Suki is claiming that I have made false assertions regarding her personal family ferrets. >Let's face facts: it is fine to debate foods, and for all to learn >that way, but it is NOT fine to make false assertions about someone >else's ferrets, especially publicly. (That is why -- when I mention >Kimmie's ferrets here -- I let her own past posts do the talking about >them. In this case, just a tad from one of her past posts can be found >near the bottom of this letter. I know it's correct about her family >because they are her words rather than my assumptions, so i wish she'd >used the same courtesy of realizing that she knows too little about >OUR family to make the false assertions she made.)" This is so VERY far from the truth! I have NEVER said anything regarding Suki's OWN family of ferrets! I DID say that if SOMEONE has been doing something the same way for 27 years all that means is a habit has been formed. I do not KNOW any of Suki's ferrets, how many she has now or has had. So there is no way I COULD make any kind of assertions regarding her care of them. I HAVE said that it is not right for ferrets to have to die from insulinoma- that is a true statement and had nothing whatsoever to do with ANY of Suki's personal ferrets! I DID watch my own personal ferret succumb to insulinoma and I have offered condolences to countless other people on many forums when their ferrets died from this horrible problem - but I NEVER have said ANYTHING regarding Suki's ferrets! I HAVE said that ferrets are currently considered OLD at age 4 and 5 and often expire by age 6. This is common knowledge and often listed as answers to FAQs on numerous sites as introductions to ferrets. This short life span is also given based upon kibble fed ferrets. When a new ferrent visits sites geared towards natural care, raw feeding and whole prey offering this life span is said to be significantly increased. Suki has taken what I have said regarding kibble feeding much too personally and has chosen to write comments that have zero bearing on the discussion! As an aside, my name is KIM, NOT "Kimmie" as Suki repeatedly wrote. I have NEVER been called "Kimmie" and have never signed my posts with other than my given name of "KIM" so is Suki's use of the moniker "Kimmie" somehow supposed to be a slight or a jab? This is totally uncalled for! I would never resort to such childish antics in ANY public forum! Discussing food choices will ALWAYS bring up strong opinions. Adults can easily discuss their different viewpoints intelligently without resorting to name calling or trying to avert the discusion to different directions totally unrelated to the origin! New information is constantly bringing up new facts. It isn't easy to learn that something that has always been done a particular way may in fact be harmful. But people with OPEN minds and a keen desire to offer their ferrets the best will always remain amenable to new approaches and might even implement them when they see that other people have had tremendous success applying the new methods. Regards, KIM please visit : for ferret help and info: http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi yahoo groups Natural Ferrets for fun: www.vanityferret.com [Posted in FML 6062]