This is a response to Trish and her very conservative food recommendations
for ferrets.
 
Diet, whether for humans or our pets, has been a topic of discussion for
ages.  What is right and what is wrong!  It is a topic that will be debated
long past my life, and everyone else's life too.
 
It is bad to smoke or consume alcohol..just ask the 100 year old woman who
has had a 'nip' everyday of her life or the 110 year old man who swears it
is the cigar he has smoked after dinner every day for the past 80 years that
has kept him alive so long.  (And I am a non-smoker and the original
designated driver!)
 
My original ferret lived to be 10 1/2..old by most ferret standards..he
never suffered an ill day in his life.  He went to bed one night, curled up
with his favorite toy in the middle of the ball and that was how we found
him the next morning.  He ate anything and everything that met his fancy.
That included raisins, all sorts of melons, bananas, various vegetables,
potatoes (He killed for sweet potatoes!) as well as his Mazuri ferret food,
which was always present for his munching.
 
Isolated case?  I am lucky?  Ferret number two, Billy, is now 8 plus.  He is
the original stick in the mud.  Doesn't like anything 'cept his dry food and
his Feline Growth wet food.  HE is a sickly ferret..has been all his
life..now he is suffering from insulonoma, brought on by his adrenal
desease.  Diet a factor here?  I don't know.
 
My youngest, Garret, also eats everything.  He is 5 1/2 and healthy as an
ox, er, ferret.  If it exists as food, it ~~will~~ be consumed, with great
relish.
 
Trish, I have always respected your opinions, observations, and experiences.
But on the issue of diet, to a point, after having grown up and spent many
of my 5 decades on this planet, many involved in animal husbandry, I would
have to disagree with some your food guidelines.  Diet just isn't so cut and
dried.  Ferrets in the wild may be primarily carnivores, but they are
oportunistic.  They ~~will~~ eat berries if they find them and know them to
be sweet.  They ~~will~~ eat grasses, for what reason no one knows.  No, I
am not an expert on wild ferrets (BFF) but I do have enough experience with
carnivores of many types to know that they do sample vegetable matter at
times.
 
Someone brought up the fact that they felt that ferrets need a 'variety' of
food tastes, implying that it was the stimulation they needed (I am reading
between the lines here....) Here, I agree 100% with Trish.  In the animal
kingdom, it appears that only primates really need the variable food
stimulation... Dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, etc.  are quite happy with the
'same old, same old' type of diet.  No, I am not contradicting myself...
heh... They do love the treats (read: variety) but it is not needed to keep
them eating regularly and consuming consistant amounts.
 
Ooh..too long a post....Draw your own conclusions about what you feed your
babies.  And..again, I do agree with Trish on this: If you do decide to give
your fuzzy, treats, do so in moderation..if for no other reason, just to
keep from having any unplanned 'corner' deposits created by the deviation
from a normal diet.
 
Joe
Garret: That bag of M&M's is mine.  ~No it isn't..that is mom's snack food~
NO!  It's mine..HEY!  This bag is too heavy to carry to my hidey hole..what
gives?  I've done it before.  (I knew there was a reason to buy the 10 lb.
Costco bag!)
Billy-Bob:  Where is the Ferretone?  I want my Ferretone!
[Posted in FML issue 1931]