My ferret Ziya, who's been having stomach problems for a while and not
eating solid food, starting crunching up a new treat the other day...
it's the first time I've seen her eat solid food in over a month!  She
goes absolutely nuts for this stuff, as does her healthy-as a horse
cagemate, Zoe...
 
It's Nutro Max-Cat "Gourmet Kitty" Crunchy Tartar Control Cat Treats.
I got them after noticing some tartar on Zoe and Ziya's teeth, and they
both go CRAZY for this stuff.  I haven't seen them so excited about ANY
other treat before... not their meat jerkee treats, not their ferretone,
ferretvite, cod liver oil, chicken gravy... NOTHING.  Ziya went from
refusing any and all solid food to practically jumping up and down at
the cage door when she sees me bring out the little blue bag.
 
They look pretty decent nutritionally: 32% min crude protein, 10% min
crude fat, 2.5% max crude fiber, 11% max moisture, 2% min linoleic acid,
0.12% min taurine.  Here's the ingredient list:
 
ground wheat, chicken meal, corn gluten meal, rice, chicken fat
(processed with mixed tocopherols), natural chicken flavor, sodium
tripolyphosphate (?!), potassium chloride, brewers yeast, choline
chloride, taurine, salt, dl-methionine, vitamin a supplement, vitamin
d3 supplement, vitamin e supplement, niacin, zinc sulfate, calcium
pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin b1), copper
sulfate, manganese sulfate, pyrodoxine hydrochloride (source of
vitamin b6), riboflavin supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin b12
supplement, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenate
 
Too expensive ($3/3oz at my pet store) and too high in carbs for a
regular diet, IMO, but after seeing how crazy my two girls go for it
(especially Ziya, after 5+ weeks refusing solid food), I thought I'd
suggest it to anyone weaning a fuzzy off soft food, or having problems
with someone refusing their kibble... and if it helps with tartar too,
more the better.  When Ziya's medication run is over, I'm going to buy
a bag or two to use for the mix-it-with-the-regular-food weaning trick.
 
--
Teresa Knezek
http://www.mivox.com/
 
"Only the mediocre are always at their best."
        -- Jean Giraudoux
[Posted in FML issue 4576]