Many "experienced" ferret keepers seem to go with the idea to feed what
you want to your ferrets. You want to feed them marshmellows, cereal,
corn, wheat, oats, candy, chocolate, ice cream, pasta, pizza, raisins,
bananas, peanut butter, blueberries, apples, carrots, peas, cherris,
strawberries, potatoes whatever its all just okey dokey!

Go ahead give em a vegetarian diet if you want- but don't be so
surprised that the ferret becomes deathly ill and then pass the illness
off due to genetics.

Genetically the ferret is designed to eat whole prey, the next best
item to whole prey is raw meaty bones from sources similar to what the
whole prey would have been.

TLE said," I let them eat from my plate if they want to"; she did not
say she was allowing ferrets on their last legs to enjoy their last
meal by letting them eat something to give them some sort of pleasure.
I can totally understand that concept, as I did it for Josie when it
was apparent she was not going to survive the Juvenile Lymphosarcoma -
I allowed her some ice cream. She still also ate a mouse the day before
her last on this earth!

I never once said anything against TLE's big heart or the things she
has done for ferrets over the years. I did mention, and I still think
so, that it is NOT good to be a person with such experience to let
people new to ferrets think that feeding them dog food, cereal, pasta,
pizza, marshmallow, raisin tea and other harmful dietary choices is
perfectly o.k.

It isn't good communication to say one thing and then clarify it later,
which is something that often gets done. Just because someone disagrees
with one aspect of what one person does, does NOT mean that person is
getting attacked or slammed- I have several friends that I disagree
with the way they dress, or the make up they apply, or the foods they
choose to eat-it doesn't mean I am attacking them when I disagree with
them. We are still friends. We just don't have to be CLONES!

I'm certain that as the years progress I will obtain similar
experiences as many of you regarding intake of abused, neglected
ferrets and be able to get involved in rescues and such but that is not
going to change my views on what is appropriate to feed them.

Many of the reasons ferrets GET to the point of needing rescue is
because so many new folks just haven't got a CLUE what to feed the
ferrets. How many of us have read reports of ferrets recued from
situations where the ferret was fed just dog food, or cheap cat food,
or fruits and vegetables, or just soda crackers and how the ferrets are
suffering from all sorts of things or literally starving even though
they eat?

Food is such an integral part of good health. Of course there are
differences in qualities of kibble and of course feeding the ferrets a
quality kibble offers them better health than the el cheapo store brand
of cat gunk. It doesn't take any more effort to open the bag and feed a
scoop of quality kibble than it does el cheapo kibble. The harder part
is spending the money.

But the undeniable truth is that kibbles are formulated with high
amounts of plant matter and in order to entice the ferret to eat them
they are full of sweeteners, enhanced with added flavorings; and to
"aid digestion" some are even sprayed with microbes, then lets not
forget the phosphoric acid flavor enhancers, and artificial colors and
preservatives things which genetically have no place in the ferrets
list of things it was designed to eat.

So there are two undeniable truths here:
1) Kibble is always formulated with large amounts of plant matter.
2) Ferrets are genetically designed to eat whole prey - NOT plant
   matter.

I know that the human digestive tract differs from the ferret digestive
tract in length and duration, but enzymes and hormones act similarly
from the similar organs.

Both our stomachs produce hydrochloric acid, both our pancreases
produce insulin, both our livers produce bile, both our intestines are
designed with villi to extract nutrients and moisture, both our kidneys
are designed to filter toxins and blood, our bladders store urine and
we both poop what hasn't been nutritious for our bodies.

Besides the time taken to digest food another prime difference is our
teeth - our teeth are designed to chew the food, which begins the
digestive process, especially with starches. Our saliva begins breaking
down starches immediately. Ferret's teeth are designed to capture and
kill whole prey, then to shear the meat from the bones to be swallowed
pretty much whole, then to crack open bones and chew briefly to be
swallowed as tiny pieces.

In humans, we've seen how sugars cause problems with the teeth and the
pancreas, how ground corn comes out exactly in the same form it went
in, how wheat has been linked to autism, how soy increases
aggressiveness. Would it be such a stretch to consider similar effects
in the ferret? Humans are constantly told "eat more fiber", "eat less
processed food", "Eat more fresh foods". WE have to eat fiber because
when the food sits in our system for 24 hours or longer in some cases,
the fiber helps push the food through. People that eat highly processed
diets often have terrible GI problems because the food will sit in
their bodies sometimes for days on end.

Ferrets don't have this problem. What goes in the front end can be seen
coming out the hind end three hours later practically like clock work.
With animal proteins and bones the ferret's digestive tract quickly
dissolves most of the tissues and utilizes the nutrients within those
three hours. The natural source has a high moisture content which aids
digestion.

Feeding kibble, which is dry, means the ferret must first crack the
bone hard item into bits it can swallow. Ferrets will crack the kibble,
but they don't CHEW it - it gets swallowed as just smaller bits of dry
kibble. It hits the stomach still dry and this will soak up the
hydrochloric acids without the added moisture from the food source -
the digest is not as soft as it should be, nor will it breakdown at the
same rate, this means the kibble continues on through the digestive
tract pretty much still intact. Because kibble isn't as liquidized as
animal tissues the villi will not be able to glean nutrients as easily
nor as quickly as they can from the liquidized animal tissues.

So what comes out three hours later from the kibble fed to the ferret
is a lot of barely digest kibble. The pile of poop deposited after a
kibble meal isn't that much smaller than what the ferret was fed. Its
easy enough to weigh the kibble before feeding, then weigh the air
dried poop deposited to see how little really is digested.

What comes out three hours after eating a whole mouse is ONLY hair,
teeth, claws, and larger bits of bone. The deposit weighs nowhere near
what the mouse did!

Something to keep in mind for those still utilizing kibbles- even
though you may stick with specific brands and amounts in your mixes,
there is no guarantee that the bag of Brand X kibble you used last week
will have the same quantities of ingredients as a new bag of brand X
this week. This is because unless the brand is made according to an
actual recipe with exact quantities of each ingredient, the mix will be
made according to "market cost". This will directly influence what is
in the mix- if animal carcasses are cheaper, there will be more animal
products; if corn is cheaper, there will be more corn and so forth. As
long as the percentages of protein, fat and fiber fall within the label
parameters for the mix, the mix will be deemed o.k. to process and
sell. But these highs and lows and changes in mix can and will affect
your ferret.

So you go ahead, feed what you want, feed what is easiest for you,
feed what is cheapest for you; as for me I will continue to feed what
ferrets were designed to eat and will continue to encourage others to
do the same!

Cheers,
Kim

please visit :
for ferret help and info:
http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets

for fun:
www.vanityferret.com

[Posted in FML 6064]