The basic thing that the food differences come down to is that no one
can go completely wrong or completely right with a diet, whether it is
feeding animals to the ferrets or choosing good quality kibbles.

On the other hand, none of the choices are perfect, either.

If a person can prepare cooked animal foods which are balanced properly
for ferrets that might be the best compromise except when certain
kidney problems or other medical reason to not do so exist. (There are
sites to help do this.)

A number of prepared foods seem to be improving all of the time,
probably because the ferret community does have people who are
discriminating in their purchase choices, and also because the
technology involved in food making is beginning to improve enough to
allow more options. It's about time! Food makers themselves would like
more flexibility in how they design their products to best fulfill the
needs of ferrets, so it is good to see them beginning to get that.

The reason we personally don't feed raw is because even though the
diseases which can be caught are rare, far too many of them rate as
severe to fatal, so while there is a dearth of solid, well-challenged
(Important! Essential!), hard data about so many claims for and against
different diets we just know that what we are doing isn't perfect
because there isn't any perfect solution at this point in time. Kibble
may present texture, hardness, stickness, and carbohydrate content
considerations that might serve as downsides, but I am not yet
personally convinced that their impact is large enough to change our
approach. There may be (okay, will be) differences in opinion on any of
my choices or points, but until there is enough hard data which
survives challenges, esp. the challenges of experts that will be my
stance: that none of the diets is perfect os we each have our own ways
of weighing things and deciding.

In other words, as far as I am concerned, the best things for group
harmony -- tolerance and acceptance of people's own choices -- also
happen to be the only truly logical approaches to foods at this stage,
given what fragments we have of well-established knowledge that has
survived challenges.

Does that make people who do things differently from the way we do
wrong? Nope, just different, and each has its own upsides and downsides
so when a ferret gets ill always let the treating vet know what is
eaten and the condition in which it is eaten just as you also tell
about treats, and any supplements or meds of any type given. That is
only logical no matter what you happen to be feeding.

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.

Now, could we maybe have the people who are yelling at each other for
the way they are communicating perhaps consider going off-list for that
part.

HERE'S AN IDEA WHICH WOULD PROBABLY STOP ALL OF THE FIGHTING: when
people tell their own food choices they should list the downsides or
possible downsides of their own choices as well as the upsides. It not
only is more balanced and accurate, but it removes reasons for those
who see the problem differently to even reply.

Sound good?

-- 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 5400]