Actually, I see no problem except for ferrets with certain medical
problems, and those same risk factors are shared by a number of other
foods.
There are past discussions which can be looked up on why peas might
be a problem for certain ferrets. The difficulty may be that the
individuals who are prone to getting cystine uroliths could have
specific aspects of the peas act together to create these BUT ANY
HIGH PROTEIN FOOD ALREADY POSES A RISK FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS.
That is because the individuals who have cystine crystallize out have a
genetic kidney problem. When their bodies get too much of ANY of four
amino acids (amino acids being the building block of proteins), the so
called COLA Group -- which is comprised of cystine, ornithine, lysine,
and arginine -- their kidneys cause cystine to precipitate out and then
it forms crystals which may become slush or may become stones. Either
can cause a blockage, usually at the urethra leading from the bladder,
and can be life threatening.
But again: a high protein diet already poses that risk for the
individuals who have that genetic vulnerability. Those individuals
need to be on a 35% or lower protein diet and a few need meds.
Ferrets get multiple types of uroliths, which literally means urinary
stones, and the treatments for some are opposite of the treatments for
others. For example, the most common stones, struvite -- which can be
from a diet too high in vegetable matter or from infection -- often
call for acidifiers but giving acidifiers to a ferret with cystine
uroliths is going to worsen the problem. That is why a ferret with
stones or slush needs those checked by a urolith lab and why the urine
pH also needs to be checked.
How common are these ferrets who are placed at risk by high protein
diets? If you buy from a breeder with it in the line then do not give
high protein diets or certain other possible risk factors. In over
three decades with ferrets in our family, most from commercial
breeders originally we have had two ferrets with this vulnerability be
expressed. Of course, high protein diets are a RECENT thing, so before
those high protein diets existed we might well have had vulnerable
ferrets who simply had a low enough protein diet to not get the stones.
In other words, how common the vulnerability is is an unknown, but most
ferrets probably will not have it. If the urine pH is low then the
individual might be at higher risk. On the pH scale low is more acidic
and high is more alkaline. Different things precipitate out more easily
at different pH levels. Cystine precipitates out with more acidic urine
and struvite precipitates out with more alkaline urine, for example.
Years ago a British biochemist with knowledge I simply do not have,
presented a mechanism through which a diet too high in sulphur (also
accurately spelled sulfur) and something else that escapes my memory
might also contribute to forming cystine uroliths. Okay, I just looked
it up. She said that when items high in the amino acid methionine
are eaten along with ones high in sulphur that the body utilizes the
sulphur to convert some of the methionine into more cystine. Again, any
diet high in protein will be likely to have high protein building block
-- amino acids -- content. She wanted to retain her anonymity so sent
it to me before I retired from being an owner and moderator of the FHL.
I ran it by a few vets. The only one who did not feel comfy with it
replied months later, but that vet was also not familiar with the COLA
Group info which had been shared by three noted urolith experts, so not
up on the topic in general. Anyway, the same interaction creating more
cystine using methionine and sulphur could be caused by having two
foods with one high in one and the other food in the other.
For other ferrets who have kidney disease high protein itself can be
hard on the kidneys, again IF they they have kidney disease,
Organs are fine. Actually regular chicken byproduct meal FROM A
REPUTABLE ORIGIN which also contains some skin, and a tiny bit of
feathers, etc is usually fine. I forget which nutrient it is but
chicken feathers are actually so high in one nutrient that they are
used to make it as a supplement. The problem is that some low grade
ones have far too many feathers instead of better content, also, some
nations do not control what us added and what is given to food animals
very well.
Organs are not only good protein sources but also are great mineral
sources. Muscle meat itself is piss-poor in a range of needed nutrients
which can be found in the organs.
I am copying the FML because a similar topic came up there recently
and this covers holes in that discussion which not everyone will have
looked up.
[Posted in FML 7971]
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