It doesn't appear that readers are actually opening any more links or
doing any more reading about the endocannabinoid system. Because if
they did they might talk about the eCB instead of trying to misdirect
the discussion to LH and FSH GnRH and Scandinavia and bungee jumping
or cliff diving.

Travelers needn't have to scuba dive to discover just how deep is
the river or measure the depth of a crevasse in order to cross! Most
travelers do rely on paths or roads or bridges built by others. But
some travelers discover certain bridges are unstable or roads full of
potholes and chose to take an entirely different path!

Sukie, you wrote about activity levels and its effects on reducing
health problems, yet kibble fed ferrets have nowhere NEAR the energy
level or stamina of natural fed ferrets. Thanks for that reiteration.
An ounce of kibble does not offer the same TDN (total digestible
nutrients) as an ounce of mouse - the proof is in the poop! That alone
should encourage more folks to offer natural raw foods. A scientific
white paper isn't necessary to prove what I've experienced or to
observe what's already been approved by mother nature.

It isn't necessary to feed my ferrets kibble for 30 years and watch
them suffer horrible diseases to know that feeding them naturally for
the past 6 years is healthier for them! What "genius" made the leap
to feed an obligate carnivore corn, wheat, rice, barley, fruits and
vegetables and went on to promote this as an ideal food for an animal
that cannot even digest it? Yup, a profiteer with great marketing
skills and illustrators to draw on the bag pretty pictures of meat (and
vegetables and fruit) and wording to claim what is in the bag meets or
exceeds the ferret's nutritional requirements (except that these ACTUAL
requirements are unknown).

Did you read about the eCB and its role with insulin?

The endocannabinoid system is still being discovered, evaluated,
researched and so far what HAS been discovered IS shedding light on how
an organisms well being is completely intertwined. Endocrine systems
create and dispense hormones that affect various actions, growth and
reactions within the body and they can only do so with proper feedback
from the body. Removal of integral parts WILL cause problems. Like that
dining room table - remove one leg and it may remain upright - but
stability is lost. You can still set it and load it with the family
meal but eventually everything crashes!

The eCB is also explained here:
<http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-endocannabinoid-system-and-energy-metabolism/>

"Abstract
Many different regulatory actions have been attributed to
endocannabinoids, and their involvement in several pathophysiological
conditions is under intense scrutiny. Cannabinoid receptors cannabinoid
receptor type 1 (CB1) and CB2 participate in the physiological
modulation of many central and peripheral functions. The ability of
the endocannabinoid system to control appetite, food intake and energy
balance has recently received considerable attention, particularly in
the light of the different modes of action underlying these functions.
The endocannabinoid system modulates rewarding properties of food by
acting at specific mesolimbic areas in the brain. In the hypothalamus,
CB1 receptors and endocannabinoids are integrated components of the
networks controlling appetite and food intake. Interestingly, the
endocannabinoid system was recently shown to control several metabolic
functions by acting on peripheral tissues such as adipocytes,
hepatocytes, the gastrointestinal tract, the skeletal muscles and the
endocrine pancreas. The relevance of the system is further strengthened
by the notion that visceral obesity seems to be a condition in which
an overactivation of the endocannabinoid system occurs, and therefore
drugs interfering with this overactivation by blocking CB1 receptors
are considered as potentially valuable candidates for the treatment
of obesity and related cardiometabolic risk factors."

more here:
<http://www.mendeley.com/research/endocannabinoid-system-new-target-regulation-energy-balance-metabolism/>

more on the eCB's emerging role of regulating the endocrine system:
<http://www.mendeley.com/research/emerging-role-endocannabinoid-system-endocrine-regulation-energy-balance-3/>

What I am putting forward is that the kibble manufacturers, especially
the ones with the so called animal nutritionists sporting PhDs, know
very well that while a ferret IS an obligate carnivore they also have a
sweet tooth, so in order to fool the ferret into eating products they
normally would ignore - the manufacturers put sweeteners in their foods
and these sweeteners speak to the ferret's eCB which trigger responses
to fool the body into wanting more!

That was where I started, but what is coming to light (from further
reading) is how MUCH the eCB system influences the body and NOT just
the dietary parts - but also the musculoskeletal system, reproductive
system,even stress handling!

Is it necessary to crash my car to see if the seat belts, airbags and
engine cut off work? Or should I continue to drive safely and take
responsibility for my own safety? Why should feeding naturally be such
a hard concept to accept when mother nature has already proved what
works best for the ferret?.

Cheers,
Kim

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

[Posted in FML 7347]