Hey! I don't feed raisins. I was *attacked* for my raisins! Todd and
Caff-Pow had never been fed a raisin in their lives to the best of my
knowledge. But they sure wanted to give it a try!

I know lots of people who feed raisins and have never had a problem.
But apparently, some people have had terrible raisin problems. The part
that frustrates me is that I can't really find a guideline for *how
many* raisins might be safe. That gives me pause. I don't feel like
taking the risk. Ferrets have enough potential health problems as it
is!

The single biggest reason I don't feed raisins is that the little
buggers really can't digest them, they are not built for it. It's junk
food of the highest order. Empty calories, and some ferrets have sugar
metabolism problems to begin with that may not become apparent until
there is a crisis. I never want to hear a ferret have a "screaming
seizure" related to sugar metabolism problems. Nope. Further, the
raisins stick in their teeth, this I have witnessed personally. Raisins
are full of sugar, and that can't be good for the teeth. Ferret
dentistry is very expensive, and painful and frightening for the
ferret.

If your ferret kibble brand contains bits of sugary dried fruit, I
*highly* suggest that you change brands ASAP. A bit of dry fruit
can swell up inside a ferret and cause a blockage that may require
life-saving surgery. Ferret intestines are only as big around as a
pencil! The sharp edges of a dried fruit chunk can also do terrible
damage to soft tissues.

But as Sukie points out here, raisins just plain *kill* dogs, kill
them dead. DON'T leave the box out when you are baking. A dog can
snitch it, carry it away silently, and eat them all. And they will
die, very badly. This is a well researched fact. Chocolate, especially
dark chocolate can also *kill* dogs. I once had a ferret that loved
chocolate and it never seemed to do him any harm. I didn't feed it to
him, he simply snitched it every chance he had. But again, think sugar
metabolism problems and tooth decay. Not worth it, IMHO!

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6508]