First Post ~ Caitlyn's "Honest-to-Raw" Soupies for Ferrets

Hey y'all, I just spent forever typing up my recipe for a "duck soup" style recipe to feed your ferrets.

This recipe is what I make everyday, twice a day, for my three adora-butts, Pan, Jean-Luc, and Badger. I used to only feed them kibble because it was all they would eat, but they love this soup, so it's easy to transition from kibble, to a healthier, better protein-sourced, and partly raw diet.

Part One: The Cancer-Busting, Adrenal and Immune-Boosting Tea (4 cups)

1. Fill up your kettle with water and boil,
2. In a large bowl or a 4 cup liquid measuring cup, add:
3. about half a teaspoon of Essiac powder,
4. 1 Herbaria Dandelion Leaf tea bag
5. 1 Algonquin Tea Company Sweetfern Tonic teabag
6. Add water, make tea!

I work part-time at Nature's Harvest Health Food Store, which is where I get all these weird ingredients, but you could probably get them at Independent Grocers (not the Essiac, but the tea!). I usually make about 4 cups of tea, and this lasts me a few days. I let it sit out on the counter, and just microwave it for a minute to heat it back up before making the actual Soupies with it.

Part Two: Preparing the Raw Meat

1. This is probably the funnest part, believe it or not, and you only have to do it once or twice a month.
2. Go to Sobeys and check out what they have in their meat department that you can afford. They are the best source for finding suitable meat for your ferrets. They usually have a small selection of whole: cornish hens, ducks, chickens, turkeys, rabbit quarters, quail, etc. I like to get them a different variety of bird each time I go :)
3. Try to choose a bird that has the organs still inside (these are the best source of nutrients for your ferrets!)
4. Bring home your meat, and let it defrost in your fridge for a couple days.
5. Using a sharp knife, skin your bird (give the skin to your dogs or cats).
6. Same knife, deflesh you bird or rabbit, cut into manageable chunks.
7. Using a blender reserved for raw meat (I have a Magic Bullet which cost about 30$), Blend up your meat chunks and organ meat really well. For some reason, ferrets like ground meat a lot better than big chunks. DO NOT BLEND THE SKIN. Skin will rope around the blades of your blender and wreck the motor. Lesson learned.
8. Store 2 heaping Tbls portions of ground meat in small tupperware containers in your freezer.
9. Always keep 2 or 3 of these ready-to-serve containers in your fridge so that they are defrosted when you need them.

ALTERNATIVE TO PART TWO:

1. Buy some Nature's Variety Raw, Frozen Medallions in Chicken, duck, or rabbit. I can usually only find chicken. Lisa's Dog House (by Fanny's) keeps these in stock now! About 25$ for 48 medallions.
2. Keep a few defrosted in your fridge so they're ready to go!
3. Also, if you go Down South, check out the pet food stores. They usually have way better selection as far as raw meat patties/medallions go... Just make sure that there are no grains and if you can get the organs and bones included (ground), that's even better!

Part Three: Final Touches

1. In an old tupperware (about 2 cup size) add about 1/2 a cup of your warmed up Tea.
2. Add 2 heaping Tbsps of Honest Kitchen's PROWL. This is a dehydrated, high-protein, raw soup mix that you can special order from Lisa's Doghouse. Stir into hot tea. Now you have broth!
3. Add about 1-2 heaping Tbsps of high-quality, grain-free, species-appropriate canned cat food. By species appropriate, I mean something that a ferret might naturally eat, like rabbit, quail, chicken, duck or turkey. No, beef, lamb, bison(?!), or pork. This is a personal choice... it just seems wrong (to me) to feed them something that would be completely foreign to them. My guys absolutely prefer duck over anything else!!
4. The FUN part: RAW MEAT!! Add your pre-portioned (2 heaping Tbls) of raw, ground meat.
5. Stir up with a fork until all the meat and canned food seperates and you have the consistency of a thick, cream soup.
6. Add any necessary MEDICINE and stir and serve!
7. You might need to add Ferretone or Olive Oil at first just to get them eating it. I also find that a ferret is much more likely to lick a new food off of your finger rather than right out of a dish!

The above recipe prepares enough soup for three big boy ferrets.
This was an absolute life-saver for my guys, since Badger has developed insulinoma in his "old age", and he needs to take a liquid Prednisolone twice a day (which he hates). Now, I just dilute his meds into his soupies and he gobbles it all up! I began feeding it to my other two (just cause- what the hell, right?) and Jean-Luc has grown back all the fur he lost last summer from his adrenal disease! Also, all three of them feel so SOFT!! I'm sure that this soup is helping out all their health issues.
Comment if anything is unclear!