This post will be a bit stronger than my usual. If anyone has concerns with my post, if it is personal, please reply directy to me and don't clutter the list. I'm not here to get into the 'what is better' feeding discussion, but for the safety of the ferrets, I do need to bring up some cautions and concerns. Feeding issues are very controversial and very personal but please keep in mind that for your ferret to be healthy and happy they NEED to eat. If ferrets don't like what is being fed, they may eat little or nothing at all and harm can be done before one notices, especially when someone isn't as ferret knowledgeable as others. What worked for one, might or might not work for another. On a natural feeding list someone said it won't hurt ferrets to go without food for up to 48 hours. Excuse me? Is this person a ferret knowledgeable veterinarian and ferret specific nutritionist? They said it wasn't hurting them to starve for 40+ hours? WRONG! It can be deadly, particulary if a ferret has insulinoma, is elderly, has an underlying disease that might be brought out by the lack of proper nutrition, etc. I've personally seen the results of the DEADLY food switching results. An 11 month old, beautiful silvermitt died because her eating wasn't closely monitored when food was switched. She died of starvation and stress which resulted in a painful bleeding ulcer. Switching foods should be done slowly and with close monitoring, whether it is kibble or natural. A ferret's digestion time is about 4-6 hours. If they didn't eat the 'natural' diet in 48 hours, that means they would go about 42 hours without ANY nutrition in their system. THAT in itself is harmful and organs WILL start to shut down on their own after a period of time. There are other variable factors that will contribute to the amount of time it takes. Hastily switching food and the ferret not eating can cause stress and ulcers, making the ferrets sick and cause painful suffering. Imagine depending on someone for everything then POOF all of a sudden they take away your natural (meaning the food you are use to eating) food and replace it with something so distasteful you won't eat it. Let's see, hmmmm... let's take away all human food and replace it with hmmm... raw crickets roaches beetles... sound yummy to you? Yeah, I know this wouldn't be nutritious for humans, but please look at the point - I certainly wouldn't eat a bug even if it was the only food source I had. I would literally starve myself to death. I don't understand how anyone can say they are doing good for ferrets when they promote, without clear instructions and cautions, something that can cause pain, suffering, and illness to the ferrets. If one chooses to feed natural or not, that is a personal decision. BUT, for the safety and health of your ferret, do the research, switch slowly, and monitor, monitor, monitor. If your ferret chooses NOT to eat natural, well, then you need to decide would you rather have a kibble eating ferret or a sick or dead ferret? Please remember not everyone is ferret knowledgeable and when you put yourself in an authoritative position, you are responsible for what happens to those who take your advice. And for those who take advice from others, research, monitor and be cautious. There are many who are false and may lead you to harm. hugs to all. Troy Lynn (tle) [log in to unmask] www.ferretfamilyservices.org [Posted in FML issue 5203]