>From:    Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: the Great Food Debate
>To Jim March and others who feel comfortable feeding their ferrets
>whatever-- I am in complete agreement with Dayna. ...
>My attitude is this if you are happy feeding your ferrets inferior foods,
>and do not mind the fact that their immune system could well be ( almost
>guaranteed) impaired due to the inability to absorb the proper nutrients
>from their food -- by all means be my guest feed them anything they are
>HAPPY with.
 
I guess what bothers me the most about this subject is the hypocrisy
involved.  For years, everybody was off and running with the
Iams-as-the-best-food-available belief, and the moment TF stepped into the
ring, Iams got left in the dust.
 
I don't doubt that TF is a good food, but like Iams and any other animal
food distributor, they are in it for the bucks.  Once we spoke with a man
who distirbuted ferret accessories and he told us "Ferrets are great -- put
ferret on the label and we can charge twice and three times as much for the
same products we sell for cats." Now, that's not to indicate that TF is
marketing a cat food for ferrets.  All I am pointing out is that we ferret
people are often so anxious for our pets to be recognized on the level dogs
and cats are, that we try to support anything out there made for ferrets.
On some levels this is a grand thing, but it can lead us into some real
self-righteousness.
 
We never have less than about 25-30 ferrets in the house, and we feed Iams /
Sensible Choice and 8-in-1 if we've been to the US recently.  Lots of people
know how much TF costs you Americans ... well, double that and add a couple
more dollars and you'll have some idea what exchange and shipping costs do
to the price for us Canadians.  I could no more afford to feed my ferrets TF
than I could to eat out at the Mongolie every meal of my life.
 
Whatever happened to Iams is a great food for ferrets?  This was the common
belief for years and years, based on nutritional information etc. etc..  Now
that we have TF, a huge wave of anti-Iamsism has swept the ferret community.
Has Iams changed their formula?  Are they putting more crap in their food?
I don't doubt that TF is a good food, and possibly a better food, but does
that makes Iams any less the great food for ferrets it has always been
purported to be?
 
We've raised a ton of ferrets on Iams food, and we have healthy and
beautiful old ferrets, bouncy and chubby young ferrets and healthy, good
weight middle aged ferrets as a result.  I love my ferrets and do the best I
can for them, and Iams always was that "best" until TF came along.  TF may
be better, but I don't think Iams has gotten worse.
 
I harldy think it fair to slam people for feeding their ferrets that very
food that 5 years ago everyone said was the best thing crunching.  People
used the same argument then in favour of Iams that I hear people using for
TF now.  I have nothing against TF, please understand that, although I
question the price, just like I questioned the price for Eukanuba for cats.
 
I bought a can of 8-in-1 wet food yesterday for the kits.  On the can it
says something to the effect of "while the nutritional requirements for
ferrets have not been determined, this product meets those requirements."
That statement boggles the mind - I'll be damned if I could meet a
requirement that hasn't yet been determined.
 
So if I've got the story straight, 5 years ago I was a darn good ferret
owner for feeding my ferrets Iams, the best food on the market.  Now I'm a
lousy cheapo creep who is feeding my ferrets crap because I don't care about
their health or the compromising of their immune systems?  Boy, am I ever
confused.
 
Sheena
Wherret Ferrets Halfway House and Ferretry
Ferret Association of Greater Vancouver
[Posted in FML issue 1699]