Q: "My friend says she once read that ferrets don't do well on a fish
    based diet over a long period.  Is that right?"
 
A: Depends.  Do you mean "AS right" as a Rich Religious Conservative
Republican?  Or "as RIGHT" as a Rich Religious Conservative Republican?
 
Depending on the quality and quantity, as well as if whole fish or fish
parts make up the food, fish diets can be either good or bad.  In a
balanced diet containing even large amounts of fish, the diet is safe and
healthly.  In an imbalanced diet, even one containing small amounts of
fish, the diet is not safe and is unhealthy.  The key phrase is "balanced
diet." You can search the FML archives for my Diet 101 posts to read
further on this subject if you like.
 
The problem with early fish diets (mostly designed for fitch or mink farms)
is that they either had 1) toxic levels of certain nutrients, or 2) lacked
specific nutrients.  In the short term, neither is a problem if the diet is
balanced; that is, the specific nutrients are in balance with each other.
The reported problems resulted from the long term effects of these
poorly-balanced diets.  Modern fish-based diets do not have the nutritional
imbalance of those early fish diets because most are based on whole fish
rather than fish waste, and feed makers have artifically replaced the lost
nutrients.  The reason for the improvement is economic; even if you plan on
killing and skinning the mink or ferret, only well fed and healthy animals
have high quality fur.  So, modern mink or fitch farm fish diets are much
safer than those from which the nasty "don't fed fish" reports are based.
 
The real reason many people hate to feed fish is that the poopie stinks
compared to poopie based on non-fish kibble diets.  The smell of the food
and resulting poop is the chief complaint.  It does.  But stink don't
equate with unhealthy food.  Ask cheese lovers.
 
As for feeding your ferret fish, like what you catch yourself, I see no
problem with occasionally doing it as long as the fish is healthy for
people to eat, and has been cooked to kill bacteria, worms and flukes.  I
know of one confirmed occasion where a ferret owner fed fish scraps to
their ferrets, and one developed liver flukes as a result.  Cook it first
unless it is Sushi approved.  I feed my ferrets sushi-approved raw fish
and parts of cooked fish all the time with no problems.  They also get to
sample crab, crawfish, and clams.  Tui goes nuts while trying to access a
crab leg.  Soooo funny.  Messy, but funny.  The poopie is even funnier.
 
Q: "What exactly is a fitchew?"
 
A: The sound a ferret makes when it sneezes.
 
No, a fitchew is a polecat.  Variations include fitchew, fitch, fitchet,
and fitchett.  Fitch is also the name applied to the fur once it has been
involuntarily removed from the rest of the polecat or ferret.  A fitch
farm is a ferret farm, where ferrets are raised for their fur for use in
clothing or camelhair brushes.
 
The etymology of the word is a bit convoluted.  Fitch dates to the 16th
century.  Middle English "Fiche" probably came from Old French "Ficheau"
which was a dialect version of "Fissel" and later "Fissau." Fissel and
Fissau seem to be have origins in 15th century Middle Dutch "Vitsau."
Vitsau has origins in Early Dutch "Fisse," "Visse" and "Vitsche." It
probably ultimately derives from the Old Norse "fisa" which means to stink.
Got that?  There are probably other derivitives of the word not listed, as
well as some slight disagreement to the sequence of linguistic evolution.
You can expect a pop goes the weasel quiz at the end of the week.
 
Bob C and 16 Mo' Fightin' Fisas
[Posted in FML issue 2750]