I'm the worst. My group has a special cereal bowl I add a bit to each morning and evening. They happily munch their sweet treat, eyes closed, head slowly rocking from side to side, utter contentment. They eat their recipe that way too. When Bob first posted his chicken gravy recipe I eagerly prepared it. One batch lasted one day. The simple fact was I couldn't afford to feed chicken gravy to the entire group, not financially, time-wise or energy in making it. I'm not lazy, but I am very busy with other aspects of ferret care. I've experienced how difficult it is for a ferret to change foods or to find one that they will willingly eat, hence I feed a wide variety of foods, including ferret, cat, kitten, one kind of dog food (in moderation but it helps to entice them to eat other foods), and the recipes I make - one with baby food and the other with SD A/D, ground kibble and supplements. Do I feel guilty or does this make me a bad caretaker because I don't feed a more natural diet? I don't think so though others thoughts on the subject may differ and each of us is rightly entitled to our own thoughts and beliefs. The picture on my webpage shows older ferrets in 1995. I look at those in that picture and see that they don't look as good as the oldsters I have now. Since that time I've added new foods, the recipes, and more ferret diets have come on the market. In my observations (not scientific by far) in our home it isn't only the diet that is involved in ferret health, it's tlc, exercise, socialization, stimulation, love and proper vet and supportive care. hugs. tle Troy Lynn Eckart, F.B.S. Ferret Family Services http://www.ferretfamilyservices.org http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/ Please sign up to support our efforts http://www.iGive.com/FFS [Posted in FML issue 3945]