The myth of the chicken bones has endured for many years.  I don't know
why chicken bones have been the bones picked on and the nearest I've been
able to come to a conclusion is that humans have always consumed a whole
lot chickens in it's history and tossed the bones to the critters.
COOKED chicken bones are a big no-no THOSE are what are most likely to
cause problems.  My dogs have been on a raw meaty bone diet for over 2
years and there are people whose dogs have been on it much longer than
that...one of the main staples happens to be chicken for many owners.
Whole carcass is best but we do what we can.
 
I am one who encouragse ferret owners to educate themselves about feeding
their ferrets a raw natural diet as that is what their little fuzzies
were designed to eat.  Whole rodents, rabbit, day old chicks, etc.
There's just as much danger in eating that fare as there is eating crap
in a bowl.  I'm sorry, I find kibble disgusting and really I believe
there to be more danger in eating that than a natural diet with raw meaty
bones and whole carcasses.
 
As far as veterinarians go....Pfffttt.  Most of them have a capital
interest in what your pet eats, just look in the lobby.  How many tell
you to feed the Hills Science diet brand of feline food to your ferrets?
They're trained to tell you a natural diet is bad mostly to protect their
own butts by telling you to feed something "safe and packaged".  I know
this for a fact since I'm in the field of veterinary medicine and the
main reason my doctor will not tell clients that natural diets are best
is that they're afraid if anything goes wrong, diet related or not, YOU
will blame them and file a lawsuit.  The majority of veterinarians are
clueless about nutrition and what they know is either taught or sponsored
by Hill's.  Don't get me started on Hill's, when my website is up you'll
read all about them.  LOL  The vet I work for tends to think he's
progressive but yet peddles Purina...*gag*gag*
 
Nothing in life is without risk so I can't very well say that there
aren't risks involved in feeding a natural diet to ferrets, of course
there are, but to me the risks are far outweighed by the benefits.  I
see more risks involved in feeding kibble and I feel that I owe it to
my ferrets to give them the opportunity to obtain optimum health by not
assaulting their little bodies with it and any other chemicals.
 
How about some interesting articles on the subject?
 
http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferretschool_ferretdiet.html
 
http://www.ferretlove.co.uk/barf.htm
 
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/diet.htm
 
Nancy Campbell RVT, VDT
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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
could change the world.  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
 ------Margaret Mead
[Posted in FML issue 4151]