The freeze dried meatsicles aren't commercially available products. I
make them myself! The meatsicles are 1 pound of every ground meat I can
put my hands on - pork, beef ( the high fat version), chicken, turkey,
lamb. Then I grind up chicken livers and hearts and mash all this
together with a potato masher. Spoon into ice cube trays and freeze.
Pop the cubes out onto a tray and let the frost free freezer continue
to freeze dry them.

After several days I have to cut the cubes into slices for more drying.
But what I'll try with my next batch is to just smear a thin layer of
the ground meats onto a wax paper lined tray and allow the freeze
drying to take place from the start. Then I'll use a pizza cutter to
make pieces.

NO plant products, grains, herbs or indigestible stuff at all in this!
The freeze drying doesn't ruin as many nutrients as cooking, or as much
as heat dehydrating and creates a chewy tough piece of meat that will
help scrub their teeth better than just offering raw ground meats.

I am using this as an intro to raw. The ferrets will NOT and could NOT
survive on this as ground meats are just muscle meats. And muscle meats
alone are severely lacking in many nutrients, especially vitamin D - so
rickets would be a result if this is all they ate. My goal is to get my
two new additions eating whole prey like my Josie girl does!

While the F &F team will eat the meaty offerings dusted with Duck soup
mix, Josie will not. Last night Faylene ate some freeze dried meatsicle
with NO "seasoning".

I am raising my own mice and feeding them an all natural diet too -
they get to eat the superworms Josie doesn't eat any more. They also
eat crickets, sprouts, sunflower seeds, rolled oats, apples, and they
get the left over bones, some freeze dried meaty pieces and of course
fresh water.

The ferret's prey diet includes: crickets, mice, rats, chicks, Cornish
game hen, chicken necks,gizzards, hearts, livers ( fed whole as well
as mixed into the meatsicles) turkey necks, rabbit, earthworms, some
palmetto bugs and spiders - Josie will catch them - I can't handle
spiders and on Sunday I give a raw egg, with the shell pulverized to
offer up its calcium!

Because the ferret will gnaw and eat the bones of the prey they'll get
the calcium and phosphorous they need.

Experiment and keep offering - many times they'll sniff, walk away, and
return or ignore the "foreign stuff". Experiment with textures - fresh
raw, frozen raw, dried raw, warmed raw, freeze dried raw, seasoned with
crushed kibble or duck soup, when offering the whole prey expect to
have partially eaten items stashed until the ferret considers the meat
properly "aged".

While I go about the house and retrieve "prizes" every few days I'll
inadvertently miss some and Josie delights in flaunting this by racing
by me with her rediscovered prize! She's been particularly miffed
lately since the F&F team have been discovering her goodies too!

Don't worry if one stashed piece seems particularly odoriferous and
you catch your ferret devouring this delectable goody! AS long as your
ferret is NOT already compromised in some systemic fashion, contrary
to naysayers against raw feeding programs your ferret will NOT keel
over from Salmonella or any other bacterial onslaught! These little
carnivores are designed to eat raw meaty prey as well as carrion. You
might have a bit of gooey poops in the litter box, and maybe a gaseous
ferret, but they'll be happy little carnivores! Don't allow them a
steady diet of these colorful pieces of course, but an occasional one
won't kill them either ( just aggravate your nose).

Vary the ages, amounts, and types of whole prey and RMB and you'll
cover your bases on nutrients. To those folks that counter with " Well
a prey/raw diet doesn't give the ferret all the nutrients required", I
say - SHOW me exactly WHAT the ferret has been proved to nutritionally
require! There have been NO studies done to prove the ferret's nutrient
requirements! So ANY and EVERY kibble mfr that claims their product is
"nutritionally complete for ferrets" is stating a falsehood right from
the start!

Every last kibble product I've seen is loaded with plant matter that
the ferret cannot digest! So why do they insist on putting it in a
package designed to feed an obligate carnivore? Because it cuts down on
their cost and increases their profit margin! They'll say "No grains"
but then they put in high carb tapioca, or potato or rice - YUCK! And
then they add herbs and fruits and veggies as if WE were the ones
eating this kibble!

When I watch how my Josie girl relishes her meaty bones and positively
glows when offered a mouse - that's all I need to encourage a change
for the F&F team. Josie's last vet visit and blood test revealed a
very healthy, strong, active ferret.

Not squishy, lethargic and overweight. So, I'll stick with a species
specific diet and just shake my head at the kibble companies and their
successful duping of the consumer. Too, I cry sometimes when reading of
the insulinomic ferrets and the pain their owners go through when their
beloved pets pass on within just a few years of being born.

Sorry to be so long winded, but this is a subject I am very passionate
about!

Cheers,
Kim

[Moderator's note: Please remember... factual info is fine, but this
topic always causes much "debate".  Please let's keep it calm, with
factual or well reasoned opinions!  BIG]

[Posted in FML 5655]