Hi Linda ~
 
You said:
>So I try to improve their kibble based diet a little bit at a time.  I
>think it unlikely I would go to a totally natural diet, I just don't
>have the discipline.  I do wish some pet food manufacturer would make a
>quality canned ferret food with minimal carbohydrates.  I would probably
>make it a regular part of my guys' diet.
 
Interesting posts.  Back in the 80's when we had Houdini, the only thing
available for ferrets was cat food.  He got a mixture of something canned
and the pink friskies box (a dried kibble).  He lived to be 12, ran
around outside and "snacked" from our plates after supper.  Mind you he
only had a few pieces of the meats, or veggies and fruits he liked.  So
for him, life was good on a farm.  His favorite place was my melon patch.
We didn't know about ferret guidelines back then, and he belonged to our
housemate so I didn't want to intrude a lot.  My point is he did very
well.
 
I've decided to go back for my CNC (Certified Nutrition Counselor)
certificate, because there are a ton of mistakes out on proper food
combining and the diet today of humans.  It means resurrecting some of my
old textbooks on nutrition.
 
A bigger point is made by John Robbins in his book "Diet for a New
America.' He goes into all of the different "meat" industries and tells
us how they are now processed, fed and killed, including growth hormones
and other drugs like antibiotics.
 
Way back in 1987 he saw that many young girls were maturing earlier
because of eating these meats and dairy products with growth hormones in
them.  It's a scary book and made me very glad we farm organically.  Then
he went to farmers, and referenced the chemicals used in farming today,
runoff to our water resources, and the damage done by erosion.  He
followed the loss of many inches of organic topsoil in different parts
of the country.  A hundred years ago we had 12 to16 inches of topsoil.
Today most farms have 4 to 5 inches.  We here have 12.  It is the mineral
loss in our soils that gives us less healthy foods.  We've lost our iron
supplementation, with iron-depleted soils.  Remember the old iron pots
our grandmothers used?  Some of that iron leached out into our
grandparents' food.  Cancers were not as pronounced 100 years ago as now,
he states.
 
His main point is that our food supply of today, is not as healthy as it
could be.  Granted, Robbins is passionate in his research and his method
of writing.  So, if our food isn't meeting "our" needs, we should be
looking at what we feed our pets/farm animals too.  It would be
interesting to see if the ferrets of yesterday (10-20 years ago) had as
many diseases and illnesses as ours do today.  Looking at our food chain
and lobbying for a healthier food industry may not only help us, but our
beloved pets as well.
 
I am saving Bob C's food series to assist in feeding my little ones, and
thank him for the time and care that went into this series.
 
Source:
Robbins, John.  *Diet for a New America.*
NH: Stillpoint Publishing, 1987.
 
Warmly ~
Mary
Herbalist
The Conley Farm - organic herbs
Online Classes ~ [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 3949]