I assume that the folk that believe a natural diet (raw food not processed and not cooked) is the healthiest and best thing for their pets also eat natural diets themselves? Only raw meat and vegetables, yes? After all, humans originally hunted other animals and probably ate raw roots and grains other than the rare occasions when they were able to boil or cook foods to render them edible. In bad weather (no dry areas for a campfire) they would have to eat raw meat. Why should pet animals only benefit from a natural diet? I assume that those ferret owners who feed natural unprocessed meats to their pets also do NOT eat sugar or salt (other than going to a salt marsh and licking up the unprocessed product) and if they do eat meat, the pigs, cows, rats, mice, rabbits etc they hunt and trap should be consumed raw as the best food for our species -- logically speaking. I think those that feed raw and natural diets to their pets should offer publicly to publish what they eat, (raw healthy food, dead animals and fish allowed but not cooked), and allow us to do a study on their increased life span and health. Those of us who eat icecream, chocolate, lasagna, hamburgers and drink coffee will be the controls. I volunteer for the second group right now. I come from South Wales (UK) where the countryside all year is mostly wet and cool, so cooking over a fire most times of the year prior to the 10th century (when things got more civilized) would be impossible. I have no info on the life spans of the Celts, but from what people on the lists say, extrapolating from ferret health to humans, those primitive tribes-people should have lived healthily until their 80's at least (that is of course excluding injuries from catching the prey and perhaps diseases from said prey). The Celts would have had to hang the meat until it putrefied and tenderized, or dried it (jerky?) since otherwise it's pretty tough. People in the UK do still hang game (ie let it rot), but they cheat and cook it before eating it. Fungi are edible raw and vegetables certainly are delicious and much more healthy for us than cooked. (I am a vegetarian so can attest to the delicious taste of raw veggies, although I know following the rules of the natural foods folks I should also be eating raw steak/pork/chicken/eggs/peanuts along with it. I assume from a health standpoint, pies, ice cream, cheese, pate, wine and beer would be completely verboten to those who feed their ferrets live prey. Raw eggs would be OK --natural produce - but no boiling, since the Stone age folks had very few cooking utensils. So, if natural foods have such health benefits I assume the folks feeding their ferrets natural diets should follow their own rules and eat nothing but a healthy raw natural diet. After all, we are animals too. What's the difference? Put your money where your mouth is - yes ?. Finally, European polecats eat not only rodents (note-wild, not reared on lab chow), but also amphibians, insects, birds (aha that's why they like Gerber's chicken baby food) and rabbits. In some parts of Europe amphibians are preferred (top prey in 3 regions, and 2nd choice in 8 other regions) and often insects are their preference (see Trophic status and feeding habits of the European Polecat Mustela putorius L. 1758 T. LOD, Laboratoire d'Ecologie animale, Universit d'Angers, 2Bd Lavoisier, 49045 Angers, France ) Mammal Review Vol 27, Issue 4 pages 177-184 2008. If ferrets need "natural" prey, why don't cats and dogs need natural prey? Variation in dog/cat longevity/health seems to be because of selection for breed/size/ shape and has not much to do with diet. Often as in humans they have the bad genetic luck to get cancer or illness. Why should ferrets be any different ? Meryl [Posted in FML 6243]