>From:    "S.Hewett" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Natural Diet, The Down Side
>
>Her favourite passtime has always been to stash food....
>an enormous pile of meat, chicks, mice etc in various stages of decay.
 
One reason I prefer kibble & duk soup.  Another being, my ferret won't
eat raw/cooked chicken & I don't feel like starving him into submission.
And I brush his teeth several times a wk.
 
The "natural is common sense approach" is NOT common sense thinking.  For
millenia it was common sense that trash left in the alley transformed
into rats, that human waste dumped in room corners or streets was
sanitary disposal, and even common sense for decades that ferrets killed
infants & spread disease.
 
One never knows wether a ferrets good condition has to do with genetics,
diet, stress environment, geographics or other factors, until dilligent
application of scientific method produces more reliable results.  Quite
frankly, until someone does a proper research study that determines
ferret fed raw/cooked chicken or freeze dried mice live longer with less
occurrence of disease than ferrets fed kibble, I will continue to prefer
kibble and expect fellow FMLers to respect me and my decision, as I
appreciate & respect theirs.
 
>Date:    Sat, 25 Feb 2006 00:32:44 -0500
>From:    Lin Talbot-Koehl <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Whoever thinks they can say w/ some authority that diseases such as MS
>"are known to also sometimes trace to certain zoonotic viruses", surely
>has been overlooked for a Nobel Prize in Medicine.
 
In logic the weakest form of argument is the ad hominum (attack upon
the person rather than the statement made).  While it is legitimate
to request citations to support her conclusions, snide comments like
this tend to negate the rest of your statemnt.
 
One reason scientific method is highly respected knowledge base is that
its a process designed that requires the ability of others to repeat the
study with similar results before drawing valid conclusions.  Of course
as better studies addressing various conditions & variables demonstrate
a change, the scientific opinion will change.  This is a far preferable
condition to relying on authority opinion, as there is never an
"authority" authoritative enough on any particular topic.
 
For instance, if you want to suggest only those with Nobel Prizes should
speak on issues of ferret health, than perhaps Bob Church's thoughts on
ferret nutrition are not authoritative since he is neither a vet nor
bioligist specializing in nutrition & diseases in ferrets.  And although
he is not a recognized expert in the scientific field of ferret health,
I'm looking forward to making his duk soup for my lil one.
 
So wether we feed kibble, cooked chicken, raw chicken, or freeze-dried
mice, can we all agree it is a personal decision for each ferret owner
to determine what they believe is best for their pet?  And can we all
agree we can be skeptical of other feeding methods without resorting to
negating the merits of them?  And, most of all, as we all have a right
to our opinions, can we agree to keep fair criticism aimed at posters'
arguments, not their persona or credentials?
 
Because if we can't agree on those 3 things then the logical conclusion
is, since there is no general consensus on what is best for our ferrets,
we must simply agree there are no right answers, none of us are qualified
to have any authoritative opinions, and we shouldn't talk about ferret
health & nutrition on FML.
 
"Intelligence is like 4-wheel drive.  It allows you to get stuck in more
'remote' places."
 
~ Garrison Keillor ~
[Posted in FML issue 5165]