Hi Tony
 
It seems you're feeding quite a good diet with the raw meat but why
degrade this diet with cheap cat food?  Also have you thought about
adding bone or a calcium supplement to the meat?  I'd be concerned about
exclusively feeding offal/ giblets.  I would have thought that the ferrets
need meat and bone as well.  I feed a raw meat diet but I use whole
chickens so the ferrets get meat, bone and giblets.  Sometimes I feed a
bit of kibble as well but I always make sure I feed a high quality kitten
kibble.  I'm sure nobody says you shouldn't be allowed to keep ferrets
just because you feed cheap cat kibble but to be honest I wouldn't feed
the cheap stuff, I don't even think it's any good for cats so my cat gets
a good kibble, too.  I'd be concerned about artificial preservatives in
the cheap kibble, all the colorants and fillers and ferrets just can't use
all (if any) of the cereals and vegetable protein in the cheap cat food.
I'm sure we all agree on that.  So why feed it if it's not good?
 
As far as I know, raw eggs can cause biotin deficiency if you feed the egg
white raw.  But saying that there's some people who believe that there is
enough biotin in the egg yolk to counteract the effect of the avidin which
is the substance in the raw egg white which destroys the biotin.  I feed
one whole egg a day so if I do that the ferrets get half an egg each per
week.  I don't think that there is any risk of a biotin deficiency when
you feed such small amounts.  If I fed loads of eggs then I would probably
throw most of the egg whites.
 
Feeding a lot of raw fish can cause thiamine deficiency...
 
Ulrike
and Jack, Bella, Mason, Baby, Dana, Fox, Reno, Rose, Jasmine, Hobo,
Gremlin, Bobby and Willow
 
Missing Angel, Hope, Igor, Barney, Tom, Spike and Jilly
 
West Wales Ferret Welfare
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.ferretlove.co.uk
Last update 06/11/01
[Posted in FML issue 3616]