A few points that are important to know in comparing catfoods to ferret
foods involves the basic differences in the animals.  As we all know, food
remains in the ferret's digestive tract for only 3-4 hours.  What you may
not know is that food remains in the digestive tract of cats for 6-8 hours
and in dogs for 8-12 hours.  It varies a bit more in dogs by breed and the
type of food they are fed.
 
Ferrets lack a caecum (a portion of the intestine) which makes it nearly
impossible for them to extract nutrients from plant matter.  Because
plant matter takes longer to break down in the digestive tract (of any
animal/human), in ferrets the food is "passed" before proteins, and other
nutrients can be broken down and absorbed by the body.  This is why corn
and other grains are not helpful to ferrets.  They can actually make the
metabolism work harder for little or no benefit.
 
In addition to the fact that ferrets lack a caecum, they also do not have
many of the enzymes in their digestive tract for processing food that cats
and dogs do, nor are the ones they do have present at the same levels as
cats & dogs.  This is another reason catfoods (and, of course, dogfoods
too) make poor diets for ferrets.
 
The lower intestine of most animals including dogs & cats contain many
bacteria that are beneficial in digestion and absorption of nutrients and
vitamins.  The lower intestine of the ferret is only about 10 cm long and
is almost sterile, so it does not contain these beneficial bacteria.  This
means that while cats and dogs gain much of their nutrition through
absorption in the lower intestines, ferrets do not.  The lower intestine
of the ferret serves almost no function except as an exit route for food
processed by the stomach and small intestine.
 
The lower intestine of a ferret has a smaller surface area with no ability
to reabsorb water.  This explains why ferrets have much looser stools than
cats or dogs, they can't recover water in this manner.  This is the reason
ferrets must consume so much more water than cats or dogs (10-12 percent of
their body weight per day).  In contrast, cats recover 95 percent of water
through their lower intestines.
 
Rice is more easily digested than corn, and therefore, it is likely that
ferret gain more benefit from rice than from corn.  P&G tells us that their
switch to corn keeps blood sugar more stable.  That may be true in cats
and dogs because their digestive tracts are equipped to handle complex
carbohydrates, but it only makes digestion harder on the ferret, with no
benefit.  To put it another way, using corn instead of rice allows for
controlled releasable carbs for cats and dogs...but for ferrets it only
means less digestibility.  The ferret's digestive tract cannot metabolize
complex carbohydrates.
 
What some on this list are forgetting is that any "enhancements" or
"improvements" P&G claim to be making to the Iams line, are only such for
cats and dogs.  They do NO testing on ferrets and their foods are not
designed for ferrets.  Even before P&G bought Iams the food was NOT
designed, tested, or approved for ferrets...at all.  These are cat and dog
foods...period.  They are designed for animals significantly different than
ferrets.
 
For those of you who are feeding Iams, please keep a close eye on your
kids.  You are likely to see some changes in their stool, appetite and
likely in their overall health due to the changes made recently to the Iams
foods.  I am hearing complaints regularly of ferrets who have an odor now,
or whose stool has an odor, or who are nauseated (some are even vomiting)
due to the recent changes in the food.  This is a big indicator that the
changes that have been made are having an adverse affect on ferrets.
Please stop feeding these foods before your ferret suffers.
 
Totally Ferret is the only food tested on ferrets, nutritionally complete
and balanced for them.  Yes, it may cost more than some other foods you are
using, but you will use less, you will "scoop less" and your ferrets will
be far healthier for it.  They will thank you ever day.
 
In case you are interested, I once did a breakdown of the cost per day of
feeding Totally Ferret.  The result was that the cost to feed a single
ferret was no more than the cost of a small-medium soft drink at the local
fast food place.  Surely, your ferret is worth at least that!
 
Trish
Director, Ferrets First Rescue & Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 3004]