Hi All!
 
Just a thought...18 years ago, with our first ferret, Jackson ("loverboy"
cuz of his kisses), we were told by a vet to feed him cat food, or IAMS
kitten food.  Well, he was an only ferret for a while until we got Elliot
and Stanley.  After 4 years of eating that kind of food, we found a vet who
was a ferret specialist and we were told that the foods we were using had a
super high fat content and way too high for ferrets.  So, we switched to
Science Diet Light Cat FOod (this was way before Totally Ferret, ZuPreem,
etc.).  The switch came a little late for Jackson.  He started coughing a
lot, so we took him to the vet who diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy.  We
put him on a couple of different meds and prolonged his life for about 9
months, in which he was comfortable and it was quality time.  However, he
died at age 5 1/2 from a series of heart attacks.  We then decided to try
to change their diet forever to extend their lives.  So, we kept them on
the SD Light and they started living 6-7 years instead of 5.  But believe
it or not, after 20+ ferrets (we are a shelter home for rescues)no one else
has had heart disease, but of course we have had numerous cases of adrenal
cancer, one Epstein Barr Virus, and one Prostate Cancer, as well as that
dreaded "wasting disease".  THe only draw back I could figure was that they
weren't getting quite enough fat in the diet.  The coats were not as nice
as they should be, and I just knew we could find a solution.  Now we are so
happy to have Totally Ferret!  After consulting with our vet and figuring
out what we feel is the perfect food plan.  We mix about 1/3 TF Active
and TF Adult with about 1/3 SC Light (for extra fiber).  This works
wonderfully!  THey have beautiful coats, lots of energy, and we have
rugrats from ages 8 months to 8 years now.  Unfortunately, we had several
kids who were all about the same age and we lost 5 of them last fall and
winter to adrenal cancer, prostate, and wasting disease, but they were old
guys except for Daisy who was a rescue we got from the Animal Shelter (she
was only 2 1/2 and some how contracted the bad stomach thing that causes
wasting).  Our 7 kids are truly thriving on this food mixture - and even
tho 2 bags of TF may be expense (we get shelter prices and it's still $$)
it lasts for 2-3 months mixed together with SD.
 
Ferrets truly fill our lives with wonder and joy, and love.  Aren't we
lucky!?!
 
Thanks,
Shannon and Bruce along with the "kids" - Jackie, Sammo, Maxwell, Little
Bear, Violet, Lily, and Sophie.
[Posted in FML issue 2990]