Karla wrote:
>I just try to keep them up to date on their Ferretone/Ferretvite so they
>get taurine (which is missing in dog food and ferrets really need to have),
>as well as the higher protein.
 
Ferretone and ferretvite are vitamin supplements.  Ferretone is oil based,
I'm not sure whether ferretvite is oil based or water based.  As far as I
know, neither contains taurine (my bottle of Ferretone doesn't list it), or
any protein supplement.  (I don't have a bottle of Ferretvite around, so if
I'm wrong about this, someone correct me please!)
 
[Moderator's note: Ferretvite claims to contain 200mg of taurine/ounce. BIG]
 
Taurine is an amino acid (protein).  It is found in beef, chicken, and in
high concentrations in rodent brains and invertebrates (things like snails).
(I haven't seen any reference to taurine content in rabbit, anyone know?)
There are commercial taurine supplements available for people, I haven't
noticed any marketed for pets.  That doesn't mean you couldn't adapt the
people stuff to pets of course, but I don't know how much would be the
right amount to provide.
 
BTW, if you do some reading on animal nutrition, you'll notice that one of
the problems that occurs in the pet industry is that they have to deal with
high fat content foods going rancid.  I suspect (this is my own personal
theory, and I haven't bothered to ask the company about it), that one of the
reasons 8 in 1 markets the Ferretone supplement to be used in conjunction
with their kibble is that by lowering the fat content of the kibble they
reduce this problem without having to add extra chemicals.
 
-Ilena Ayala
[Posted in FML issue 2303]