>What would happen if you fed a ferret nothing but meat? If all of
>the above is true (and, as I said, it sounds logical to me) then the
>natural assumption would be that reverting a ferret to a 100% meat
>(and water) diet would result in a resoundingly healthy and long-lived
>ferret.

Technically you are correct, however, probably the ideal diet would be
live prey.

I came across a video on U-Tube that showed a ferret eating a live
mouse. Of course it was most disturbing to me, not that the ferret was
acting naturally but that someone would find it amusing to post a video
of one animal killing another.

That aside - after I got my girls from the MaFF shelter, I decided to
order 5 lbs. of organic ground rabbit meat, shipped to me on dry ice
at a huge cost. To make a long story short, they wouldn't touch it! I
tried every which way to serve it, including mixing it in ferretone,
braising it, raw, etc.

No way! Jaws firmly clamped shut - acting like it was torture every
time I presented it. I ended up donating it to the MaFF shelter.

They now get Innova EVO Ferret, which admittedly does have potato
starch in it, but otherwise is high protein.

My understanding is that raw meat needs to be introduced at an early
age or their stubborn little minds will reject it.

Perhaps others have had more success introducing meat to older
fuzzies.

Tressie A. Dutchyn, MA
ID PhD student, Dalhousie University
Research Associate
Atlantic Interdisciplinary Research Network for Social & Behavioral
Issues Hepatitis C & HIV/AIDS
Department of Community Health & Epidemiology
Faculty of Medicine
Dalhousie University

[Posted in FML 5769]