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From:
Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:38:06 -0400
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http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?
gid=1423922&messageid=15101&startid=15104
 
There are 2 big problems with adding raw meat to your ferret's diet:
1) bacterial infections such as E. coli and Salmonella and
2) calcium/phosphorus problems.  When you feed just a raw meat diet it
will have too low of a calcium level and too high of a phosphorus level,
which will cause major problems for the bones, etc.
 
If you want to add cooked meat or cooked eggs as a treat or as a
supplement that is fine, but do not feed it as the main diet.
 
Whole prey diets (i.e., whole mice, whole rats, whole turkey, or whole
chickens) are different from a raw meat diet.  You can feed a whole prey
diet and are less likely to have bacterial problems or calcium problems
(if they eat the bones).  However you may have problems when the bones go
through the GI tract (perforations, obstructions, or irritation to the
colon).
 
As you can now see both have some options can have some serious potential
problems.
 
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM
 
brought to the FML with author's permission by Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan and regular user
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 4975]

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