D K SADOWSKI <[log in to unmask]> wrote on 4/10/2006, 4:51 AM: >Danee, in your post you mentioned that when you were a kid your family >had fed table scraps & meat scraps to your pets. You also mentioned your >neighbor who raised mink & ferrets a natural diet of meat. Do you think >you could ask your neighbor how long his breeder mink & ferrets lived? >Or maybe ask your mom if she remembers how long your pets lived eating >this way? The dog my parents had when I was born lived to a ripe old age of 18, and was never fed any commercial dog food. She was a medium size dog (I mention this because I know the larger dogs are supposed to live shorter lives), and weighed about 45 pounds. The farm dogs it is harder to say - they were not tracked the way people do with their pets. Many of them were strays that just wondered in and were adopted (allowed to stay). These dogs were not vetted, or even given vaccinations. But, I know the collie that my mother's parents had was born before I was (there are pictures of me as an infant and her as an adult dog, and she was still around when I turned 15. So, I would guess she lived to at least 16 and maybe longer. I do know she was gone by the time I started college. As the the mink and ferrets raised for fur - they had very short lives, as they were probably pelted before they were 2. In the fur business, they do not keep their breeders for a long period. Since I am still feeding kibble, I do not know if feeding raw will extend the lives of ferrets or not. I suspect it won't, but it might cut back on some health problems. When I was at the vet's office last week getting some melatonin implants, I was talking to the vet about raw diets. This was not Dr. Kawasaki, but his new associate, Dr. Putt. She has only been out of vet school a few years, and in at least one of her classes there was discussion of diet, nutrition, and raw feeding. Like me, she admits that there are likely health advantages to raw feeding. One of the biggest things is with the teeth. While none of my kids have full blown gingivitis, they all have plaque, and some have broken teeth (they are all over 5 years old). Dr. Putt said that most of the ferrets she sees that are over the age of 3 have terrible teeth, unless the owner regularly brushes them, and even then, they usually have more plaque then she likes to see. She is really big on dental care. I think my biggest reason for the interest in feeding raw is because of the increase in GI problems that I am noticing. All but a few of my kids have some kind of lower GI problem. But, it is not just my own ferrets that seem to be having an increase in problems. I notice more and more posts on lists about ferrets with chronic diarrhea. Until 5 or 6 years ago, this was never an issue for me. And, while I would see occasional posts about it, it did not seem to be a big problem for other people's ferrets. I have no way of knowing just how widespread the problem was or now is (how many ferrets have lower GI problems vs how many don't), but it appears to be going up, based on what people post about. In my own crew, I know I have some with chicken allergies, and some that apparently have grain allergies. It is very hard to find a kibble or canned food that will meet a ferrets nutritional requirements that does not contain some chicken or grain. Even the so called 'Turkey' kibbles have an ingredient called 'poultry', which means there is some chicken. If I can find a trustworthy source of raw meat, I will have better control over what my ferrets eat. I can insure they do not get any grains or chicken. Right now, I am feeding several of my kids Turkey baby food. But, this is an expensive way to feed. Feeding raw may also prove expensive - I don't know. And, like I said in an earlier post, I have joined the Natural Feeding list. I hope to learn from others. I have told them I may or may not switch, and they seem fine with that. The point is - I have promised to keep an open mind to what they are saying. I don't believe there is a single miracle cure that will take away all of a ferrets health problems. I suspect that genetics plays a big role in some of the problems we see. Other things that may contribute are light, early spay/neuter, and diet. And, even if we get all that stuff right, there is still old age. Dying is a part of life. There is nothing we can do that will make our fuzzies live forever. What is good, though, is that people are willing to try to improve things for them, and learn. -- Danee DeVore International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator http://www.ferretcongress.org ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com You can help fight ADV! Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/ [Posted in FML issue 5209]