As for choking, we all know ferrets routinely choke on kibble, which, to
be honest, doesn't worry me too much.  Heck, in my life I've choked on
food, blood, teeth, drinks, several oceans, drool, errant hairs, bugs,
the stuff out the back of my nose when I have the 'flu, the tubes nurses
shove in your nose before surgery AND the gunk they coat them with before
they shove them, and even my pride from time to time.  Yet, here I am
still bugging people at great length.  Still, regardless of how common
choking can be and how infrequently it leads to dying, it still sometimes
results in death, otherwise we wouldn't have the fun of suddenly
squeezing people to see bits of bread shoot out of their mouths.  I know
of at least four confirmed deaths from kibble; one from choking, and
three from accidentally swallowing a whole piece of kibble that became
stuck in the esophagus where it narrows as it passes the heart.  Two
ferrets survived for several days and died from aspirating vomited food
that could not go past the kibble, and one died from toxic shock when the
kibble eroded through the esophagus.  The fourth was a ferret that the
vet thought had panicked while choking and suffered a "heart spasm," but
during necropsy it was discovered the ferret had severe insulinoma, and
probably died from complications of low blood sugar.  I personally did
the necropsies on two of the ferrets, and I found the kibble in place in
the esophagus and photographed it, so I can pretty much prove those two
happened.  This is as much clarification I am willing to post regarding
the older post because I spent considerable time in that post explaining
things, and I don't need to repeat everything all over again.
 
Since the question of the risk of kibble has been brought up, the risks
of choking are only a small element of the overall risk of feeding a
ferret kibble.  There are other risks from kibble that my post did not
touch upon.
 
Yes, a ferret can choke on kibble, and it can die when kibble blocks the
esophagus, or if it has other health problems.  There are other aspects
of kibble that are rarely discussed in terms of risk.  Kibble is also a
causative factor in insulinoma, increased tooth wear, and pronounced
periodontal disease.  Kibble is likely to be a contributing cause or
exacerbate various infections, autoimmune disorders, skeletomuscular
changes, and obesity.  The link between insulinoma and ferrets consuming
processed carbohydrates has been well established, although the "proofs"
are still at the stage where smoking and cardiac and lung disease were
in the mid-70s or so.  Depending on the ferret, I can absolutely,
unequivocally prove kibble wears teeth down at least 3 to 5 times faster
than they should wear, to the point that many teeth wear down to the
roots, fracture, and fall out, often associated with severe infections.
Likewise, I can prove kibble initiates periodontal disease and that it
impacts virtually every ferret.  There is fairly good evidence published
that indicates kibble left in a dish for more than a few days can absorb
enough atmospheric moisture to become a good food source for bacteria and
fungus, especially true if the food dish is within a few feet of the
litter box where it also becomes contaminated from bacteria.  Ferrets
are animals with permanent "short-bowel syndrome," which means too many
sugars in the bowel can contribute to bacterial overgrowths.  There is
a growing body of evidence, mostly in humans, that suggests processed
grains not only contribute to allergic reactions, BUT they contain low
doses of toxic phytochemicals that may initiate enough irritation to the
bowel lining to stimulate autoimmune disorders.  Eating kibble requires
little muscle power compared to a natural diet, so ferrets on a long-term
kibble diet have diminished skull musculature, creating what I call the
"scooped" look on the top of older ferret's heads.  Kibble contains a lot
of cheap energy, easily converted to sugar and quick to absorb, making
obesity more of a problem than people would like to admit.  Not every
ferret becomes obese from eating kibble, but many do, especially those
with little chance of heavy exercise.
 
Each of these risks can be quantified to create an overall risk
assessment, which I have done periodically as I have refined the data
over the last couple of years.  I have found that virtually 100% of
ferrets that consume kibble are injured in one way or another.  Much of
the injury is due to dental disease.  I have been able to document in
the skeletal study that the only way for a ferret to escape dental damage
(periodontal disease, reactive bone at the gum line, accelerated dental
wear, lost teeth, dental abscesses, bone infections, and systemic
infections) is for the ferret to die before it is a year old.  There is
no doubt that the consumption of kibble imparts great risk to the typical
ferret's teeth.
 
I will probably get my usual influx of hate mail accusing me of trying
to make people feel guilty about feeding their ferrets kibble.  That is
just how it goes, but I think some people are looking too hard at my
motivations.  I'm not trying to get rid of kibble, but I don't think we
need to accept the problems as they currently exist simply because we are
afraid of making someone feel guilty.  The honest truth is that kibble
does tremendous damage to the teeth of ferrets, and the high amounts of
processed carbohydrates are a serious factor in the creation of
insulinomas.  A lot has been made about cystine stones, but kibble is
generally made acidic to prevent mineral stones AND is extremely dry,
two factors clearly involved in the formation of cystine stones.  So much
so, if someone asked me what they should feed ferrets with cystinuria, it
sure as heck wouldn't be kibble.
 
I don't want to get rid of kibble; I just want it made in a form that
will not harm a ferret.  If I kicked your ferret in the mouth and broke
out a tooth, I would be considered abusive, cruel, and even criminal.
Why should we PAY for a food that does the same thing?  Why should we
accept a food that is positively linked to insulinoma?  The food needs to
be fixed, and the way that is done is for idiots like myself to shove a
lightening rod up my butt and publicly shout out the dangers of kibble.
I love these little weasels, I'm convinced they have helped save my life,
even my soul, so I am willing to make an ass out of myself, alienate
friends, ruin relationships, go broke, whatever.  But I am determined to
spend the rest of my life if I have to in order to make, force, convince,
or wear down the people responsible for kibble to make it better.
 
Bob C  [log in to unmask]
 
"One of them would call it her little dille, her staff of love, her
quillety, her faucetin, her dandilolly.  Another, her peen, her jolly
kyle, her bableret, her membretoon, her quickset imp: another again, her
branch of coral, her female adamant, her placket-racket, her Cyprian
sceptre, her jewel for ladies.  And some of the other women would give
it these names, my bunguetee, my stopple too, my bush-rusher, my gallant
wimble, my pretty borer, my coney-burrow-ferret, my little piercer, my
augretine, my dangling hangers, down right to it, stiff and stout, in
and to, my pusher, dresser, pouting stick, my honey pipe, my pretty
pillicock, linky pinky, futilletie, my lusty andouille, and crimson
chitterling, my little couille bredouille, my pretty rogue, and so forth.
It belongs to me, said one.  It is mine, said the other.  What, quoth a
third, shall I have no share in it?
--Francois Rabelais 1532 Gargantua and Pantagruel.
[Posted in FML issue 4788]