I read a post about someone feeding raisins and other non-meat items
to ferrets on the FML. Not knowing the source, as I did not remember
reading it in past issues, I just want to comment.

Ferrets are obligate carnivores. Just because they can put non-meat
items into their bodies and survive does not mean they should be
allowed to have them.

A ferret's intestines do not have the length or the structure to digest
fruits and vegetables. They can break down, sometimes, yes. But the
absorption is not there.

I picked up a ferret who had been fed apples. Apples. For a week. He
pooped out exactly what was in the dish when I picked him up. This
ferret was so tired and malnourished his head lay in the dish he was
eating from. He didn't move when I picked him up.

Remember that any nutritional value of VALUE to a ferret comes from
things they can properly digest.

And remember that in Exotic DVM Magazine (which I doubt many of us
read, I happen to get it through my school's library) the number one
cause of obstructions vets see and talk about in interviews is food.
Raisins, carrots, things ferrets should not be eating in the first
place. Dried fruit is the worst but fresh fruit also "does the trick"
if it is not finely diced. Many people go without issues but why on
earth would people risk it?

[Posted in FML 6290]