On Sep 8, 2004, at 4:00 AM, PAUL WHYLES wrote: >We normally use Ferretone but it seems to be in short supply in the UK >at the moment so I thought I'd give ferretvite another try. Be careful with giving vitamins as treats. Some vitamins -- the fat-soluble ones -- are actually toxic in high doses (at least to people; the standard example is polar bear liver, which has so much vitamin A that it is toxic). Treat ferretvite like a mediciine -- know what dose you are willing to give, and don't let big sad eyes sway you into giving more! Taurine is considered 'safe' and does not have an overdose level; however, like many amino acids, it is not recommended for use by children, pregnant or nursing women, or those with severe liver or kidney disease. That's for people; ferrets, since they are obligatory carnivores (and taurine is a meat-origin amino acid) probably do a better job of dealing with high amounts of taurine. I periodically give my guys olive oil or flaxseed oil instead of ferretone. They know the difference, and give me a "hey, what's with this?" look, but they also happily slurp it. (I do this because sometimes the pet store is out of ferretone, and I want them to accept substitutes; same reason I periodically give them iams kitten food -- I have to travel a ways to get ferret food, and they don't always have it in stock, and I don't want them to starve if for some reason I run out.) Claire and the kids [Posted in FML issue 4630]