bugbarkz.bsky.social
Robin | 25 | He/It | Artist | 🇮🇪 🏴 | BSc Zoology | Dogs, ferrets, bugs and more ! 🐩 | Plush maker & collector 🧸 | SFW
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Big agree !! Trout sounds SO nice, esp for a hound somehow?? Big n floppy lol
I ended up pretty much deciding against Trout after I said it out loud in my accent sadly 😭
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Fish names are my FAVOURITES for dogs and I was genuinely considering Trout for my future spoo ! My siblings and I named my Grandparents' dog Kipper when we were young because of the show and I've been obsessed with fish names since haha
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Because they know what hotdogs are made from and they're scared they'll be next
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If anyone else is interested, here is the auction link:
ebay.us/m/5CEnzW
EXTREMELY hard to find plush. It's the only one I've seen for sale in years.
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I previously used to try making my own raw mixes using human-grade meats, but they hated it. Even pure chicken. They're so picky it's stressful.
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Nature's menu doesn't have any options for lamb or rabbit that don't contain chicken, and their other flavours (beef, turkey, etc) NONE of my ferrets will touch. Even Squidward, (who eats pretty much anything).
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The raw food they've been on is Nature's Menu, which is also apparently pretty rigourously tested, but continuing with it still makes me nervous even if there's no proof that if was the food or not. Also, if Blossom DOES have a chicken intolerance I can't continue with that food anyway.
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Sorry for the ramble, today has been a LOT of trying to figure things out.
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I'm going to be trying out Bella and Duke as they have pre-made complete raw mixes that don't contain chicken but DO contain lamb and rabbit, so I might be able to get her to eat it. They're also rigourously tested for salmonella and are approved under a new veterinary 'rawsafe' program.
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She has ALWAYS been extra strange about food and has had periods where she's stopped eating in the past, but never to this extent.
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The difficulty is getting her to EAT anything that isn't chicken-based, as that is currently the ONLY food 3/4 of my ferrets will eat basically. Their proteins rn are mainly chicken with lamb and rabbit as secondaries mixed in. The others don't seem to have the same issues as Blossom.
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It's all VERY confusing and even the exotic vet isn't sure.
Whatever the case, I'm going to be taking her off chicken as a protein source in case it turns out she's intolerant and that's what's been causing her to be much skinnier than Goose the whole time I've had her.
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If Blossom has IBD, it could be that it isn't even salmonella/something from her raw food that caused her severe illness recently, but rather a general bacterial overload in her gut. But the symptoms are the exact same so it's VERY hard to tell without a biopsy, which would mean surgery.
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Ferrets have extremely strong stomach acid but IBD can affect that and make it less effective at killing bacteria.
In saying all this, cooked food may very well upset her stomach more than raw. I just dont know, which is what worries me.
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I'm moreso worried that Blossom has an underlying condition that weakens her immune system and means she's more susceptible to bacterial infections, as she has symptoms of IBD which can be deadly to ferrets in the long term. So I'm not sure if raw food will make that risk greater or not.
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Just realised my other comment said curries instead of Furries shdjdkd oops
Highly recommend ! It's def got some of the similar weird cultural issues as warriors but it's still absolutely worth reading if you enjoyed those books !!
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I know like 90% of curries have read warrior cats, but have you ever read any of the other Erin hunter books? I was a Seekers kid rather than warriors and it is still my favourite book series ever. Bears 💚
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There's sugars and other things that aren't good for them in it, but it's a high calorie recovery food and will be good for short term until I figure out what I'm doing next.
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Soup REFUSES to eat anything other than her regular food. She is the pickiest of the 4 and she WILL starve herself if she doesn't get exactly the same food as always. The others have been eating Purina pro plan Convalesce on vet recommendation, just as a safety measure for now.
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This would mean, though, that their food is what caused it. They are raw fed as almost anything other than pure meat protein is neither good for nor digestible to them. But I am now terrified to give them their regular food.
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I have been able to cover her vet bills so far thanks to everyone's generosity. Bills from this vet are absolutely monumental, especially compared to those in the surrounding area, so I may change after all of this. But they have taken SUCH good care of Blossom and Goose.
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She is in no way out of the woods and I'm watching her like a hawk for changes. I need to have more money on standby in case something changes, but I am so deeply appreciative to everyone who has helped me keep her alive. Thank yous are not enough.
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All donations so far have been used already for her vet care. If needed I can provide reciepts of all of the bills to prove this. I've been prepared for vet emergencies before, but this is just a different level.
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Blossom is still really lethargic, but she's at least alert when I wake her for feeds/meds and walks around for a few minutes before going back to her bed. She's a bit wobbly in her feet, but she's been trying to climb objects and dig too.
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I painstakingly removed every tiny bone I could find from the food (it's a 10% bone raw mix) just in case the bones upset her tummy more again. It took me an hour for one bowl of food because I don't have a strainer with big enough holes.
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I even got her to eat some of her regular food (watered down) out of the actual bowl rather than through a syringe by adding salmon oil to it. After she licked the oil she started licking up the food like she remembered she likes it and it's good to eat.
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Blossom is still lagging behind, but using salmon oil as a crutch has helped so, so much. She wouldn't touch ANYTHING to eat or drink until I tried putting a bit of salmon oil on the syringe. She LOVES her salmon oil more than anything in the whole world.