Hi Ya'll,
 
I have been trying to read this discussion, and have a couple of things to
say.  But forgive me if I repeat something, Pookie broke my glasses this
last weekend and I just got them fixed (and I am blind as a bat) and then
Miss Delilah tumped my water onto the keyboard and fried it, so I haven't
had all the fml's to reread.
 
This is such a difficult subject because there are so many variables.  I
don't necessarily have answers, but do have a couple of things to ponder.
(yes, I have been watching Pinky and the Brain).
 
As for kibble, I realize that the diet differs considerably here and in
Britain, and it may not be for the reasons that everyone assumes.  I wonder
if one of the main reasons the diet in the UK is what it is, is due to the
lack of available good quality kibble as we have here?  I know that when I
was a kid, kibble was not readily available here and my Grandma bought dog
food from the butcher, which was blocks of chopped up who knows what, held
together with suet.
 
I do not believe that kibble is necessarily worse for ferrets, or more
disease producing, than a whole food diet.  I base my opinion on the quality
and life span we now see in cats.  I feel fairly confident that we can
extrapolate that onto ferrets, since they are fairly similar.  The lifespan
of an indoor cat has greatly increased in recent years.  They live longer
and healthier lives, a good part due to the increase in good quality,
balanced nutrition.  Kibble for cats has long been a standard and you don't
see a lot of folks rushing out to change a cats diet to whole food.  There
are recipes for doing this, I have a book on natural care that provides
some.  To insure a balanced diet, you have to put a little work into it.
 
Plus, if you used frozen or cooked whole food, you will lose some of the
nutrition provided in it.  Freezing doesn't lose as much as cooking, but is
still breaks down the food somewhat.
 
As for the difference in disease in ferrets here and in the UK, I wonder how
much this truly exists.  What I am about to say is not meant, in any
fashion, as a flame.  I don't know if it is true but I am assuming it to be
so after my own experiences with the health care system in Scotland.  Could
perhaps the greater numbers of disease actually be due to more diagnoses of
those problems?  I also wonder if we in the US are more prone to run to the
vet's every other day.  This is not an insult, but if the ferrets in the UK
are working animals, then I wonder if they are kept by ranchers and farmers
more.  I know from owning horses that these type of folks tend to do more
home treatment than a suburban pet owner does.  You have to.
 
In humans, no one is really sure if many of the cancers we are now seeing
are actually on an increase, or just being diagnosed more.  Changes in life
spans being longer could account for more, as could the industrial pollution
levels.
 
While I do believe that diet can influence weight, I also realize that there
is a genetic factor involved.  I have several ferrets, who on the same diet
as the rest, always stay lean and mean.  Winter or summer, there weight does
not vary that much.  I have others who regularly gain upwards of 25% of
total weight in the winter months.  And they do put on more here than they
did in Houston.
 
Please, if anyone has any firm answers for some of my ponderings, let me
know.  Always willing to increase my knowledge.
 
Mo' Mad Mags and the Mid-Mo Maniacs
[Posted in FML issue 2217]