Hi to all you wonderful fmler's that are concerned for your fuzzies
nutritional needs.My wife and Irun a very large shelter in Colorado that
saw almost 2000 ferrets come to our shelter in 1999.  That is double the
year before.  We have tried every food on the market, especially in the
shelters younger years when we couldn't afford to feed the kids unless
friends or clients would drop a bag of whatever.  We had a barrel (55 gal)
filled with mixed food eventually and always was throwing a bag of this and
that in it.  One time we had almost 100 ferrets in the shelter at one time
and almost every one of them had runny stools.  Our vet bills for flagyl
and amox were killing us and we used more Pepto Bismal than a country chili
cookout.  We later found out it was because our beloved fuzzies tummies
were upset all the time from a scoop of this one day and a scoop of that
the next day.  No consistent diet.  We found out, among the many things
we've learned here, that most adult ferrets won't just readily change their
diet.  Some will quit eating to the point of starvation or worse, ulcers of
the intestinal tract, which are hard to cure and costly.  Yes , we did lose
a lot of our beloved fuzzies that way.  One day, someone donated 5- 30 #
bags of Totally Ferret to us.  Can't remember who it was, but it was heaven
sent for sure.  DISCLAIMER: we do not work for Performance Foods Inc. nor
do we get paid for saying good things about their products.  Our shelter is
divided into 3 sections... intake, community room and sick room.  It is set
up this way to segregate and prevent diseases from wiping out the whole
shelter.  We used Totally ferret for the first time in our sick room and
watched lids who had been sick for weeks and months, get well in 1-2 weeks.
ferrets who had been getting hand fed and had no hair and just a myriad of
other problems were getting better.  We moved to using the food in the
community room where most of the adoptable kids were and we kept our biter
program kids and in two weeks saw new coats and body weights and mass
increasing.  Yes we document everything here on a daily basis.  We started
asking all of our surrenders what kind of food they were feeding their
ferrets and tested all strays for different food preferences.  Once the
strays were stabilized with a food they would eat.  we started gradually
mixing their food with Totally Ferret.  Today, year 2000, all ferrets who
cross our threshold are switched to Totally Ferret.  ALL!!!  Our advice...
Totally Ferret.  When we weighed the cost in money, time and tears that
mixing foods had caused us and the high cost of Totally Ferret, we decided
that we would find a way to feed our kids the best.  Last year, we switched
well over 2000 ferrets to Totally Ferret.  There are those who would try to
tell us their ferret would not eat it.  They are n't taking the time to be
patient and let their ferrets system decide which is best  It is highly
palatable and once they decide to try it, they will eat it.  Their health
will change for the better.  We require that all ferrets that leave our
shelter eat Totally Ferret for the rest of their lives.  Prospective
parents who balk at our contract which legally binds them to this
agreement, are denied adoption immmediately and told to go somewhere else
and get a pet.  They are also placed in our computer as undesirable
clients.  To all you shelter moms and dads who feel you can't afford
Totally Ferret either ... Please call me at 303-343-6460 or call Jeff at
Performance Foods at 303-410-1101.  I am sure Jeff won't mind me giving out
his number at work!  If you are a legitimate shelter, they will work with
you to help you afford the food so you can afford to use it without getting
in over your head.  It provides a consistent food source and a healthy one
for all the ferrets in your community.  And it helps build credibility with
the local pet stores and vets if they know you use it and demand your
clients use it.  We require all the vets on our website that are great with
ferrets to stock it if they want our referrals, (thousands per year) We
have the local stores (small pet stores) stock TF and we post them on our
web site too!  We help any one who wants to sell TF keep a client base
using it by helping promote them in our literature , school presentations,
and website.  We are in the rescue, shelter and education business, and
even though we sell some food here out of the shelter to help raise money
for the kids, we would rather help those businesse that make it their
business to sell pet products succeed at what they do so we can concentrate
on what we do best....save as many fuzzies as we can.  When the dust
settles in our community, we hope the health and goodwill we have generated
through the distribution of TF throughout our region will create a lesser
need for our services.  BIG, this is not a promotion and hope this does not
violate your gudelines.  I do promise that this product delivers the best
in nutrition, in our experience and opinion, for the fuuzies who we all
love dearly.  I currently have 93 of my best friends residing here at
Especially Ferrets Inc.  Most of them are waiting for the wonderful family
that I have personally promised them to come and take them home someday.
The others, (15), all permanent residents, range from 2 yrs to 12 yrs.  We
have 2-- 12 yrs olds and a ten yrs old that roam the shelter and say hi to
all the new kids we recieve every day here and letting them know that
things will be alright.  They all love their Totally Ferret food.  I
sincerely hope you will post this.  nuff said!  ferretguy
[Posted in FML issue 2994]