Suzanne wrote:
>YOU people need to provide the proof that what you are doing is safe.
>Not me, or anyone else.  We are not the ones jeopardizing the health of
>ferrets because of assumptions.  Neither of you have the credentials
>nor the scientific evidence to support that the methods being used for
>this transition are actually SAFE.  The "take my word for it" answer is
>unacceptable.
 
Just to make things a bit shorter for the long suffering FMLers who are
tired of this subject, I'm going to concentrate on the above excerpt
from an otherwise very long post as it seems to sum up the concerns.
 
Natural ferrets was not started by me, nor anyone I know personally (in
fact I am a relative newcomer).  What makes me a bit different is that I
am also an FMLer and post on both lists.  I have always been an advocate,
over the last 12 years, first of raw feeding and, more recently, of
natural feeding (Here, it seems, I also have to add the comment: NOT
LIVE).  Whenever FMLers has contacted me over the years expressing
interest in changing their ferrets diet to raw they have almost always
said that they tried it and their ferrets wouldn't eat it.  I couldn't
help then because I didn't know how.
 
Natural Ferrets was started by a person from the US and the group has
over 350 members from all over the world, but mainly the US.  Some of
those members are very experienced indeed.  In the experiences of myself
and other people in the the group, fasting a healthy ferret does not
cause harm and facilitates a speedy transition to a much healthier diet.
I don't need scientific proof to know that it works and is safe because I
have seen it happen and shared experiences of it happening more times
than any scientific experiment would be able to replicate.  Members also
share their experiences and ideas for making the switching process
easier.  It also has the advantage of being very non-hostile.
 
I think it's a shame that the FML has lost so many members over the
years, not because they didn't find it informative or interesting, but
because some posters made it so unpleasant by being hostile instead of
polite.  Like Sukie, I mourn the loss, from this list, of lovely people
who gave it such diversity, even if I did not always agree with them.
 
Shirley
Always for the Ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 5211]