>>We'd read in one of the books that they needed a high protein diet but
>>that having fruit & veggies was a good thing....
>>Wow!!!  I'm so shocked that a ferret book would give the wrong info!!!
 
>Hee-Hee!  Reminds me of the time I read that ferrets weren't climbers!
>Also, in a ferret book!  LOL
 
Yes, and at least one ferret book out there (the Fancy one) was written
chock-a-block with errors.  In the FML archives you'll find some very
telling Bob Church comments on it.  Sure hope they corrected it.
 
On the other hand, in addition of poor writing there can be poor reading
or poor recollection.  If a book said that a raisin now and then is good,
and it's fine if you have a ferret who grazes now-and-then on your cooking
herbs (as our Ashling has done about twice a week for 4 and 3/4 years
without problem) I can imagine someone later mistakenly interpreting that.
 
Oh, and, no, we don't give sweet treats of any type to the ferrets with
insulinomae.  My points were that even though we give some sweet treats in
small numbers (certain ones only) we have seen few insulinomae in our crew
in 19 and 1/2 years, and have had fine results with surgery in those few,
of the ones (most) that could have surgery.  There was a marvelous Jerry
Murray DVM cross-post on some of the normal diseases that ferrets can be
expected to encounter with age; if you missed it then find it and read
it in the FML archives or the FHL, please.  Ditto, a fine Bruce Williams
one.  There is a decent premise behind the idea that some sugars or some
starches might contribute to or speed-up the formation of insulinomae,
but like so much else, it remains a hypothesis so take into account that
it may be true or it may prove false.
 
Also, meat alone is not a balanced diet -- note that Sheila gives whole
animals.
 
As i noted yesterday:
>Might these things help.  Yes, they might.  Then again, a home sample
>simply is too small to know, there is a dearth of actual studies, and
>surveys simply have too many inherent sampling and reporting errors to
>be trust-worthy.  All that folks can do is to learn what hard info is
>available, and to then try their best, understanding that some of it is
>simply guess-work.
 
>Here in Australia we can't get any of the products mentioned.  However,
>there are good alternatives.  My pair are 'fruit freaks'.  They just love
>watermelon, cantaloupe, and best of all, mangos.  Our Vet, a ferret owner
>himself, says that the fruit is not a problem and that there are a number
>of things in fruit that are actually beneficial.
 
Depends on the fruit, the amounts, and the ferret.  For instance you would
not want to do that with a ferret that had insulinomae, gastritis, ulcers,
intestinal damage (as can happen after ECE or other illnesses, etc.).  You
also would not want it to be in large amounts, and you not want it to be
of a type that is hard or stringy or you risk a blockage or intestinal
laceration, or both.
 
You desire info on treating those with kidney problems.  Go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list and use the search
feature.  The most concentrated info is in the Champ posts but there are
others that are marvelous, too!  Yahoo is having a few problems so take
that into account.  BTW, when it says that it hasn't sent something it
usually has sent it.
 
>PROFESSIONAL Kitten Food ... IT'S THE SAME EXACT FOOD!  Whoever makes the
>Prof. makes the Path Valley.
 
Interesting.  We just got a sample and it is vastly different from the
food PV sold us in the past as their personal brand.  That old one was
dark, shaped the same as MF food, and differed in other ways.  We tend to
use a mixture of foods here, BTW.  There has been another difference I
have noted within the last year, I guess, in relation to PV that I'd never
seen before: rudeness.  Wondering if they have a new manager or a new
partner.  Hopefully, that behavior has since stopped.
[Posted in FML issue 3602]