MF/TOTALLY FERRET
This in responce to the Marshall farms "Discussion"  and Totally Ferret
Ferret food.
      I agree with our "mediator"  That the farm ferrets are very sweet
ferrets and make wonderfull pets.But there are very valid points to be
 considered.
    -How safe is early spay/neutering? The average age of a ferret sent to
a pet store is 6 weeks old. That means being weaned from mom by that
time,and the neutering would also have had to be done at least a week to 10
days before being shipped out,-other wise you would still have the stitches
in the skin. But the question I have not been able to get answered is how
the surgeries are even done.In assisting the vet that I work for,I see how
the dogs,cats,ferrets (all after 6 months of age) are spayed and
neutered.The surgeries are all done in a very sterile enviorment and under
anestheia, (isoflorane for the ferrets).In N.Y state only the licenced vet.
can preform surgeries.So how are Marshall's ferrets neutered? IF they are
placed under anestheia,how meny die as a result of being "under"? (at such
a young age).If they survive being under anesethia how do they find the
uterus in such a small animal? And as for the males,their testicals do not
desend down until they are a few months old (or older) and at that age they
have to be only the size of BB,and internally located near the kidneys,how
do they find them? .Are the all the surgeries done by a vet? Were I work we
have done quite a few surgeries on ferrets,adrenal glandtumors,inslonomas,
and other lymphoma type tumors.The number of them being Marshall Farm
ferrets is much higher than "breeder ferrets",however this is not just
conserning because of how meny of them are Marshalls but the YOUNG ages
that we are starting to see the nasty tumors appearing in. (3-6yrs old).We
have had a couple ferret breeders in our practice,so the ratio of farm vs.
breeder ferrets is pretty equel.I have a 10+ year old ex breeder female
(was spayed meny years ago) who just had insoloma tumors removed from her
pancreas,she handled the surery very well and her adrenal
gands,liver,spleen,etc.. looked as if they belonged to a 2 year old! This
the 4th day after surgery and she is doing great! I can't say as if we have
ever done a surgery on a 10+ year old Marshell's ferret (Let alone meet a
10 year old Marshell ferret!)
---Was she just lucky? I don't know.
It seems that the majority of the people who are pro marshalls have very
young ferrets, and have not yet been through the nasty "older age" stuff.
May-be they should just wait until thier ferrets are 10 (or so) years old
before they jump on the wagon with no facts. Also something to think about:
what do you think happens to all the female ferrets after they are to old
to breed anymore (>3yrs old)??  Marshalls is a bussiness after all.
    As for the "Totally Ferret" ferret food; I used to feed other food to
my ferrets but switched over to Totally quite some time ago.Since I did the
switch I have the best coats,weight & activity level that I ever have had
with them. As far as how they like it,well,if you let your kids choose
between a peanut butter sandwich or tossed salad, which do you think they
would choose at first?. Dr.Willard,who formulated Totally food, spent ALOT
of time and money making a ferret food that was exspecially formulated for
ferrets,not cats.Every ingredient put in the food is for ferrets,who's
nutritional needs differ from cats.I didn't have any problem with my
ferrets not liking the Totally food.Its the 1st thing they pick out of the
feeder.I also would much rather it break into smaller pieces then have the
food get stuck up in the roof of thier mouths,like the other foods do!
Dr.Willard was at a ferret show last year that I was at, he took a lot of
time explaning why the ingredents in Totally were better for the ferrets,I
found this to be very educational.The type of protein in the food is
perfect for all stages of thier life (Even my 10+ year old has been eating
it this past year,and her kidney function is in the normal range (normal
BUN) .) I also found Dr.Willard,and his wife, to be very nice people.They
do what they do because they care,not because they are "just in the
bussiness to sell food",my healthy ferrets thank them for that.
     Well,this was my 2 cents,and unfortunatly I can offer no
solutions,only voice how I feel about the MF issues.Either way I look at
it,its the ferrets who are the ones holding the short end of the stick.
[Posted in FML issue 1069]