Someone asked on the FML (I think.) how to prove that a vegetarian diet
is not sufficient for ferrets. One way may be to tell about the amino
acids they can not themselves produce but must get from diet, since
some like taurine are in incredibly short supply in plant foods.
Taurine usually comes from animal sources.

A resource:
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-7f.shtml A
small part of what it says and which you should verify: > Taurine is
plentiful in nature, except in the plant kingdom, and is > required
in the metabolism of all mammals. Cats, an obligate > carnivore, have
lost their ability to synthesize taurine, which > implies a long
evolutionary dependence on foods that contain taurine.

Ferrets, too, need taurine sources.

If you can access it (I can not.) then this, too, might be useful:
>[PPT] Protein Requirements of Dogs and Cats
>File Format: Microsoft Powerpoint - View as HTML
>Taurine sources:. Plant-based feedstuff sources do not contain
>taurine; Animal products (meat, poultry, fish) contain 0.1 -- 0.2%
>taurine (DM basis) ...
> <http://www.anslab.iastate.edu/Class/AnS320/13%20Protein%20Requirements%20of%20Dogs%20and%20Cats.ppt>

I am NOT familiar with either of those refs so check them!

There are a great many rumors about sources of nutrients, and how any
preservatives "must" be bad, and so on, but a lot of those are without
legs to stand on when checked. So always check, check and check again
with reputable sources. It's not that some concerns don't bear out, but
some others turn out to originate with people worrying and then scaring
others instead of looking things up. So, everyone, do yourselves a
favor and worry less, while hitting your resources more often.

Actually, I feel like rattling my brains. I am trying to recall which
of the amino acids is the majority component of feathers. Ah, here:
http://trj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/314 
older (pg 11 but they say their techniques could change some levels):
<http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artid=1215430&pageindex=4#page>

Sukie (not a vet)
Current FHL address:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5580]