>I don't understand why you promote a natural diet with one breath, then
>seem to endorse Tottaly Ferret with another.
 
When I was running a shelter, I recommended dried food ahead of a natural
diet.  The reason for this is that I saw many more ferrets suffer from
being unwanted, than I ever saw suffer from inadequate nutrition.  Ferrets
that were fed with fresh food tended to have smellier and messier stools,
which increased the chances that the new owners will become disenchanted
with them.  This is the same reason for why I personally support
descenting ferrets going to new ferret owners
 
>Then I compared those results to those I computed for myself, based on
>published journal reports for polecat and feral ferret diets, and
>compositional data for the various prey carcasses.
 
Did you find good data sources for the diet of feral ferrets in New
Zealand?  The only data I have seen is based on the diet of ferrets in
the High Country of the South Island, where approximately 90% of the diet
is rabbit.  It would be interesting to contrast this with data for feral
ferrets living in lowland or coastal areas, bush, or on the fringes of
urban areas.
 
Notwithstanding this, however, I'm not certain that the diet of feral
ferrets in New Zealand gives much of a clue as to what sort of food they
should be eating.  Ferrets are alien to our environment, and it could well
be a case that they are simply eating what is available.  Furthermore as
the average life expectancy of a feral ferret in New Zealand is less than
a year, there is little basis for assessing the suitability of their diet.
 
John Chessum
 
[Moderator's note: Please remember the original post appeared on the
Ferret Health List, so you may not get an answer from the author, at
least not on this list.  But your comments are quite informational in
any case!  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 3408]