I've based my mix of different high quality kibbles on the advice of
several shelter operators, breeders, and other ferret owners who have
had lots of luck with both preventing boredom with diet and olfactory
imprinting and the resulting refusal of different foods.  (I had a
miserable time a few years ago when my order from my food supplier didn't
come, it was delayed by 3 weeks!  I had to scramble around to find a good
enough food locally, and all I could come up with was Eukanuba Kitten,
which was refused...so I had to syringe feed mush made with the Eukanuba
Kitten, water, and Nutrical.)
 
Since then I've fed a mix of foods, at least one or two that I can get very
easily.  I put in Iams Kitten and Maxximum Nutrition Kitten, both available
at Walmart, which is ALWAYS open around here.  Also, since then, I've
ordered at least 25 extra pounds of food that I leave sealed in their
bags...just in case.
 
When I first read about Bob Church's Chicken Gravy, I wasn't quite sure
about it.  I mean, BONES?  And my ferrets are going to EAT them?  And HOW
DO I GRIND UP AN ENTIRE CHICKEN?  But after hearing from people who had
good luck with the gravy, and were getting good results from their
insulinomic ferrets, I decided to try it.
 
Then I delved head first into Bob Church's Nutrition 101 articles.  I
printed them up, highlighted sections, took them to my vet.....who hadn't
heard of some of the stuff Mr. Church wrote of.  My vet then contacted
some colleagues who were more into studying nutrition, and gave me the
green light to start with the partially cooked meats and bones.
 
With the research I did and the advice of others who feed diets similar
to mine, I feel comfortable knowing that I'm doing something good for my
ferrets by feeding them a diet close to what their wild cousins eat.
 
With the research I did with my ferrets I'm strongly considering putting
my 5 cats onto a BARF diet too.
 
Melissa
[Posted in FML issue 3260]