Dr. Williams,
I have a question pertaining to the protein/fat requirements for adult
ferrets.  A few years ago I received a copy of "Mother's Milk Is Nature's
Most Perfect Food" from Pet-Ag, Inc., the makers of Esbilac, KMR, etc.
As I read through it I found the analysis of mother's milk for ferrets and
I was surprised to find the following:
%Solids - 23.5
Fat - 34.0
PROTEIN - 25.5
Carbohydrates - 16.2
 
These are all percentages.  After reading this I started to wonder if we
weren't feeding our ferrets foods too high in protein.  I have been told
by one person that baby animals require the highest levels of vitamins
and minerals (with the exception of pregnant/nursing animals), that they
will ever require in their lives.
 
I was further surprised to find that the protein levels for skunk milk was
32.0.  This is much higher than that of ferret milk and yet ferret owners
are advised to feed foods high in protein, yet skunk owners are told to
feed foods low in protein.
 
Are we doing our ferrets and skunks a disservice?  By the way, do you have
any skunk health/nutrition information I can get my hands on?  Some good
friends are the founders of the American Domestic Skunk Association and
are always looking for any new information.
 
Thanks for any info you can provide - this has bothered me for a while.
Jan M. Lovell - Secretary
Georgia Domestic Ferret Association
 
[Posted in FML issue 0749]