>From a private email; my answer might be of interest to all.
 
>I don't understand why you promote a natural diet with one breath, then
>seem to endorse Tottaly Ferret with another.  Have you been bought off?
>What do you recommend for feeding ferrets?
 
I wish I've been bought off, then maybe I could afford to spend a few
months in New Zealand documenting the feral ferrets and write a report
for the New Zealand Journal of Ecology, Mammalia, Journal of Mammalogy,
or Biological Conservation which would discount the California F&G claim
ferrets can go feral.  As of yet, no one has offered to purchase my
silence.  You are strongly encouraged to do so, however.  All I need is
airfare, a rental car and food money. ;-)
 
I'll be blunt.  Last year I solicited ferret food samples from around the
world, then compared nutrients, overall quality, hardness of product (after
being maintained at 50% relative humidity for 2 weeks prior to measuring
volume, density, and relative hardness), particle size (after storage in
distilled water for an hour), cost, and relative ease of finding the
product in a store.  Then I compared those results to those I computed for
myself, based on published journal reports for polecat and feral ferret
diets, and compositional data for the various prey carcasses.  I added in
the published diets of American mink, which is relatively well researched,
and American mink have transit times, consume a diet and have nutritional
needs similar to ferrets.  I researched the available published accounts
for various pet foods whenever possible (such as those published by
Consumer Reports for cat foods, etc.).  Finally, I ground up the food,
wetted it with distilled water, measured pH, and tested for the presence
of excessive salt and sugar (used by some pet food makers to increase
palatability of pet foods).  There were other tests, but the point is I
extensively tested most "if not all" foods available to feed ferrets, and
those that weren't tested were of minor concern.
 
I was writing this all up to publish on the FML when I left that forum.
But a few things happened afterwards which gave me cause to rethink
publishing the data.  It was made obvious to me that I held considerable
influence over the opinions of many ferret owners, and any recommendations
I would make, however innocent, might cause more harm than good.  Second, I
discovered most people feed their ferrets some type of cat or kitten food
because of a) the cost of ferret foods, b) the difficulty in finding ferret
foods, and c) frequent web-, book- and magazine based recommendations
suggesting high quality kitten foods, so my recommendations wouldn't cause
much change anyway.  Finally, I had the chance to met Dr. Willard (of
Totally Ferret) and instantly liked him.  I was impressed by his obvious
desire to provide as complete and nutritious a ferret food as possible.
I've been fooled by people before (the risks of being a trusting person),
but with some people you know instantly when they are sincere, and I felt
that way about Dr. Willard.  You need to understand that I had already
decided Totally Ferret was at the top of my list PRIOR to our meeting in
Toronto, but after the meeting I felt a strong recommendation would be
seen as pandering, based on friendship, or because of some hidden deal
(none of which are true).
 
Thus, I have been more-or-less setting on my findings while searching my
ethics subroutines to decide which course of action is best.  I guess now
is as good a time as ever to make a few general statements regarding what
*I* discovered about ferret foods (these are MY findings, and other groups
may disagree.  You should make your decisions based on your own needs and
research).
 
1. There is not a single cat or kitten food that is better than ferret
food products.  Thus, my recommendation would be to only feed foods
primarily designed for ferrets, and leave the kitten foods to kittens.
EXCEPTIONS: Sometimes ferret foods become regionally unavailable, or a lost
ferret may end up in a situation where they are fed some sort of cat food.
Since ferrets imprint on foods by smell, if they are not allowed access
to these types of foods when young, they may not accept them when older.
My solution is to add a mixture of various kitten foods so they are about
20% by weight of the total kibble mix.  For these reasons, I also recommend
ferret owners do not completely remove commercially available dry, kibbled
or extruded foods from the ferret diet.
 
2. Good ferret food is expensive because better ingredients cost more.
Cheap food is exactly that.  NEVER skimp on quality of food based on cost.
 
3. Ferrets are not cats, nor are they dogs.  They have a unique
odontological and gastrointestinal system designed to digest proteins and
fats as fast as possible, and many cat foods are not designed for such
rapid digestion.  Feeding such foods may result in nutritional stress,
micronutrient malnutrition, or even depression of the immune system
because of a lack of specific nutrients.  Thus, I cannot recommend ANY
cat or kitten food.
 
4. Dry, kibbled or extruded foods are too hard on the teeth, resulting in
microfracturing of the enamel, pitting, excessive wear, long-term
gingivitis, caries, and in some cases, premature loss of teeth.  I have,
in the past, hypothesized that the commonness of gingivitis in pet ferrets
may have something to do with the frequency of cardiomyopathy, but have
done no research to support the idea.  I would estimate from my research
that approximately 3/4ths of all pet ferret skulls I have examined display
reactive bone tissue at the gumline.  I have estimated tooth wear rates
for ferrets consuming kibble or extruded foods to be between 2 and 5 times
the "normal" wear rates, as exhibited by wild polecats, New Zealand feral
ferrets, and pet ferrets eating an evolutionary (natural) diet.  HINT: If
you live in a dry or low humidity area, only buy small quantities of food
at one time so you minimize dehydrating the food, making it all the harder,
or store it in a sealed container in a refrigerator.
 
5. Dry, kibbled or extruded foods are composed of fine ground particles
which increase surface area to maximize nutrient digestion.  I have
hypothesized such foods are an important contributing factor to the
formation of hairballs because they lack appreciable bulk to help move
the material through.  If you feed dry, kibbled or extruded foods, make
sure you regularly feed a hairball preventative.
 
6. Dry, kibbled or extruded foods contain a large amount of processed
carbohydrates.  These carbohydrates are required to form the shape of the
product and allow it to dry to not more than 10% moisture (they also
provide some of the bulk protein).  It is the lack of moisture which
preserves the food, allowing the product to be left in bowls for days at
a time without worry of decay.  The dryness also helps in controlling odor
(number one complaint about ferret foods?  "It smells too fishy...").  I
have hypothesized in the past that the high dose of carbohydrates may be
a contributing factor in the development of pancreatic problems.
 
Additionally, I have hypothesized that the large number of sugars afforded
by such a diet might contribute to providing excess nutrients to intestinal
bacteria, increasing the incidence of bacterial overgrowths and other
bacteria-mediated gastrointestinal pathology.
 
7. Modern mink diets are maximized to produce excellent growth and fine
fur quality, but do not necessarily promote long term nutritional health.
There exists a USA government publication which documents the nutritional
requirements for mink, which I have estimated to be very close to those of
the ferret.  Commercial mink diets may or may not meet those government
recommendations, and you will never know.
 
8. Minced, or wet canned (tinned) ferret foods MAY have less carbohydrates
(read the ingredient list), but the small size of the food particles
promote dental problems.  Only occasional use is recommended UNLESS the
ferret has access to whole bones, animal carcasses, or dry, kibbled or
extruded foods to help clean the teeth.
 
9. If you have ever read the introduction to my original post regarding
Bob's Chicken Gravy, I never intended it to be a REPLACEMENT food, only a
food to bridge the gap between a duck soup and a normal diet.  When I make
it as a regular part of the diet, while the ingredients are the same, it is
NOT ground to teeny, tiny particles.  What I do is chop the chicken into
parts about 2 inches square, bones included.  The rest is about the same,
and I generally serve large chunks of skin, flesh and bone in a light soup,
not something which is double screened to remove the tiniest bone bits.
 
10. Regardless of manufacturer, ALL high quality ferret foods are
acceptable for ferrets.  For that matter, even the higher quality kitten
foods and most of the lower-end ferret foods provide acceptable nutrition
(not optimal, just acceptable).  I know of no peer-reviewed or juried
report or publication which has been able to prove ANY ferret or kitten
food has harmed ferrets, regardless of my personal hypotheses and findings.
 
11. IF I was FORCED to pick a single dry, kibbled or extruded food for my
own ferrets, I would choose Totally Ferret, based on Dr. Willard's level
of research on ferret diets, high quality of prime ingredients, relative
hardness of food, and availability.  Cost would not be a factor.  (This
recommendation is NOT based on friendship nor professional association,
but on the scoring system I discussed above).
 
12. Diet is only a single part of a comprehensive health strategy for
ferrets.  Just as important (maybe more so) are often neglected aspects
as reducing cage stress, moderate to heavy cardiovascular exercise, daily
intellectual stimulation, frequent positive bonding, and periodic (as in
regular) veterinary care.  The best diet in the world will not make your
ferret healthy if these other areas are ignored.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 3406]