Chicken baby food for ferrets

Can I Give My Ferret Baby Food?

Can you give your ferret baby food?

It is a big concern for any ferret owner to know which food is best to feed its pet as well as what food to avoid. With its strict diet requirements and the need to be frequently fed every 3 to 4 hours, feeding a ferret can be a daunting task at first.

But what a ferret eats will determine its health and overall well-being that is why it is important to be properly informed. You need to be educated on what makes up a healthy diet for a ferret. A ferret needs to be fed largely with meat. Raw meat from lamb, chicken, beef and rabbit are recommended and with very little to absolutely no vegetables, grains, fiber and fruits. A carnivore by nature, a ferret has a hard time digesting these food items.

Extra care and due diligence is needed in feeding a ferret because it can spell the difference between its life and death. Improper nutrition is the cause why a ferret gets sick very easily and very frequently.

Baby food is characterized by its soft and easy to digest mixture. It is easily available and can be easy to prepare at home.

Since it is safe enough to be taken by babies, it can also be safe enough for animals too right? And yes, baby food has become a popular food alternative for some animals and this includes ferret.

But before you go panic buying for baby food for your ferret; be mindful of the kind of baby food you get. There are plenty of varieties available for baby food: fruit and vegetable and meat-based. Again be wary of incorporating anything with fruits and vegetables to a ferret’s diet.

A ferret is an obligate carnivore and cannot tolerate fruits and vegetables baby food which has high sugar contents. Before diving right in and buying all flavors of baby food, exercise caution and check labels very well.

You can take your pick though on plenty of other meat-based baby food that contains chicken, turkey and veal. Baby food cannot be the only thing you feed a ferret. While it is healthy enough, a ferret needs more of its raw meat requirement. A baby food can serve best when a ferret is not feeling well and is not up to eating its typical diet.

Baby food can be very convenient especially when a ferret is sick. With no appetite for its usual food, you can start feeding a sick ferret with soft food like baby food. It is a decent temporary replacement for the usual ferret diet and it easily provides the adequate nutrition it needs while a ferret is sick. It is also usually prescribed by veterinarians though it is still best to consult a veterinarian to really know what may be best for your ferret. But overall, it is a cheap, safe and convenient alternative.

It can be difficult to feed a sick ferret. But you need to find clever ways for it take some food to replace what has been lost because of the illness. Warming the baby food is recommended as well as hand feeding a ferret or if it is necessary, force feed it but still always with care. Moments like this require the ferret owner to be very patient because depending on its illness, it may take weeks before a ferret recovers and may be able to feed itself again.

Feeding a ferret some diet appropriate baby food is also a great way for it to gain back its appetite. It may like the soft texture of the food too much though that it may be difficult to revert back to its typical diet. One thing you can do is to gradually go through this phase by grinding and softening its food and progressively feeding the chunks of raw meat that it usually eats.

Baby food is also highly recommended to feed a ferret who just gave birth. Most ferret owners feed mother ferrets with chicken baby food after it gives birth. A baby ferret or ferret kits may supplement the milk that it takes from its mom with some baby food. Nursing a baby ferret can deplete energy and a mother ferret can replenish this easily by incorporating in its diet some baby food.

As a ferret owner, you may get too worried when your pet is sick. Having the alternative of feeding a sick ferret with easily available baby food is truly helpful by taking some worry away and can give you some much needed peace of mind.

Ferret Nutrition - Little P.A.W.S

Ferret Nutritional Needs
Feeding your ferret a proper diet is extremely important. Ferrets are strict carnivores and should be fed a high protein (at least 34%), high fat (at least 20%) high quality chicken or lamb based dry ferret diet. Chicken or lamb should be listed in some form (poultry, lamb or poultry meal) as the number one ingredient in the list of ingredients on the back of the bag. You should also look for food that is naturally preserved with vitamin E and has no artificial colors. Ferrets have very short digestive tracts, so they need a food that contains easily digestible meat protein. Foods that list grain or corn as the first ingredient should not be used. Grocery store kitten or cat foods are not adequate. If you are feeding your ferret grocery store kitten or cat food, please switch to ferret food or kitten food brands like Iams or Eukanuba if ferret food is not available (and give your ferret a fatty acid supplement like Ferretone daily). Your ferret is not getting the proper nutrients with grocery store cat or kitten food. Grocery store foods contain too much fiber and not enough quality animal protein. This food can also contribute to stones in the kidneys and bladder, malnutrition, dull coats and other health problems for your ferret. It's never too late to make the switch (especially if your ferret has been diagnosed with insulinomas).

Many now feel that supplementing your ferret's regular chow diet with natural meat is the best way to provide proper nutrition. You can do this by either giving your ferret some cooked chicken ( this can include skin, fat, chicken livers, chicken hearts), or some raw chicken that has been frozen and thawed (the freezing process can kill some bacteria and parasites). Some people even recommend allowing ferrets to chew on the soft ends of bones as well. Bone marrow contains a lot of nutrients (including calcium) ferrets need. Chicken baby food can also be a form of meat supplement (but not for regular diet).

Note: Please be aware that a raw meat diet could introduce your ferret to internal parasites or disease. If you do want to feed your ferret raw meat, please check with your veterinarian for advice. It is very difficult to feed your ferret a balanced "all natural" diet.
Also, never give your ferret small bones to chew on (especially chicken or turkey bones). These bones could splinter and get lodged in your ferret's digestive system (requiring surgery). Your ferret can eat the soft cartilage at the end of large bones or the bone marrow . Ferrets can chew on larger bones that have been softened by boiling.

It is important to note that you should NEVER feed your ferret dog or puppy food.
Dog food does not contain taurine, a nutrient that is vital for a ferret's eye and cardiovascular health. Dog food contains more vegetable protein and less animal protein. Because of their short digestive tract, ferrets cannot properly digest vegetable protein. Ferrets also don't have a cecum, the part of the digestive tract used to break down vegetable matter. Vegetable protein is not toxic to your ferret, however a diet rich in vegetable protein and low in animal protein will eventually lead to malnutrition, illness and possibly death. Keep vegetable and fruit treats to a minimum (preferably not at all). Meat based treats are a better alternative.
Click here for some Ferret safe brands

Methods for Switching Food
To avoid a picky eater, introduce your ferret to different high quality foods at a young age (ferrets determine their food preferences during the first six months of life). Gradually getting your ferret used to a variety of foods really comes in handy, especially if your regular food is out stock or isn't being produced anymore. If you are trying to switch your ferret's food, add a very small amount of the new food to the old food, gradually increasing the amount of new food over a period of days or weeks. Your ferret will probably pick out their old food and leave the new behind, however you are just trying to get him or her used to the smell of the new food first. You can also store a mixture of a small amount of new food with the old food in a zip lock bag. The scent of the old food will rub off on the new food and it won't seem as foreign to your ferret. Warming the food with some water increases the scent of the food and helps to blend the scents of the different foods. Adding a small amount of Ferretone adds a pleasant "treat" aroma to the mixture. This method can also be used to help encourage a sick ferret to eat. Be sure to immediately remove any uneaten food. Ferretone and moist food spoils quickly.

Treats
We all love giving our ferrets treats! Seeing the love and sheer joy on their little faces when they hear the treat bag crinkle is enough to make you want to give them treats all day! However, treats are just that, treats. Feeding your ferret too many treats or the wrong kinds of treats can lead to serious health problems. Below, I have listed some do's and don'ts for ferret treat giving.
•   Do give your ferret a couple of specifically formulated ferret treats per day (or a couple drops of a fatty acid supplement). The best ferret treats contain a meat base and essential protein, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals (no sugar).
•   Don't give your ferret dairy (unless it is lactose free milk), candy, nuts, rawhide, chocolate, black licorice, soda or sugary or salty snacks. Some of these items can cause serious health problems (even death) for your ferret. Ferrets can not digest nuts or rawhide and they will cause an intestinal blockage. Dairy foods can cause gastrointestinal upset. Don't get into the habit of giving your ferret snacks that contain sugar. Sugar can interfere with blood sugar and the function of the pancreas, especially if the ferret has insulinomas. Sugar also causes tooth decay. Don't ever give your ferret anything that contains caffeine or alcohol (no soda, wine or beer please). Caffeine can cause cardiovascular and other problems for your ferret and possible death.   Ferrets can also get very ill or die from an overdose of salt. Don't give your ferret chips or other salty snacks.
•   Do give your ferret specific edible chew toys (such as those put out by Chew Weasels) and different brands of ferret or kitten food as a treat. This will help you out as well. By gradually getting your ferret used to another nutritious food, you are giving he or she more meal choices.
•   Don't feed your ferret seasoned table scraps.   Table scraps can contain too many mixtures (such as salt, pepper, dairy, simple carbohydrates, raw vegetables) for your ferret. Your ferret could suffer from severe gastrointestinal upset.
•   Do give your ferret small amounts of hard boiled egg or any cooked egg, shredded cooked chicken (no seasonings) or Gerber's Second Stage Chicken Baby Food as a treat. If you get your ferret used to the Gerber's Chicken Baby Food (Second Stage), it will really come in handy if your ferret ever becomes ill and is off regular food. The baby food can be used as a temporary replacement or supplement for regular ferret food in the event of an illness.

Vitamin Supplements
If you are feeding your ferret a high quality food, supplements are not really necessary (unless they are ill and off their regular feed). A few drops of Ferretone or a pea sized dab of Ferretvite should suffice as a daily treat (don't follow the directions on the bottle- your ferret's food contains vitamin A as well). Always be aware of the dangers of possible vitamin A toxicity. For this reason, it is not advisable to give your ferret too much of any supplement, even though they may really enjoy it.

Feeding sick ferrets | Club "Russian Ferret"

The Internet is replete with recipes for diet food for feeding sick ferrets. Most of these recipes are called "Duck Soup", based on human food recipes.

These recipes contain a large amount of additives such as brewer's yeast, olive oil and many others. The authors write that allegedly some supplements even contribute to the destruction of cancer. Many veterinarians advise treating sick animals with HILL's Food, the A/D Diet, a liquid diet food designed for cats and dogs.

Although there are many recipes for feeding sick ferrets, there are some general trends:

They require a lot of time and money to prepare.
Often they have little to no scientific basis for the use of the supplements they contain.
They are usually fed by the owner with a syringe without a tip.
Worst of all, trying to force weak or sick animals to take fluids with a syringe can lead to accidental inhalation (or injection) of fluid into the lungs, which can lead to pneumonia, which can be much worse than the underlying disease.

There is another way to provide better nutrition for sick ferrets. This is a path that not only I use for my own ferrets, but has been prescribed for thousands of ferrets for many years.

Canned Chicken Baby Meal has proven to be a more than adequate replacement for normal meals for sick or elderly ferrets who cannot eat normal food. While I certainly do not approve of the use of chicken baby food as the main diet, in this case it is a well-preserved, convenient and affordable food.

Many people try to open a can of meat baby food and feed their ferret from there. Unfortunately, especially with sick ferrets, it's not that easy. But after a few tries, most ferrets will eat like champions.

Although ferrets can eat a variety of baby food, I only recommend one that is all chicken or chicken broth.

There are many other varieties of this food, for example with turkey, veal, pork, also with vegetables or fruits. But since ferrets are carnivores, not rodents, I do not recommend canned food containing vegetable fiber or fructose, or fruit or vegetable baby food. I strongly caution against using them as ferret food.

Baby food should be warmed to just above room temperature. You can warm it up in the microwave, then stir until the food is evenly warm and check the temperature with your finger.

For the first feeding, take some food on your finger. Gently open the ferret's mouth by spreading it with your index finger and thumb on the sides of the mouth, just behind the teeth. Then, holding the mouth of the ferret open, apply food to the upper palate behind the teeth with your finger with food. Your ferret may resist, but don't worry, this way of feeding is better and safer, your ferret will get enough food and it won't get into his lungs.

In terms of feeding volume, start with 1/6 jar every 4 hours, and then when the ferret is good at licking the food off your finger, you can feed her as much as she wants.

Typically, after one or two power-feeds, your ferret will begin to lick the food off your fingers on its own.

When a sick ferret enjoys eating from your hand, we recommend sticking to this finger-chest feeding pattern for at least a week or more. Later, you can move on to spoon feeding, and even later to pasta feeding for a few days or a week. If you are feeding microwaved pasta, stir it and make sure the pasta is heated evenly and there are no “hot spots”.

After your diseased ferret has been actively eating new food, give her as much as she wants every 4 hours. Always intersperse feedings with water from your finger. You can place your finger just below the surface of the water, giving the feeling of being watered from your finger.

As I said earlier, although baby food is a good alternative food for sick ferrets, this food does not contain vitamins, minerals and other compounds (including taurine) that ferrets need to maintain good health. I have kept ferrets on an exclusive baby food diet for up to 6 months (and experienced significant weight gain), but I would not recommend repeating this. Therefore, if you have to keep your ferret on this diet for more than 4 weeks, I recommend grinding your regular food in a coffee grinder and mixing it with baby food, which will allow the ferret to receive all the vitamins and minerals it needs.

Note to skeptics - I've kept one of my ferrets with chronic inflammatory bowel disease on this mix for over three years. Now she is 7 and a half years old and she feels quite normal.

Mixing baby food with regular food is also a very good way to wean your ferret off baby food and transition to regular food. If your ferret has begun to show a clear predilection for baby food, you need to gradually add more and more crushed dry food. As your ferret becomes accustomed to the mixture of baby food with regular food, you can gradually mix in unground dry food into this mixture. You can even fake "hand feeding" by dipping your fingers into the food mixture. It is possible that you will have to resort to all sorts of tricks to return your ferret's love of normal food.

If your ferret is sick, you don't have to worry about the need to maintain it during the recovery period. This system works and works well - it worked for my ferrets and will work for yours. Bruce Williams

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3 answers

User

Olesya U.

from Olesya U. , 7 months ago

Nothing bad will happen, and sometimes it is even useful to give your pet baby food, of course, it is better from chicken or veal meat. In nature, they do not receive such food, and therefore it is unusual for them, but if the animal suddenly gets sick, then it is this kind of food that will help him recover faster, and therefore you need to accustom him to it just in case. In any case, there will be no harm from it, only one benefit.

User

Nicholas

from Nicholas, 7 months ago

@russell I'll even go so far as to say that veterinarians recommend giving ferrets baby food. But of course give a little, let's say a few spoons. We had such that the daughter's wife cooked the broth and just fed a little ferret. Chicken and turkey broth is best. If the hamster is also sick, then they recover much faster.

If we talk specifically about baby food jars, then it is also possible, but mostly meat and always from a normal manufacturer.