While I definitely am sorry for your loss I do NOT think that your
description indicates that you should blame that food choice and also
should not blame yourself for making that choice.

Your second description is worse than the first but unless the ferret
also had a malformation of the throat in that location it should not
have caused an obstruction. Lodged against the palate there is still
airway below while otherwise in that area it could be regurgitated.

I find myself wondering if the ferret was eating when something else
like a grande mal seizure or another problem of extreme magnitude
occurred. I do not recall you mentioning the medical history for this
ferret. In that case the combination of seizing while eating could
cause suffocation due to inability to respond normally and dislodge
the piece, but the original problem then is not the type of food but
that a seizure or other major problem happened while eating. That is
never a good combination.

In this case I think you are beating yourself up for a reason -- food
choice -- that does not appear to me to be a direct cause of the little
one passing, given your descriptions.

[Posted in FML 7145]