Shirley, it is ironic that you posted about zoo diets because one of
the references I provided yesterday was about problems minimizing
infections to large cats in zoos from raw diet, and another was about
BFF zoo setting deaths related to that component in just such a diet.
So, yeah, the food can cause problems there, too.

IMPORTANT: In major zoos they have specialists who can design a diet to
be balanced. The average ferret person may not do so. JUST FEEDING RAW
MEAT IS ***NOT*** BALANCED. Such a diet is sorely lacking in minerals
and other nutrients and is a poor diet whether cooked or raw. Notice
that when Shirley talks about feeding raw she provides a LOT more than
meat!

If you (anyone) are among those who have not been feeding whole animals
check to see if
http://www.bogartsdaddy.com/Bouvier/Health/raw_meat_tristans_story.htm
still exists because it had a link to some professional veterinary
nutritionists who were helping people design balanced diets for free,
so hopefully that group still exists. If it does exist, please, use it!

Oh, okay, look here:
http://www.petdiets.com/

We need to get them to include ferret specific portions in several
sections!

Okay, back to zoos. Some also have freezers which can get all the way
down to the -20' C which is within the range of -20' C to -80' C (For
those preferring 'F that translates to -4' F to -112' F.) needed to
kill off salmonella well enough in recent studies noticed in PubMed.
Standard home and grocery freezing temps don't cut it in that regard
according to . I figure people can look these temps up themselves and
otherwise can see expert resources like these additional ones to
supplement the ones already in the archives:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Duck_&_Goose_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Beef_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp
http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/x8124e/x8124e06.htm
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/a2z-s.html

Weird the way the timing worked. If I hadn't gotten that guy's
insulting letter I'd never have looked up the refs I found for
yesterday's FML.

Okay, let's get to some basics of how natural selection works because
if the argument is going to be made that ferrets' evolutionary history
plays a part (which it certainly does so don't misread me to think
otherwise, please) then some basics have to be remembered. The biggest
one to remember in relation to pet ferrets is that it has NOTHING --
nada, zilch, nothing at all, zip -- to do with longevity in ferrets.
It involves who succeeds in passing down genetic code in greater
proportions and once you get past the reproductive years the only way
that can involve the older animals is when the old ones naturally and
normally assist in the rearing and protection of the children of
younger generations (increased survival of childhood) which ferrets and
polecats do NOT do. BUT even when a person considers a species like
humans where elders did help younger generations the survival of the
young outweighs that of the elders. (BTW, in relation to elder health
there is now a pretty strong hypothesis that a genetic causes of
Alzheimers ALSO helps juveniles survive bouts of malnutrition including
extreme childhood diarrheal diseases with reduced rates of mental and
physical damage, so it serves a very beneficial function because during
bouts of severe disease or lack of food it improves survival and
therefore it gets passed along even though it causes severe problems
after the reproductive years are past -- IF the study pans out. See
resources such as
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/uovh-uf111006.php
 and
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-02/jhub-ema021302.php )

So, expect some overlap from evolutionary past into what is the best
diet, BUT expect changes in what is optimal to be completely able to
exist beyond the reproductive years (so far that has turned out to be
the case in multiple species, BTW). We all want our ferrets to survive
well beyond those reproductive ages! Over time there will be more info
on what is optimal. For now, nothing is perfect and people just have to
deal with that while letting vets know what is given and knowing the
bad as well as the good of their own choices whatever those happen to
be.

BTW, sorry about submitting *everyone else* to my getting so angry with
the man who didn't read any of the references I provided but wrote me
demanding that I provide more references or shut up. The single person
who can end discussions when they need ending or can tell people to not
contribute is the moderator, Bill Gruber. Still, it turned out lucky
that I went afield because the references given wound up being fits for
the arguments presented by others, so what the heck.

Sukie (not a vet)
Reminder:  THE FERRET HEALTH LIST IS MOVING.
To join, click on the joining link at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth and then follow the
directions.

OR just send a blank mail to the automated joining address:

[log in to unmask] and then follow the directions.

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/

[Posted in FML 5427]