>From:    spikeangel <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: totally ferret?
>
>Ok, so petsmart and petco is not carring this anymore. I heard it was
>because it was a bad food for ferrets. what have you heard? My girls
>love it!

Utter nonsense!

Their foods have been developed by Tom Willard who has a doctorate in
animal nutrition. Having someone who actually knows what he is doing
develop a food is the best thing that can happen.

Someone else mentioned that these sellers are restricting themselves to
products from fewer sources. Places do that as a price control and cost
control move. During times of tighter money they typically remove the
venders who sell only a few products, buy only from the larger venders
who may even have multiple product lines with many products in each,
and then go for the best quantity purchase pricing they can. Reducing
the on-shelf competition also helps retail chains negotiate the best
wholesale pricing, and it reducing the variety of products means less
data entry so reduces their employment and employment costs.

If you look around you will see many types of merchants doing this. Did
you see that the get a wider variety of jeans makers who are not giant
manufacturers you need to go to more stores instead of just one large
one? Did you notice certain human foods you like are missing from the
neighborhood grocery's shelves? Is there an unusual product from a
small maker that you used to buy from your drug store but which is now
in short supply? It is common response in times when costs are being
reduced.

Economists say that things seem to have stabilized with some indicators
slowing improving. A slow recovery is more painful and makes it take
longer for enough jobs and decent jobs to appear and with fewer sales
for small companies including small manufacturers, but slow recoveries
tend to often be more stable long term so the situation is a complex
one and companies with enough savings will survive. There is always
room for surprises down the road in a global economy since it is so
very complex and because political shifts can alter prospects by
introducing instability and worry among merchants. Then more they worry
the less they buy from small manufacturers. Furthermore, spending on
animals decreases when people are worried about money so junk food is
more likely to be bought rather than good food -- meaning less demand
for the higher priced good foods, and less is spend on veterinary care,
too. Anyway, rather than get off-topic I will just say that little bit
because it is relevant.

You can still get Totally Ferret from the manufacturer AND from
specialty on-line stores such as Ferret Depot which sold Steve and
me three bags just two weeks ago.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake:  "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 6833]