>please provide where I can go to obtain this newsletter with what you
>state in it.  I recall that you already had a "beef" with Totally Ferret
>in the past, so unless you can provide this newsletter, it is hard for
>me to rely on the information.  If it is true, I will personally call
>Totally Ferret to find out what the deal is.
 
Danielle, if you will provide me (privately of course) with your fax
number, I can fax this newsletter to you.  It is the Totally Ferret
Newsletter dated June 2001.
 
I found this article disturbing in that Dr Williard would make these
allegations and inuendos.  I do use TF as my primary food, and I mix it
with several others.  Dr Williard suggests mixing foods is BAD!  He
suggests TF is the only food anyone should ever feed their ferret, doing
elsewise is dangerous.  He says that foods sold over the internet are not
subject to regulation by the AAFCO and thus very likely to be inferior.
In fact, the AAFCO has NO enforcement authority ANYWHERE--compliance is
entirely voluntary.
 
Some quotes from this article:
 
"a large company that lists chicken meal on their label but actually uses
poultry meal... To this date I believe this company still deceives the
regulators and their customers... there are probably a number of companies
that plays these games... they deceive you..."
 
"by mixing foods...you can cause damage to your ferret."
 
"Be especially careful when buying from an Internet site that sells their
own food and does not sell to retail..."
 
(describing a sample of another food sent for analysis) "Sadly the results
were what I expected. Protein...was guaranteed at 38% but analyzed at only
35.13%."
 
Note that Dr Williard does not name any companies, leaving us free to
guess to whom he is referring.  All other brands are tarred with the
inferior brush, and Dr Williard avoids accusations of libel.  (This tactic
is also frequently used on the FML--it usually leads only to speculation,
false assumptions and flaming.)
 
I believe TF is an excellent food, perhaps the best kibbled diet for
ferrets available, certainly one of the most carefully tested.  But I do
not believe you are a bad ferret parent if you feed something else.  And
I believe a company can promote their own product without denigrating
their competitors.
 
Linda Iroff
Oberlin OH
[Posted in FML issue 3627]