If you feed a balanced diet of ANY type you are not hurting your
ferrets and you are helping your ferrets. Seriously. Every choice has
its upsides and downsides.

There is a lot of hype out there and people sometimes become worried
(sometimes terribly so and it really bothers me when i get those
messages from people who have been worried by what others have written
because they should not be hurt that way). Then they are surprised
(though they should NOT be) that many, many of us have gotten excellent
longevity and health for decades with our choices rather than using
the choices of the person who has imposed so much guilt upon them.
(That doesn't mean that the food choice of the person who purposely
imposed guilt is wrong; it means that the imposition of guilt and the
intolerance of different choices are wrong, and most people using any
type of food choice don't treat others like that.)

Don't listen to extreme claims in either direction for any food under
discussion. If you feed a balanced diet (and quality kibbles ARE one
type of balanced diet, just as whole prey of mixed types with the
animals mature enough to have high enough mineral levels is a balanced
diet) then your ferrets will do well.

So, whatever YOU choose for YOUR ferrets is fine as long as it is
balanced. Don't let others whose statements are not balanced cause you
pain. You do not deserve pain. You have been doing fine.

If you want very balanced and incredibly well researched info I suggest
reading the past food posts of Danee DeVore (who feeds a combination of
approaches) and discussing what you learn from those with your vet. The
FML archives URL Is in the header of each day's FML.

No balanced diet is terrible and no type is perfect.

So, decide for yourself, be wary of extreme statements and intolerance,
and don't let others impose guilt that you don't deserve upon you. You
did not earn that pain so, please, do not embrace it.

Sukie (not a vet) whose personal choice is quality kibbles and some
home cooked things for treats

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/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 6243]