Sukie wrote:
>>Until there is good hard data which survives strict peer review and
>>challenges feeding remains just is a situation where no one except
>>people feeding junk need to ride the guilt train.
Shirley replied:
>I totally agree with Sukie that we should not feel guilty about what
>we feed our ferrets. We have been led to believe that processed food,
>because it has been formulated by scientists and vets, must be the
>healthiest option...
Thanks for providing your resource. There is also a Susan Brown one in
your favor, BUT ***NOT ALL VETS AGREE*** AT ALL as searching the
archives will quickly show people. There are also excellent veterinary
arguments against raw feeding, most about the seriousness of possible
infections (bacterial and parasitic), and they, too, are truly
excellent arguments. When even the experts accept that there is no
perfect choice -- with every side having both downsides and upsides
that do not clearly weigh more heavily in any direction -- I think that
we are a lot better served by reminding ourselves of that absence of
any perfect solution than by arguing, and what better way than by
acknowledging what supports choices other than our own, and the
downsides of our own choices.
There simply is no perfect choice.
I think it makes sense for each post (from ANY side) on food to present
a bit of each side whether it is mentioning the downsides of one's own
choice (as I did yesterday about kibble which is still our main choice)
or directing people to resources for the other side (See above.),
accepting that no choices are perfect. That way a balance it better
achieved and people will be more inclined to remember that they are
discussing an open issue rather than acting as defenders or attackers.
It is great way to avoid fights and to retain one's own fairest
balance, I think.
My reason goes beyond this, though. I think that by all of us keeping
ourselves open by acknowledging what could go wrong with our own
choices -- no matter what they are -- then we also are more alert to
the medical concerns which either are or may be associated with each,
and that allows for better choices and actions when veterinary issues
arise with anyone's loved four-footed family members once either enough
years have passed or luck has run out.
I think that everyone here is big enough to be able to present
arguments from both sides, and that having people on every side respect
each side by doing that will really help everyone most and be most
accurate, especially for protecting the ferrets, so I hope that people
take this suggestion seriously.
If a person is providing a balanced diet, whether it is a better
kibble, or home provided food, then there is no reason to feel guilt.
There is EVERY GOOD REASON to know the downsides of one's own choices,
though, no matter what it is, because that best protects the ferrets,
so I look forward to seeing everyone being willing to point out not
only why they made their own choices but ALSO what is in the favor of
other approaches, and what the weaknesses of their own most recent
choices are. Doing so makes it not about debate but about the ferrets
and does so with respect and love.
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love
them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML 5402]
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