There is a fascinating press release:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/uoc--uss072706.php
today which gets across just one aspect of how aspects of the diet:
like differences in contents and balances of proportions in different
foods can affect health.
 
Because it is a prostate study which involves inflammatory and anti-
inflammatory products I have a question out to an adrenal growth
researcher i know asking if perhaps the prostates of male ferrets with
adrenal growths would benefit from a diet with a higher percentage of
omega 3 (fish oil, flax seed oil, etc.) in the diet compared to omega 6
(red meats, corn oil, safflower oil).  Certainly, a higher amount of
omega 3 compared to omega 6 has been shown to be useful in other
aspects of ferret health, especially kidney health.
 
This can be read about in the FHL archives:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
by searching in some posts from AFERRETVET (Dr. Jerry Murray).
Examples:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG14864,
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG15335,
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG11849,
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG10459 which includes:
>Unfortunately we do not know the exact requirements of the fatty
>acids in ferrets, so we have to extrapolate from what we do know from
>mink and from cats.  Cats are obligate carnivores also, and their
>"wild diet" would be mice, rats, and other small prey just like a
>ferret's "wild diet." The problem with a diet that gets below a 5 to 1
>ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids is clotting inhibition.  A 1
>to 1 ratio would likely cause the animal to have severe clotting
>deficiencies and possibly even bleed to death.  That is why the
>recommended ratio is 5-1 to 10-1.
 
I.E.:  A diet heavy in red meat may pose some concerns partly from
throwing the ratio of Omega Fatty Acids out of whack, and may call
for the addition of fish, or fish oil (not cod liver oil) or flax
seed oil.
 
>UCLA researchers found that altering the fatty acid ratio found in
>the typical Western diet to include more omega-3 fatty acids and
>decrease the amount of omega-6 fatty acids may reduce prostate
>cancer tumor growth rates and PSA levels.
...
>one of the first to show the impact of diet on lowering an
>inflammatory response
...
>The omega-6 fatty acids contained in corn, safflower oils and red
>meats are the predominant polyunsaturated fatty acids in the
>Western diet. The healthier marine omega-3 fatty acids are found in
>cold-water fish like salmon, tuna and sardines.
...
>"This study strongly suggests that eating a healthier ratio of
>these two types of fatty acids may make a difference in reducing
>prostate cancer growth, but studies need to be conducted in humans
>before any clinical recommendations can be made."
...
>The most likely mechanism for the tumor reductions, according to
>researchers, was due to an increase of the prostate tumor omega-3
>fatty acids DHA and EPA and a lowering of the omega-6 acid known as
>arachidonic acid. These three fatty acids compete to be converted
>by cyclooxgenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2) into prostaglandins,
>which can become either pro-inflammatory and increase tumor growth,
>or anti-inflammatory and reduce growth.
...
>higher levels of DHA and EPA may lead to development of more anti-
>inflammatory prostaglandins.
 
There are ways in which a wild diet can be more accurately simulated by
feeding other raw foods, and other ways in which a natural diet can be
more accurately simulated artificially if the right animal models are
used because animals vary a substantial amount in the balance of
nutrients in their contents.  There actually are some pet foods which are
carefully based upon the nutrient proportions of specific prey animals.
(It must not be assumed that all kibbled diets are equal because that is
far from accurate.) The question becomes whether the right prey animals
were used or if any type of diet should reflect more aquatic animal
content to accurately be based on an ancestral diet -- and the same
question exists on that score for natural diets as for kibbled ones.
Hopefully, eventually both diets will be able to be brought closer to
the wild diet for young animals who do not have health reasons to not be
on them.  (For older animals a diet is perhaps better based on medical
needs, as with humans.)
 
There still is far more unknown about ferret dietary needs than is known
though progress is being made, and that is always useful to remember.
Time is for learning and adjusting according to what is learned.
[Posted in FML issue 5322]