Marissa wrote:
>I think it would be helpful to compile a list of inappropriate
>discipline >measures to hand out to people who have tables at shows.
>This way, there would >be no confusion as to what is or is not
>inappropriate.
 
I wonder if the show organizers themselves don't wise up in relation to
having abuse regulations if it would make sense for shelters and the like
to have their own hand-outs on how to treat ferrets, so that way even if
the large group is letting the ball drop, at least SOMEONE is doing some
constructive educating.
 
Steve's a vegetarian; I'm not, though I don't eat a lot of flesh food.
Neither of us considered Bob's comments about agriculture to be flaming
anyone here.  They are simply documented facts: the clearing of land, the
slash and burn practises, the maintenance of monocultures, and many other
practises connected with agriculture do cause a lot of damage.  (So do all
of our homes, roads, auto exhaust -- especially with those gas guzzlers
which increase demand and in so doing drive up prices for all, garbage:
reduce, reuse, recycle, please!  Hey, the 30th anniversary of Earth Day is
on the 22nd of April.) Basically, as long as people eat and there are too
many people on the planet to support without having agriculture (of either
vegetable crops or flesh foods) DOES do huge environmental damage, though
the vegetable crops likely do less than grazing animals.  Anyway, facts are
NOT flames and Bob does have a tradition of trying to take off the edge by
joking around with it, besides, he kept the identity private.  We did NOT
see it as a flame; that's all, and why.
 
Fact of the matter is that a vegetarian diet won't give ferrets all of the
essential amino acids they need as obligate carnivores; their bodies behave
differently than our's in that regard as well as in a number of others --
which is one of the problems of generalizing from studies on other species
such as humans.  If a person wants a vegetarian pet only, then the person
should select a pet which does not have a survival and health need which
can not be met by a vegetarian diet.  There are lots of options.  When
someone creates a vegetarian diet with the essential amino acids and
right types of lipids artificially created and added (ditto other missing
nutrients) and corrects for the possible problems connected with fiber,
starches, etc, etc., etc.  then it will make sense to have obligate
carnivores on such diets, but forcing one to be a vegetarian is not SAFE
for the ferret, and that's the important thing.  Hey, the essential are all
over the place in even the most basic college bio texts for you to read
about yourself, so instead of treating it like a he said/she said situation
look at the FACTS which are now known; they are exceedingly well published,
and take into account that there is always more to learn for us all (with
diet there's a GREAT more for all to learn as progress is made).
 
Corn: the reason it came up specifically was another further concern: its
tendency (as documented in Fox's vet text) to cause urine pH to rise to a
level which allows bladder stones to form if measure aren't taken to
correct for that.  Thanks for such a clear general starch write-up, Bob.
 
Okay, here's a question (okay, four of them).  Since starch isn't a good
binding agent to use could the companies use something else?  I am thinking
about how eggs are often used for that purpose in cooking.  I DO recall a
problem mentioned in Fox's Nutrition chapter on problems caused by too many
eggs whites, but don't have access to it right now.  Wonder how correctable
that would be... Other possible binding suggestions so that there still be
kibbled food without the starch or with much smaller levels than now?
Could they been made and be edible without added binding ingredients?  I
mean, heck, why not -- just because people have made things one way for a
long time doesn't mean that a change might not be better.  Hey, I wonder if
a high animal content (mixed parts to not miss important nutrients) could
be bound-up with the same protein gelatin used in Cheweasels?
[Posted in FML issue 3009]