There are two things which are downright obvious in relation to making ferret foods better: 1. No chunks of veggies or fruits since those can cause blockages. 2. The protein source should be entirely or almost entirely animal based Other than that it is essential to recall that what are being dealt with are hypotheses. For instance, as anyone with a ferret who developed cystine stones can tell you, and many people with ferrets who developed kidney disease with age or misfortune will tell you -- the high protein trend does not suit all ferrets and can definitely harm the health of some. We don't even at this point know how many ferrets it may help, given that the possible reduction in insulinoma cases which may result from fewer carbs in a ferret diet is hypothetical (based upon about a half dozen stacked hypotheses which begin from actual work into diabetes (not insulinoma) in cats (not ferrets). That does not mean that it won't pan out, just that we need to keep open minds because it might or it might now. Nor do we know yet what the typical rate of insulinoma even is to do a comparison to see how much it helps -- if research shows that it helps. Here is the most recent, up-dated, and complete write-up from the vet who first developed the concept that reducing carbs might lower insulinoma rates. It is an excellent read. He personally tends to think that it will work, but he realizes that it might not and that if it does we need the baseline work to know how much of an effect it might have on rate. He is very frank about what is hypothetical in the concept. Sadly, it is no longer on the site, but if you ask around you will be able to find a vet who can let you photostat a copy from that vet's files, or you can write to Dr. Mark Finkler and request a reprint (paying for the copying, time, and postage, of course). JEMM&S, volume 2.2, Dec 2004, Article by Dr Mark Finkler: "A Nutritional Approach to the Prevention of Insulinomas in the Pet Ferret" That is a peer-reviewed article, and was published by the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians. It does have a nifty bibliography which cites the works of Weiss, Williams, Scott, Caplan, Peterson, Mullen, Vondruska, Jenkins, Brown, Lewington, Kirk, Debraekeleer, Armstrong, Jenkins, Hore, Moody, Bowman, Lang, Bell, Fox, Mc Lain, Rand, Lutz, Michel, Hess, Hoenig, Curry, Morris, Rogers, Freedland, and Mugford. I am sure people will recognize the names of a number of vets they know or have read. Veterinary research to benefit ferrets is sorely underfunded so much of this work has been done bit by bit until ferret owners finally catch on that the route to faster progress is to fund reputable veterinary researchers. Most of the vet research done to help ferrets is done on a shoe-string piece by piece as funds allow due to the deep need for donations going into all types of ferret veterinary research. Since we all have had ferrets ill with an assortment of things i know that we are all grateful for the advances made possible by the past donations, and hopefully, now that the importance of supporting ferret health research is becoming more known, people will decide to give to give more to that. Giving to health research literally is a situation where the ferrets you save may be your own. Dr. Finkler is with the Roanoke Animal Hospital in Roanoke, VA. Personally, I think that we will ultimate need a RANGE of food types, with animal protein levels going from the 30th percentile range into the 50th percentile range. Most ferrets should be able to deal with animal protein levels in the low 50th percentiles since mice are 52% protein, but those who have kidney disease many times will not be able to cope, and in the last year-plus the number of cystine stones seen from ferrets in the urolith laboratory of UC Davis has markedly risen. These are kidney and bladder stones which form when there is too much of certain amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins -- in the diet. Since they can be fatal it is probably wise for anyone who is feeding a high protein diet to check urine pH since the pH is acidic typically in the vulnerable ferrets when they get high protein diets. That precaution may protect some ferrets and is easy and cheap to do. It's not perfect but it sure is an improvement. Note, too, that it is easy to make demands, but it those demand are not based upon actual knowledge -- such as what nutrients are needed, what balance of the types of fatty acids, etc. ignorance could accidently lead to a "fashionable" but harmful food. Recognize that we don't know what it optimal for the older senior citizens of any species in terms of foods. It's mostly guesswork, sales jobs, assertions, individually tailored approaches. A well- written argument is simply words, a popular trend is merely fashion. Neither is proof. We need proof, and right now what we have that for are the chunks that can causes blockages being bad and for ferrets having a hard time digesting plant origin nutrients. Finally, notice that the manufacturing processes themselves can place certain restrictions on the food makers. None of that is to say that there are not lousy foods out there, but unless someone has a doctorate in veterinary nutrition if the person is going to frank then gaps in the knowledge base have to be admitted as existing. Again, I suspect that what will ultimately prove to be needed will be a range of food types. [Posted in FML issue 4919]