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Food!
Sept 3, 2009 15:48:11 GMT -4
Post by lindseybarnie on Sept 3, 2009 15:48:11 GMT -4
Finally, I've found and adopted a ferret, he will be here this weekend if nothing happens in the meantime. The ferret food here is Kaytee, whish I've heard online and on this that it's not a very good food for ferrets, And there isn't anything better than that available here in the area, I will have to drive an hour away to get better food in the next city, but in the meantime, What brands of cat food can I feed him? I've never heard or seen Innova premium cat food here, so what other brands would be alright for him to eat? Iams? Nutrience? Anything you can get at a pet store or any other store that has pet foods available, he don't have many fancy stores here so be open. Thanks in advance.
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 3, 2009 16:55:56 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 3, 2009 16:55:56 GMT -4
there is food in the pet store in corner brook called go! chicken, turkey, and duck grain free formula. here is the website www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=153 the only place in newfoundland that you can get evo is in st. john's. i used to feed my ferrets and my cats this food but i have no way to get it from st. john's now. you can also get orijen cat food in gander. i am calling the store next week to see if they can ship it to me in baie verte by bus. i will post here if i can get it. other than that there is no other cat food that i would feed a ferret. i think that other people may have other options for you. basically you have to find food that is at least 40% protein and grain free. kaytee is really bad food. a man on another forum that i am on was just telling a story about his ferret getting a blockage from eating kaytee food. it was a carrot that caused the blockage. there is fruits and vegetables in kaytee food. ferrets can't eat fruits and vegetables. anyway, he called the company and they sent him a cheque for $1800 to cover the cost of the surgery. i would not feed that food. i would make the trip into corner brook. you may have to call and order the food though, i am not sure if he is keeping go! cat food in stock right now or not. i got it special order from him.
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Food!
Sept 3, 2009 18:41:04 GMT -4
Post by Johnny and Demon on Sept 3, 2009 18:41:04 GMT -4
Forget about Iams, its really bad too ! & if you have to choose a cat food because there's no good ferret foods, take a kitten food. Its better. I'm not sure about nutrience but you should watch the first 5 ingredients. When you check the list of your ferret foods, the first 5 should be meats and avoid corn and vegetables/fruits. good luck !
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Food!
Sept 4, 2009 13:53:18 GMT -4
Post by Tressie on Sept 4, 2009 13:53:18 GMT -4
Hi, Congratulations on your new baby!! Details please - age, name, colour, etc.?? Make sure to ask what he has been fed to date. If you change his food too suddenly it will cause major bowel upset, which will deplete him quickly from the resulting diarreah. He's going to be stressed enough moving into a new home. I would not recommend changing around his food too much by getting some of this or some of that. Ferrets delicate digestive systems can't handle that much messing around with their food. Even if he's being fed the worst crap on earth, you have to slowly change him over to a better quality food by gradually mixing in the new food into the old over a period of 3-4 months. I kid you not! Most people can't be bothered doing it that gradually and then whine and complain their ferrets have diarreah.... DUH! I would recommend that you supplement his diet with a high quality wet food as well that you can get from a veterinary clinic, something like Hills Prescription Diet A/D or Recovery by MediCal. Both of these foods are for convalescing or ill carnivores, however, they are easily absorbed, cause little digestive upset and provide essential nutrients. You can mix 1/4 small can with some warm water and feed it to him twice a day, making sure he has kibble available all the time until you can get him on a good quality food full-time. You can order ferret food from places like Ferret Depot. True it is expensive but having ferrets is expensive. If you can't get ferret kibble, a high quality KITTEN (not cat) kibble is recommended. By high quality I don't mean the stuff Atlantic Super Store sells but food you would purchase at a better pet supplies store like the Orijen cat food, or a veterinary clinic. In summary: - continue feeding him the food he is used to
- find a source of a high quality kitten or ferret food and stick to it
- gradually add the high quality food to the old food, slowly increasing proportions over a couple of months
- don't change food around too much
- supplement his diet with a nutritious, high quality wet food a couple of times a day
This is taken directly from our website: Ferrets are obligate carnivores - meat eaters. They need a diet that is high in meat protein and high in fat. Look for kibble that has at least 35% protein and 20% fat. Do not feed your ferret cereals, grains, sugars, fruits or vegetables. They cannot digest these foods and fruits or vegetables can cause a bowel obstruction. Most kibble does contain small amounts of carbohydrates as a binding agent or you'd end up with a bag of powder. Key is to read the contents carefully. Ingredients are listed in the order of highest percentage of content to least percentage of content. The first item listed should be a meat or poultry. Fish and fishmeal are okay but may give the food and resulting stool a strong smell. High protein diets require more water to be processed by an animal's body than lower protein diets. Clean, fresh water should be available at all times. Go to Ferret Universe Ferret Food Chart for a downloadable pdf file: www.ferret-universe.com/care/resources/food_chart.pdf Let us know the minute he arrives and post pictures as soon as you can Tressie
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 4, 2009 14:30:15 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 4, 2009 14:30:15 GMT -4
Hi Tressie, it is not that easy to find good food in newfoundland. the vet clinics only carry stuff like medical and such. the only place to get evo is in st. john's and orijen is only sold in gander and conception bay south. go! is in corner brook and deer lake. stephenville is only a 45 minute drive from corner brook and i think that getting go! and slowly transitioning over a couple of months is a good option if ordering online is not. i am going to call the store in gander next week (when the owner is back) to see if they can ship orijen to me. i will mix orijen and go! since my guys are used to both. i will post on here when i find out if they can ship it. about evo - i can't find a single site that will ship evo to me. it is something about not shipping it out of province. that is really frustrating since i feed my cats and the ferrets evo - well, i was feeding it to them! so frustrating. i can get it from st. john's if i have someone there who can pick it up and put it on the bus for me. i don't
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Food!
Sept 4, 2009 18:12:48 GMT -4
Post by Tressie on Sept 4, 2009 18:12:48 GMT -4
Hi Mindy,
Believe me I know the frustration of not finding ferrety stuff! I remember when I first moved back to NS and I was appalled that there weren't any local suppliers of what I thought of as basic ferret stuff like food!
Its taken a few years to get the pet stores on board with bringing things in and still they are far behind the U.S. where most pet stores carry ferret items.
I ordered from the U.S. for 2 years. It was expensive - costing as much to ship it here as the cost of the food, but I did it because there wasn't a choice except to buy sub-standard food.
I think as more people request it the pet stores will start to bring it in, as they did here.
You can always check what it would cost to have it couriered to you from St. John's. Might be less expensive than shipping it from the U.S.
Maybe a group of you can get together and order some and share the cost of couriering it out your way.
Good luck!
Tressie
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 4, 2009 23:27:52 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 4, 2009 23:27:52 GMT -4
my problem isn't so much the evo kibble as it is the evo canned food for my cats. they will not ship it outside of a province, so if i want it in newfoundland i have to get it shipped to me from somewhere in newfoundland. it doesn't make sense! i even thought about getting my friend to by it for me in halifax and mail it down but it would cost the price of a case of food (12 days worth) to mail it to me. it will basically work out to almost $5/day to feed the 2 cats. i can get wellness canned food in corner brook for less than that (almost $4/day) so i will probably go that route if the go! canned doesn't work out. the good thing is i can get a/d at pretty much any vet here so that takes some stress off. well, except that every vet is at least a 2 1/2 hour drive from me i have a/d stocked up if i should need it. right now i still have a bunch of food for the cats and the ferrets. i will continue with the go! and try to get orijen from gander. i think that will be ok. since we have to get it shipped, or drive to get it, i will always have to stock up so they usually have to special order it for me so i know it will be in stock when i go to get it. i checked the ferretdepot.com site and they will ship evo ferret food to me but 6.6 lb bags are so small! i prefer to get bigger bags of food since both the cats and the ferrets will eat the same food. it is very difficult to get a store here to order something from a different supplier. it is difficult to get people to pay the price for premium foods so stores don't get it in because it won't sell. i don't think that you can just order once in a while from a supplier. i did just find out that there is a privately owned "nice" pet supply store in grand falls so i plan to take a drive out that way one of these days. they may have some good lines in there. i will post here if they do
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Food!
Sept 5, 2009 14:10:17 GMT -4
Post by lindseybarnie on Sept 5, 2009 14:10:17 GMT -4
Hehe! He's a year and a half old, His name is "wiggles" But I want to name him Pete, he was raised around kids, He's White and brown, Mostly white on the front end, and he's probably the largest Ferret I've seen yet. And he goes retarded for toes, He's not here yet, He should be here by next week, I have someone coming over from St. John's that's going to pick him up on their way over. I can't wait! I'm so excited! Also, He doesn't like litter pans, his bedding/"Litter pan" is puppy pads, I'll be getting a larger cage for him after a short while as the current owner advises that he could go with a bigger cage.
His current food is Kaytee, and that why I'm concerned about getting a better quality food to gradually switch him over to, Here in stephenville Kaytee is the only food here that's available, so I'll be making trips into cornerbrook regularly to get better food for him, or I'll stock up if I don't know when I'll be in again, either way it won't be hard to work out. Last time I was in cornerbrook I didn't see anything other than kaytee food, and "Premium" ferret food, (Which didn't look much better IMO) it was in a navy blue bag, So I'll definetly look at the Go! Kitten food for him, Can they be kept on kitten food? Or do they HAVE to eat ferret food specifically?
Also, The vets here don't carry anything for ferret food, the most I can get at my vet is cat/dog collars, treats, claw caps and a couple of bottles of Show sheen, hooflex, and coat conditioner for horses. So going to the vet wouldn't be the best option for me food wise.
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Food!
Sept 5, 2009 16:18:16 GMT -4
Post by airy on Sept 5, 2009 16:18:16 GMT -4
Lindsey!!! Im so happy for you getting a new baby, he sounds like a real keeper too, Hope you can post some pics when he arrives. I am super excited for you and you know, I had a Chihuahua named Wiggle's...But Pete is a cute name too. I am very much looking forward to hearing all about him when he arrives Yeah, I heard some bad things about Kaytee's. I have bought my ferret's Kaytee's before, then I heard about how they had to recall it incount of intestinal blockages, This was kaytee's Fiesta and there was actually dried fruit in it!! wtf?? who does that?? you would think a little research would of been done, but I guess not..now there is Kaytee's Select the kind that i had bought before..no dried fruit and its supposed to be better than Fiesta but it ranked really low on the ferret food chart so I stopped buying it and now only buy Ultimate 8-1 and my ferrets really enjoy it..although they still prefer my cat's food which is why i have to keep it up high because they would eat it all on my cat lol. I do know how some of you all feel about not being able to find ferret food and other ferret stuff..The pet shop I deal with is great for ferrets and have a nice size selection to choose from..but where I am moving there is nowhere around that deals with ferret's. There is a petshop in Grandfall's but I don't think they deal with ferrets . I am thinking of asking them to order in my ferrets brand of food..if not I have a lot of traveling to do to get my ferrets their food, and I will be doing that if I have to. I hate that ferret's needs are always overlooked in stores that sell pet foods and other pet merchandise.
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 5, 2009 17:28:43 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 5, 2009 17:28:43 GMT -4
hi Lindsey, the go! food that you will be looking for in corner brook (in the pet store in the plaza) is go! grain free chicken turkey & duck formula. it is not kitten food. this is the link www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=153it is grain free and 50% protein. here is the analysis: Crude Protein (min) 50% Crude Fat (min) 21% Crude Fiber (max) 2% Moisture (max) 10% Ash (max) 7.8% *Omega 6 Fatty Acids 3% *Omega 3 Fatty Acids 0.5% Taurine (min) 1.9% Magnesium (max) 0.1% here is the ingredient list: Chicken Meal, de-boned Chicken, de-boned Turkey , Turkey Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of [Vit. E]), Potato, Peas, Natural Fish Flavour, Natural Chicken Flavour, Salmon, de-boned Duck, Salmon Meal, Duck Meal, Salmon Oil, Whole Dried Egg, Pumpkin, Apples, Carrots, Bananas, Blueberries, Cranberries, Lentil Beans, Broccoli, Spinach, Cottage Cheese, Alfalfa Sprouts, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Lactobacillus Acidopholus, Lactobacillus Casei, Enterococcus Faecium, Bifodibacterium Thermophilum, dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Vitamins - (Vit. E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate(source of vitamin C), niacin, inositol, Vit. A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, beta-carotene, Vit. D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, Vit. B12 supplement), Minerals - (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), Garlic Powder, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Rosemary i got the 10 lb bag for $39.99. like i said, you probably have to call them and order it in because i am not sure if he is keeping it in stock just yet.
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Food!
Sept 5, 2009 20:37:45 GMT -4
Post by Tressie on Sept 5, 2009 20:37:45 GMT -4
Is your little (BIG) guy a panda or blaze? Watch for deafness. I have one foster Sadie who only uses puppy pads. They are actually easier to clean up. No scooping litter Go! as Orijen and Innova EVO Cat/Kitten is 'across life stages' meaning its suitable for kittens as well as cats. Its a high quality food. Looking forward to seeing those pics when your baby Pete (aka Wiggles) arrives Tressie
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purpleferret
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Food!
Sept 8, 2009 7:11:44 GMT -4
Post by purpleferret on Sept 8, 2009 7:11:44 GMT -4
Mindy, when I get home I will send you the contact info of the EVO dealer. Perhaps you can be her rep in NF?
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 8, 2009 9:18:57 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 8, 2009 9:18:57 GMT -4
wow Marian, that would be fantastic!! i don't know if that is possible for me to be a rep since there is someone who gets evo in newfoundland. evo is so strange about where they will sell their food. i asked global in dartmouth about it and they said that since a vet in the area carried it they weren't allowed to carry it. maybe me being in baie verte, about 600 km's away from st john's, will be good? i really look forward to looking into this
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Food!
Sept 8, 2009 18:15:32 GMT -4
Post by lindseybarnie on Sept 8, 2009 18:15:32 GMT -4
I've got two pictures of "Wiggles" right here, they arent very big cause they're taken from a camera phone, He's going to be here not this weekend but next weekend! I['m so excited! I believe he is a panda, His owner's daughter is holding him in the picture:
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Food!
Sept 8, 2009 18:29:07 GMT -4
Post by lindseybarnie on Sept 8, 2009 18:29:07 GMT -4
I've found a really good food called "Wysong Archetype I " Can that be shipped here? I'm having a hard time finding out.
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Food!
Sept 9, 2009 16:55:58 GMT -4
Post by Tressie on Sept 9, 2009 16:55:58 GMT -4
Yup, that's a panda all right He may be deaf, common in pandas. Deafness is not a major issue for ferrets as long as you are aware of it and make sure he sees you before you pick him up. They do have a few behavioural quirks, but let's wait and see if Pete is deaf or not. Sure is cute!! ;D I tried finding a source for Wysong here and couldn't find anyone who carried it in Canada but that was a couple of years ago. I'll do another search if I find anything - I'll post it here. Tressie
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 9, 2009 17:27:30 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 9, 2009 17:27:30 GMT -4
global in ontario carried wysong products. i believe that i may have even seen some wysong products in global in dartmouth. i don't think it was the food like that one, but maybe canned?? if they have that they may be able to get it in?
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Food!
Sept 9, 2009 20:47:14 GMT -4
Post by Tressie on Sept 9, 2009 20:47:14 GMT -4
Thanks Mindy - I'll call them and see if they can order in the Archetypal I and II for ferrets.
Will let you know if they can!
Wonder if they would ship food out to NL - did you check? I'll ask when I call about the Wysong.
Tressie
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mindy
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Food!
Sept 9, 2009 20:55:09 GMT -4
Post by mindy on Sept 9, 2009 20:55:09 GMT -4
thanks Tressie!! that would be great. i was talking to a lady who has a store in deer lake about natural balance rolls that we give to iorek for treats. she said that the only way she could get it was through global since they were the ones carrying it in canada, but the catch is she would have to buy a global franchise in order to get it. and that costs a lot of money. so, i will be asking my friend in halifax to buy it and ship that to me sometimes living in newfoundland is hard...but i won't leave again! i love it here, food issues aside. i will make it work!
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Ashley
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Food!
Sept 9, 2009 22:13:04 GMT -4
Post by Ashley on Sept 9, 2009 22:13:04 GMT -4
Hi Guys,
Global pet foods can order it in for you, you might have to wait a couple of weeks before they get it in stock because they have to order it from our head office in Ontario. If the store in Dartmouth won't order it in for you let me know and I can order it for you and ship it to you too. I work at Global Pet Foods and am going to be the Manager of the new store they are opening in Dieppe, NB so if you ever need any food shipped out to you let me know and I'm sure I can get it to you.
Ashley
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