Debi wrote:
>You said that ferrets in the wild do not get sick from food sitting
>around. You may have forgotten this but the ferrets we keep as members
>of our family are NOT Wild and have NOT been for Many, Many, Many
>Years. They are DOMESTICATED and are suseptable to things that their
>wild cousins are not.

I'd be interested to know how you think that domestication has changed
ferrets' susceptibility to things that their predecessors are not,
because I have never seen, nor read about, any evidence of this. I have
seen many diseases *caused* by how they are kept, but not because of
any evolutionary changes. When a ferret's diet is changed from kibble
to natural, the worst thing I have ever seen is very mild diarrhea for
a couple of days. This is normal and only lasts until the ratio of
organisms in the bowel sorts itself out. More often, there are no
adverse effects. On one of the groups I am with, the owners of the
ferrets that have successfully made the change, almost without
exception, comment on the almost immediate improvement in the energy
and coat quality of their ferrets (even when they believed that their
ferrets were already very healthy).

>You also stated that you have been feeding RAW for 14 years. NOW, my
>question to this is and I'm sure others would also like to know is
>how old is your OLDEST ferret that has been eating this way?
>My friend had a breeder ferret that was altered VERRY late that lived
>to almost 17 years. This ferret was fed olny a HIGH quality ferret
>kibble. I have also known and talked to ferret owner who also fed a
>kibble diet and their ferrets lived to be 12-20 years old.

And my response is the same as when you asked the question last time.

I have been feeding Raw for over 14 years and have never had a problem
with germs on the meat causing disease. My ferrets did have trouble
with their dental health however, so for the last 14 or 15 months I
have been feeding a NATURAL diet. Big difference!

Yes, a small percentage of kibble-fed ferrets will get lucky and escape
the disease, and there are no doubt stories of ferrets living to 20 on
a diet of bread & milk, just as there are probably people who live to
100 drinking whiskey every day and eating lots of junk food.
Unfortunately single cases aren't the best way to judge what is healthy
and what isn't.

It appears that the usual (not average) age for a healthy ferret to die
in the US is 7 years. This is way too young. Even my dear little
rescues with terrible teeth live longer than that.

As I've said on numerous occasions, it is too soon to say how a Natural
diet is going to impact on the ferrets' longevity because the oldest
ferrets that I know that have been on a natural diet all of their lives
are still only 4 years old. What is noticeable in the naturally fed US
ferrets, no matter at what age their diet was changed, is that they are
WELL. That is enough for me to be very optimistic that they will remain
well.

Many folk I know have changed from kibble to Natural because they had
already suffered the heartache of losing their ferrets too soon to
disease, or the cost of vet care to keep their ferrets alive was
crippling. (Not to mention the suffering that the ferret had to undergo
to stay alive,) Others are new to ferrets and want the very best for
their new little companions because they have heard that they get lots
of diseases. It's their choice.

And that, you may be thrilled to know, is all I have to say on the
subject...until next time. :-)

Shirley

[Posted in FML 5415]