piggy had slurped enough down for now, so it was bedtime for him!