If you are squimish, you may wish to skip this post....
 
Last week, I decided it was time to offer a defrosted small rat to my
natural fed ferrets.  I did what was suggested and took an Xacto knife
and made a small incision in abdomen area of the rat.  This allowed the
ferrets to better understand that this was food.  My Niko ate the whole
rat in the "traditional" ferret manner - head to tail.
 
Now let me explain something... If I had known when I got my first
ferret that I would be feeding them rats, I'm not sure that I would have
considered a ferret as the best pet for me.  However, it's too late for
that as I am totally hooked on my ferrets and want what I feel is best
for them.  I am not crazy about the idea that these rats were raised
specifically for food, as my son has owned rats and I really loved them.
On the other hand, I want my ferrets to have the opportunity of eating
whole prey as I feel that it is a natural food source for them.  So,
there is a dilemma there, but one that I have worked out by feeding
frozen animals from a reliable source.
 
Having grown up on a small farm as a child gave me a better sense of the
use of animals for food.  We raised chickens, an occasional turkey and
even a pig (which we kids named White Bottom).  As much as we loved
animals, it was necessary for my parents to use these animals to feed our
family.  I can still remember helping my mother dress chickens when it
came time to fill the freezer.  It was not a pleasant job, but a
necessary one.
 
Preparing food for my ferrets reminds me of those days and, because I
love my ferrets, I spend a good deal of time in the kitchen now cutting
up cornish hens, adding organ meats to the daily selection of pieces and
packaging everything for the freezer.  Preparing rats is not my favorite
task, but watching the enthusiasm of Niko eating his first rat makes it
easier for me to offer this perfect food source to him.
 
I only post this so that others will understand that feeding natural
(prey included) is a very personal choice and one that comes with some
hard decisions on how much and how far you, the ferret owner, wish to
go with it.
 
Phyllis
[Posted in FML issue 5196]