>From:    Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: resources, thiaminase, biotin, ovotransferrin, salmonella, raw
>         eggs
>
>James Fox's _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret_ (both editions) implies
>that there is thiaminase in raw eggs and this can cause a thiamine
>deficiency in a section written by Doctors Fox and McLain.  I don't know
>if the wording is just nebulous so that the route is entirely without
>thiaminase, or if they made the same error in content twice in 9 years
>(though i seriously doubt that), or if Bob goofed and there may even be
>two contributors to thiamine deficiency in raw eggs.
>
>Okay, any question worth having is worth studying so I pulled out _The
>Cambridge History of Food_, a serious, 2,000+ page two-volume resource
>for nutritional anthropologists and food historians.  These texts do not
>mention thiaminase, so perhaps the Fox book could use some more clear
>wording on that that portion in the future unless they know something Bob
>or I don't (which is always possible).  The Cambridge texts do mention
>that eggs are terrible sources for calcium.  For raw eggs the chicken
>egg section mentions that avidin removes biotin from being an available
>nutrient (not good), and that ovotransferrin in raw eggs chelates ions of
>iron, making it unavailable nutritionally (also not good).  Furthermore,
>while the salmonella risk *might* be lower for ferrets than for humans
>salmonella can pose a risk for animal which is compromised without its
>people knowing, and raw or under-cooked eggs are regularly linked to
>salmonella cases.  That help?
 
I was told that you only give ferrets the raw egg yolk, never a whole
raw egg.
 
I make a smoothy for my lot with egg yolk, 1/2 cup of pet milk and a
squirt of Nutripet which I give them on a daily basis.  They love it.
 
But this egg debate makes me wonder why weasels and other mustelids like
sucking on raw eggs in the wild?!
 
BTW, I have also been giving my 4 oldies but goldies .5ml each of Noni
Juice mornings and nights and that has done wonders for their health.
They have all filled out and seem far more sprightly.  Has anyone else
tried that?  I'm just wondering if I could up the dose.
 
WeEz
owned by 6
[Posted in FML issue 3618]