>I've read that In the wild mustelids live only 2-3 years.  The majority
>of domestic ferrets live much longer, even when being fed kibble their
>entire lives.
 
hi Troy Lynn and everyone,
 
This is because most of them are killed very young.  If (eg) 75% of the
babies produced in 1 year die before they reach 1 year old, the "average"
age for the speceis becomes very misleading.
 
Most of them die from starvation (ie not enough food not the wrong sort)
or predatation.
 
Of course animals generally live longer in captivity, they have us
protecting them from predators and accidents.
 
>With any feeding regime, the species must have specific nutrient
>needs met, such as minerals and vitamins.  When an animal doesn"t
>get the right amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients they
>become malnourished.  As an example - Taurine.  Studies indicate that a
>deficiency of taurine contributes to certain heart ailments.  In Bob's
>Chicken Gravy, he added ingredients to complete the nutritional balance
>that wasnt met by the whole chicken.  Wild mustelids wouldnt naturally
>have access to these additional ingredients.
 
LOL.  I bet animals everywhere are grateful they have humans around to
create "nutritionally complete" meals for them :)
 
Taurine is destroyed by cooking, hence all the problems with pet foods
not providing enough of it before they realised it was important.  It is
now added back in after the cooking.
 
We pull a food apart, think it is comprised of various elements, and try
to reassemble it to the same effect.  Forgetting the relationship between
those elements, and the elements we don't know anything about yet (such
as taurine several decades ago).
 
Ferrets need specifics FOODS not NUTRIENTS.
 
I once saw a quote where a reporter asked a high ranking boss from a pet
food company, what is the perfect food for a cat.  His reply?  A mouse.
 
Pet food companies don't have magical recipes that are supreme to an
animal's natural diet.  They try to replicate this diet for as little
money as possible, and in as convenient a form as possible.
 
>I don't have the exact time-line for ferrets but I do have information
>for dogs.
 
Thank you for all the info, but this still doesn't answer my question:
is 24 hours without eating harmful to a ferret?
 
shona
 
PS. Overseas at the moment (in Fiji) and saw some mongooses running
around!!  They look just like ferrets running through the grass.
[Posted in FML issue 5207]