Chris L said:
>The only thing a ferret gets out of fruit especially dried fruit is lots
>of sugar, raisins are 70% sugar and very bad for ferret teeth.  The ferret
>gets vertuly no nutritional value from fruit and some dried fruit is a
>health hazard due to blockages.  Kibble fed ferrets are already feed a
>diet far too high in digestible sugars why pump more poison into them.
 
Well, I don't agree with everything, but let's focus on a very important
and correct point.  Dried fruit does provide little nutrition for a ferret,
and ferrets really aren't built to handle fiber.  I haven't seen a ferret
blocked on fruit, but I have no doubt it could happen if you gave a lot at
one time..  I generally don't give any fruit treats to the ferrets - we cut
out raisins a while back.  I think like most other things, though - if done
in moderation, you probably can get away with it.
 
I'm no nutritionist, I only know about disease.  and BTW, never seen a
caries in a ferret.  They seem to have a different mouth chemistry than
humans and probably aren't exposed to a high enough level of refined
sugars on a daily basis to develop caries.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3203]