Duck Soup aka Dook Soup

Yes, ANOTHER recipe to add to the mix! This one I have had success with and I would suggest anyone that had ferrets find a recipe for dook soup and alter it to fit the needs to their ferrets. If your ferrets are healthy, making a version of dook soup for them and feeding it to them as a treat (once you get them used to the taste) is something that I would recommend. The reason it simply: If your ferret already recognizes dook soup and views it as a treat, getting him or her to take it when he or she is sick is going to be far less stressful both for you and your ferret.

Here is what I put in my dook soup - and remember, you know your ferret and should alter the recipe according to his or her specific tastes and needs.

1 650g container greek yogurt (optional)
1 can pure pumpkin filling
1-2 cups high quality cat or ferret kibble, soaked.
2 large cans of high quality canned cat food such as Wysong's Au Jus line, or frozen raw food such as Red Cat Blue Dog or Stella and Chewy's (organs and bone). Keep in mind that many ferrets are not fond of beef, fish or lamb flavours. I find most success with chicken, turkey, rabbit and pheasant flavours.

*If making a raw soup, omit kibble. If transitioning to raw from kibble diets, gradually increase frozen raw and reduce kibble with each fresh batch. 

Puree together and freeze in Ice Cube Tray.
1 cube = 1 serving.

If you are like me and use a lot of soup, one batch will keep approximately 2 weeks in the fridge.

Heat before serving as most ferrets prefer warm dook soup (15-30 seconds in the microwave. If it is too hot, let cool or add water to cool slightly before serving and be sure to stir to ensure that the heat is evenly distributed, or mix with boiling water).

Feel free to add some oil (whatever oil your ferret prefers) and/or heavy cream to entice your ferret to try the soup, and feel free to adjust the recipe to the needs of your ferret - adding more pumpkin during shedding season or when if the ferret has a sore tummy.
Do not be deterred if your ferret does not take to the soup immediately; some ferrets have a strong kibble imprint and it take longer to warm up to the soup. You may find that it takes 4-5 introductions before some ferrets will try the soup, while others will take to it immediately

Dook soup can also be used to conceal certain medications and supplements such as glucosamine sulphate and prednisone.

The scoop on ferret litter

Every ferret owner is aware that, when it comes to filling litter pans, there are a myriad of options... how do you know which ones are suitable, and which ones to steer clear from? Luckily we are here to help! Though this is by no means a comprehensive list, hopefully it will give you some indication of what might work for your ferret.

Silica litter - This stuff seems like a great idea - absorbs odors and liquid well, doesn’t track easily and even looks rather nice! It is great for adult cats, but when it comes to ferrets it should be AVOIDED! Why? Because ferrets enjoy playing in and occasionally tasting their litter, and silica is quite toxic. The last thing that you want is for your pet’s toilet to be the cause of his or her death.

Clay litter - Very commonly used for cats and used by many ferret owners. Clay litter is cheap and easy to find but known for its dust so should be avoided if your ferret has respiratory illnesses or open sores. Though there is some concern that clay litter can cause respiratory illnesses in ferrets, unless the litter is being used as the animal’s bedding (which I hope none of our readings would even consider doing), there is not much need to worry. Clay litter absorbs liquids and odors moderately well, is non toxic and does not remain solid is swallowed. It’s odor and liquid absorbing capabilities are moderate and many ferrets enjoy digging in it before using it as a toilet.

Recycled Newspaper pellets - These little pellets are loved by many ferret owners. They are easy to find, far less track able and dusty than clay litter, good at absorbing odors and pretty decent at absorbing liquids. The main drawback of newspaper pellets lies in the fact that they swell rather than disintegrate when wet. This swelling makes it easy to scoop used pellets out of the litter, but also makes them a potentially deadly litter for some ferrets that like to taste their litter; if the ferret tries eating this litter, it will likely result in intestinal blockage.

Corn Cob and Wheat Litters - they look nice, have excellent absorption capabilities, disintegrate if swallowed and some varieties can even be flushed! The downside: this litter is as dusty as clay litter, easily tracked and poor at absorbing odors. I, personally, love the flushable stuff because flushing the litter daily is so easy that the poor odor absorption doesn’t matter much. Unfortunately, my ferrets hate the stuff and, when trying to convince them to try the litter, our miss rate increased by more than 50%.

Wood pellets - such as those used in wood stoves and for pellet barbecues. These pellets are cheap, easy to find (they can be purchased either at pet stores or your local hardware store), good at absorbing liquids, excellent at absorbing odors, powder when swallowed and even look decent. Due to its availability, odor absorption and liquid absorption, this is my preferred type of litter. The downside is that, because these pellets fall apart when they become wet, the litter can be difficult to scoop.

Wood Shavings - no, no, no. These are terrible - dusty, track easily, poor odor and liquid absorption and often treated with chemicals that have reportedly been linked to lung cancer in ferrets. Also many ferrets would much rather play in this stuff than use it as a toilet, making two messes for you to clean up.

Puppy Pads - though some ferret owners have great success using nothing but puppy pads, I find that using them in conjunction with kitty litters increases the odds that the ferrets will use one or the other, and greatly reduces the amount of missing. Currently, of my four ferrets, two prefer the pads and two prefer the litters; having both makes everybody happy!

If you have any types of litter that is not covered here, or any feedback about which type of litter works (or doesn’t work) for you, please feel free to comment or e-mail us!

A Note On Commenting

In order to allow for more discussion, we have just changed the commenting format on all new posts to allow you to comment using your profile on Twitter, Facebook, OpenID, and Disqus. Whereas before you needed a Blogger account to comment, now you can use any of these services to do it-- you can even do it using email, and if you want, your comments will be displayed in your Twitter feed (but only if you want!)

Now, don't worry if you think this means you can't comment anymore. First of all, you can choose to just enter your name and email address (it isn't displayed, it's just to avoid spam) and, if you want, your website. Second, everyone who has a Blogger, Google, Wordpress, MySpace, Flickr, Yahoo, or pretty much anything else already has an OpenID.

For Blogger, your OpenID url is the address of your blog, and your display name is just the name that appears when you post. For example, for Ferrets North the url is "blog.ferretsnorth.org" and the display name is "ferrets in the north". To find out more, visit http://openid.net/get/. Enjoy the conversation!

PS. I've added examples using all the different ways of doing it in the comment section below.

MOVING DAY!

We now have a website - - - www.ferretsnorth.org and the blog will be moving to the site! This will not happen for a little while yet, but soonish! If you are concerned about not being able to find the blog, do not fret - this site will redirect you there as soon as we get all the bugs worked out.
See you at our new home =)

Ferret Society Volunteer Meet

For those living in Prince George and area that are interested in volunteering with Ferrets North Information and Rescue Society or who are simply curious ABOUT the society, we are having a gathering July 12 from 2 to 3 pm at Fort George Park. We will be meeting by the band shell and can be identified by the fact that we will most likely be the only people in the park with our ferrets.
See you then!

(Society Ferrets are magic and can defy the laws of gravity)