Dr. Williams and Amy:
I'm afraid that a portion of my message was misunderstood.  The numbers
that I gave were of the analysis of the actual mother's milk of ferrets -
NOT an analysis of a milk replacer.
 
I did say that I had received a copy of the analysis of mother's milk of
numerous species from Pet-Ag the makers of milk replacers.  You can get a
copy of this list from:
Pet-Ag, Inc.
30W432 Route 20
Elgin, IL  60120
or call:  708-741-3131  - I spoke with Debra Hoffmann who was more than
happy to send me this list as well as some ferret info written by Thomas
J. Burke, DVM, MS.
 
The reason for my original question (hope I can clarify this), was that
according to this list cat milk contains 42.2 protein (% of solids) yet
most adult cat foods on the market contain protein levels around 32%.  There
Therefore, if we feed adult cats a food containing less protein than that
of mother's milk, why do we feed ferrets foods containing MORE protein
than their mother's milk?  Even mink have relatively low protein levels
in their milk.
 
Hope this was a little clearer - Writing is not my strong point -
Jan M. Lovell - GDFA
 
[Posted in FML issue 0754]