To Mike McDermott:
 
Dr Judi Bell (formerly of Marshall Farms) rates Totally Ferret as the best
food you can buy for your ferret.  I think that's quite a testimonial.
 
There are lots of foods that have the word "ferret" in them, yet they aren't
good foods, so I don't think because the product is called Totally Ferret,
that's why we're all running out and buying it.
 
Yes, lots of ferrets thrive on high premium cat foods, however if you talk
to the people at any of these companies and mention you are feeding them to
ferrets, they *immediately* jump in and say these foods are not designed for
ferrets but for cats, and we shouldn't be feeding them to our ferrets.
 
What's important is to READ LABELS!  Look at the ingredients.  A product can
be high in protein, but it depends on what kind of protein - animal vs
plant.  Many of these premium cat foods have plant protein listed as 3 or 4
out of the first 5 ingredients.  This is not a healthy diet for a ferret.
 
Just take a look at the ferrets in the UK and Australia - they eat raw meat.
Those ferrets have a significantly lower cancer rate/health problems than US
ferrets.  Is it diet or light cycles or a combination of both?  I think this
needs to be more fully explored.
 
We can all thrive on a diet of cheeseburgers, fries, and ice cream, but it's
not necessarily the best or the healthiest for us.
 
I have never paid attention more to labels than I do now.  I feed my ferrets
TF because I happen to think it's the healthiest for them.  I also blend in
other foods because my ferrets tend to get bored with only one flavor.  If
Performance Foods every came up with a variety of flavors that I could blend
myself or a pre-blended bag of chicken-turkey-lamb, then I personally would
use nothing but Totally Ferret.
 
Yes, it's expensive - and I think $50 for a 5# bag is outrageous - but I
also think if someone is motivated to use it, they could somehow find a way
to get it cheaper.  I think $50 for a TWENTY POUND bag is more in line with
the average cost of TF, and I wonder if there wasn't a mistake or
misunderstanding in the price quote?
 
The AFA offers a discount to its members - I think a phone call would be
warrented to see if it could be bought/shipped cheaper thru them.  Then join
the AFA and buy it that way.
 
In the longrun, if your ferret is healthier because they are eating the
best food they can, although you may be spending more in food, the savings
hopefully will be reflected in the vet bills you don't have.
 
BTW - this is not a flame against the food you're using - I know nothing
about it - these are just my thoughts on why some of us choose to use
Totally Ferret.
 
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA
Rochester, NY
[Posted in FML issue 1570]