Hmmm, wonder what those mustelids ate to survive during starting over
16 million years ago? Definitely NOT kibble! Since KIBBLE has only
been manufactured for about 100 years and FERRET kibble only the last
several decades! Oh gee, could they maybe have evolved eating small
mammals, birds, invertebrates, lizards, frogs, rodents, rabbits and
even carrion? Please, say it ain't so!

This interesting study came to light recently (for those NEEDING
published scientific studies) about a scientific comparison of raw,
cooked and kibbled diets fed to cats:
<http://evolveanimalnutrition.blogspot.com/2012/03/raw-diet-research-finally.html>

The study was focusing on "digestibility, fecal characteristics, urine
characteristics, and serum chemistry" between the three types of diets:
Raw, Cooked (from raw), and Grain free Kibble. The raw and cooked diet
was beef based, they didn't expound upon the brand of kibble - so the
meat protein sources of the kibble are unknown - we can only guess that
maybe they were also using a beef based kibble.

The study's end results bolster what those of us that feed raw already
have discovered regarding digestibility:

Fecal output of eating raw is about half that of kibble and ammonia
release is much less - according the the study its about 3 times less!

The study also lists BCFA totals (Branched chained fatty acids) left
over and considering their description of BCFA as being "putrefactive
compounds produced during colonic fermentation of endogenously produced
and non-absorbed amino acids.", its good to know that feeding raw
creates 2 and 1/2 times less than what kibble creates! With
Putrifaction being defined as:enzymatic decomposition, especially of
proteins, with the production of foul-smelling compounds, such as
hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and mercaptans; this is just one reason
that ferrets fed raw diets don't smell as bad as kibble fed ferrets
do; neither on their bodies, nor in their litter pans!

The study clearly recognizes that protein in kibble is not as
digestible as protein in raw, with raw being 15% MORE digestible than
kibble! Digestible energy from raw is almost 7% MORE than kibble! This
study used a grain free, kibble as a comparison. Its pretty safe to
surmise that if the cats were fed grain based kibbles, there would be
even wider gaps in the percentage differences as well as the fecal
matter output, ammonia and BCFA.

When you start crunching the numbers( no pun intended - well, maybe
not) it becomes apparent that ferrets would have to eat so much more
kibble than raw but still cannot glean the same amount of energy and
digesting kibble creates so much more odor, so feeding raw is a win-
win method!

I, for one, will look forward to their further studies they promise to
do on whole prey this summer! FINALLY a study done for those that need
proof that feeding RAW offers more benefits than kibble!

Cheers,
Kim

for ferret help and info:
http://holisticferret.proboards60.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets

[Moderator's note: When I pointed out to Kim that the study also
investigated COOKED food and the differences between cooked and raw
were less pronounced, she suggested I could add the following:

"I'm not so convinced of the very small changes the study illustrated
regarding cooked and raw - there isn't much info on the method of
cooking. Furthermore the benefit of feeding raw offers safe edible
bones. Unless you boil the snot out of a whole raw carcass, the cooking
will make the bones dangerous. Dry cooking methods will increase the
brittleness of the bones and charcoal cooking of course adds those
carcinogens to the food. Most cooking sites will indicate that heat
changes or destroys many nutrients. So yes, I focused on the raw
results which showed significant differences from kibble diets.

This was only a 60 day study too - and there wasn't much description
of the "beef based diet". As raw feeders know, a meat only diet will
soon shortchange the animal on necessary nutrients. The abstract
specifically mentioned they were not testing for nutrients and
minerals. It takes longer than 60 days for nutrient and mineral
deficiencies to show problems.

Too, they didn't note, if any, changes in the cat's behaviors, oral
health, coat changes, energy levels etc. which are all areas that show
immense improvement for raw fed ferrets. But as the abstract noted,
the main focus was upon simple digestibility.

If you want to use these paragraphs as an addendum to my post - feel
free...  Kim"    BIG]

[Posted in FML 7369]