To Nigel Linnett:
 
>1)  Is Purina cat chow likely to cause any health problems in a 4
>year old male ferret? (The salesgirl was mentioning problems due to
>high levels of corn?)
 
    Probably not.  High levels of corn won't cause any problems.  Remember
that PCC is not a low-ash food, and if your ferret is predisposed to
developing bladder stones, it is not the best choice.  Rather than put
him on a strict diet of PCC, you may want to mix in several other more
high-quality foods and maybe even a bit of one of the ferret chows.
That way, he can choose what he likes and you can't help but increase
his nutritional quality...
 
>   2)  Dr. Williams:  You mentioned a while ago that pee-licking
>ferrets (of which group Einstein is a member) may be lacking salt in
>their diet.  Well Einstein licks anything of a salty nature, and I was
>wondering if a small Rodent style salt lick might be of help to him.
 
    Not usually.  What I said was that vets have SAID that urine drinkers
hae a deficiency of salt, but it's neve been proven.  If Einstein is on a
commercial cat food, chances are he gets all of the salt he needs.  It
would seem he jsut has an affinity for salty tastes...
 
Bruce H. Williams, DVM         Dept. of Veterinary Pathology
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]         Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
                               [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1252]