Amy wrote:
>Yesterday (and many other days) I spent an hour or so at a pet supply
>store reading labels.  I have been trying to wean my furkids off Purina
>Kitten Chow for about 8 months now and wasting alot of more expensive
>food in the process (I mix Purina KC, TF, and Eukanuba).
 
Amy
 
Sometimes with a stubborn ferret, you have to fool them a little.  Purina
Kitten Chow, IIRC, is a yellow, circular shaped food.  TF and Euk are not
similarly shaped - and she may not recognize them as food.  Try instead,
Pro Plan kitten chicken and rice - its almost the same color and shape as
the PKC.  If not, something thats a *little* better is Purina ONE.  I was
able to successfully switch a ferret from PKC to ONE then to Pro Plan, by
slowly mixing them together, over a course of about 3 weeks.
 
As far as why PKC is not recommended - the list of ingredients is the
biggie for me - dyes, fillers and corn are my complaints with the food.
The protein content is a tad low, but the fat - 8% - is terribly low.
Minimum recommendations are 32% protein, 20% fat.  Little, if any, protein
is derived from meat - and why a ferret must eat so much of the food, and
why the litter pan fills up so fast.  If they can't digest it - they pass
it through their systems - and corn is hard for a carnivore to digest.
 
Hope that this helps...
 
Lisa, Head Ferret
The Ferret Haven "By-the-Sea"
URL: http: www.kozykingdom.com/ferrethaven
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[Posted in FML issue 2726]