Sukie wrote:
>The risk for stones connected to grains is specifically when the
>amount of plant matter is very high, not for lower levels. Moderation
>in all things.
>
>It is not the nature of the grains themselves which is the problem,
>but the proportion when there is simply too much. In that circumstance
>the urine becomes too alkaline and then struvite uroliths (urinary
>stones) form.

But, the fact still remains that ferrets are obligate carnivores, and
plant matter has little or no business being included in the diet.
Plus, if grains are making up 50% of the ingredients in the kibble,
that is hardly a small amount.

The ferret gut is not designed to effectively process and absorb plant
matter. So, while grains and other plant matter may contain many useful
and healthy things (like amino acids), they will do little good for the
ferret if the gut cannot absorb them. If the level of protein from a
kibble is coming 40 or 50% from plant matter, than a lot of that
protein is being passed through the body and exiting as waste.

Some people worry that the protein percentage in some foods,
particularly the grain free foods, is too high. However, if a ferret
were eating a totally natural diet of prey, the fat and protein
percentages would actually be higher than any current kibble offers.
RodentPro has a copy of a chart on their website that shows the
percentages of protein and fat, as well as many other nutrients for a
variety of prey animals. Here is a link:

Nutrition Feeder Mice
<http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp>
Nutrient Composition of Feeder Animals

The chart can also be found online along with the article it is from
here:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf

As you can see, depending on exactly what prey the ferret eats,
the protein percentage can vary from about 42% to 73%, and the fat
percentage from around 10% to 33%. The lower fat percentages are mostly
from rabbits, which have very little fat. The mice and rats generally
have a fat percentage between 20% and 30%.

The problem is usually not the amount of protein in the diet, but the
source of the protein. Higher protein levels can usually be safely fed,
if the protein is mainly from animal based matter. however, when plant
matter makes up a significant amount of the protein available, then it
is important to keep protein levels lower. For this reason, any
commercial foods I use or recommend have over 80% of their protein
coming from animal based sources. (yes, I am currently relying on
manufacturers' claims about the source of the protein - but I am also
looking carefully at the ingredients to see if the claims seem
plausible).

There are various foods and various ways ferrets can be fed. There is
no one way that is correct. There are definitely some incorrect foods,
but beyond avoiding those, there are any number of foods and way
ferrets can receive the nutrition they need.

Each ferret owner should make themselves as educated as possible on
ferret nutrition, and ways to meet their needs, and then decide for
themselves what works best for them and their ferrets.

There is an online article I have previously provided a link to which
presents the various feeding methods. Each method has its pros and
cons. The article is not slanted toward any one method, but gives a
good summary of each method and the pros and cons. The article is
written primarily toward feeding dogs, but most of the principles can
be applied to any carnivore companion animal. Here is the link to the
article:

OVERVIEW OF NUTRITION FOR CATS AND DOGS
<http://www.petsynergy.com/overview.html> 

In the article it gives a list of things to avoid and things to look
for when deciding on which commercial foods to use. Here is what it
says, for any that don't want to read the entire article.

>Avoid any artificial coloring, flavoring or preservatives especially
>Ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT which can cause liver problems and cancer.
>Animal Fat does not necessarily mean good quality oils, and can be
>by-products of animal processing, so be sure to look for specific
>oils like Flaxseed Oil or Salmon Oil.
>
>Avoid the following ingredients:
>
>Beet Pulp which has too much sugar and fiber and is a poor filler.
>
>Beef Tallow comes from the tissue of cattle in the process of
>rendering and is low in linoleic acid, which is needed for skin and
>coat health
>
>Corn and Corn Gluten Meal which is the dried residue from corn after
>the removal of the germ, it causes the kidneys and liver work overtime
>and Corn is thought to be the #3 common cause of food allergies in
>dogs
>
>Rice Bran which is the outer coating of the rice kernel, with little
>of the starchy part of the germ and is basically floor sweepings. Rice
>Gluten is similar to corn gluten with little good nutritional value.
>
>Sorghum is the ground grain of the sorghum plant and it is low in
>digestibility
>
>Soybean Meal is the product obtained by grinding the flakes which
>remain after removal of most of the oil from soybeans by extraction.
>It is "a poor quality protein filler and one of the main causes of
>allergy of dogs.
>
>Wheat and Wheat Gluten - filler and highly allergenic.
>
>Any other filler that you don't know the name of!
>
>Good Things to look for!
>
>Food Grade ingredients
>
>Organic ingredients
>
>No by-products
>
>Meat based not fillers

********************************

For myself, I try to offer a large variety of different foods. Because
many people are not comfortable feeding a raw diet, all my kits are
imprinted on a variety of grain free kibbles, in addition to all the
other things I regularly feed. In my home, there is always kibble
available to both my ferrets and my cat, and they are all fed the
same kibble. Most of my ferrets eat little or no kibble, though.

I feed raw prey - mice of differing ages, young rats, and young chicks
and quail.

I feed commercially prepared raw diets. I use species specific foods,
so the meats I get are chicken, turkey, rabbit, pheasant, quail and
duck. Larger animals like cows and pigs have much denser bones, and so
the rapid transit time through the ferrets gut may not be able to
absorb the calcium from those animals.

I feed canned meats from some of the companies I mentioned in my last
post.

I offer things like pet jerkies and dehydrated meats that have been
reconstituted as treats.

Once a week, I give everyone a soup made of plain yogurt (not the low
fat variety), canned meat or meat baby food, powdered egg yolks, and
Enteral Care - a premixed (canned) liquid that is similar to Carnivore
Care. This mixture is high in both fat and protein from animal sources,
and the yogurt helps to keep the gut healthy. This mixture does not
cause runny poop, as some might expect, as the cultures in the yogurt
help to promote and restore the needed flora in the gut. I also use
this mixture as a supplement for my pregnant and nursing jills.

Danee DeVore
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit:
<http://www.ferretadv.com>
ADV - Find out how you can help:
http://help4adv.terrabox.com/

[Posted in FML 6840]