Hi all, I took BIG's hint in a recent "what is best to feed query" and was silent regaring what you all know I feel is best to feed. Although I didn't post publicly on the FML, I did post directly to the questioner. And also received a post directly from BIG weighing in with his concerns over another "food debate" starting. While I voiced concerns about censorship and wanting to help keep ferrets healthy a cdertain person posted some long winded yammering about vegetable soups and pulverized fruits being absolutely okey dokey to feed to ferrets, a couple other people chimed in about the fruits, raisins and other things they give their ferrets. To this I responded directly to BIG about how misleading such posts are and how harmful encouraging such feeding habits could be. Still I refrained from posting directly to the FML and lo and behold what happens - but at least ONE person who I've locked horns with actually posted AGAINST feeding fruits and raisins! And several other people have chimed in with the FACT that ferrets are indeed obligate carnivores! Then a very knowldegeable and studious ferret community member posted regarding ferret's anatomical proof of being an obligatory carnivore! So while I was champing at the bit to add my post against feeding materials the ferret's system has NOT evolved to devour - all I had to do was wait a bit and other people made that point clear. Its beyond me how some people think that just because humans domesticate an animal that all of a sudden that animal's innate needs and evolutionary design has somehow been changed too! There is more to nutrition than pulverizing broccoli and tomatoes, blending it and mixing in chicken gravy and then calling that a nutritious food for a ferret! Besides the fact that ferret's oral health improves immensely when offered apropriate, NATURAL forms of either raw meaty items or whole prey (something that will not and CANNOT happen if fed a blended puree) the ferret's digestive tract itself benefits from the gentle scrubbing of the prey hair passing through the intestines (as opposed to irritating scraping from grains and seed hulls); furthermore digestion takes place at a cellular level and the cells of plants have a different matrixthan cells of animal tissue and the ferret's digestive tract lacks the needed apparatus and enzymes to properly utilize this plant matter! You could blend and puree for hours until the blender motor over heated and you'd still not break down the plant cellular walls to a form the ferret could utilize! This certain person further suggests cooking such pureed mess and supposes this will offer the ferret a suitably adequate nutrient base that is more suited to a "domesticated" ferret than what its system is stll evolved to digest! Notwithstanding the FACT that cooking destroys a high percentage of nutrients found in vegetables and fruits it still does little to break down the cellular walls of that pureed mess! The simple fact is ferrets, even domestic ferrets have evolved to eat small animals as their nutrient source! Not plants! I mentioned ti BIIG that sitting idly by while this ridiculous person posted repeatedly about how perfectly healthy it is to feed ferrets fruits and veggies and other onerous items was rather like being a parent at poolside who has taken the time to teach her child to swim, sit idly by while another ignorant parent simply tosses their kid into the pool and telling the child to "sink or swim - figure it out yourself!" Its hard to sit idly by when so many people encourage and expound upon how they feed their ferrets all manner of foodstuffs that not only do not benefit the ferret, but can cause serious harm to them! WHen someone asks what we feel is BEST to feed, then I think it only fair they get to hear from ALL quarters - not just one! That's about all I'm going to add to that portion of one recent FML query. Based upon the heap of trash that E.L. posts and the absurd convoluted ramblings he posts, I've gotten into the habit of lightly skimming or completely ignoring his posts. (scrolling is a wonderful option). So I completely missed his desecration of the Rainbow Bridge and one of our very generous FML members. I'll admit, I don't read every one of Sara ferret's bridg greetings - I can't - they hit too close to home and I end up shedding too many tears! I have three ferrets waiting for me to play with them there and dread the day when more of my crew, now with me, will join their friends and wait for me too. I'd much rather read about the antics and view the goofy photos and videos posted. But I do appreciate what Saraferret does and the solace offered by ALL the bridge greeters! Its a wonderful selfless service they offer to many people greif stricken when their cherished companion leaves for another grand adventure that we only get one chance to accompany them upon. From several of E.L.'s posts I have grave concerns about the ferrets in his so called care! Are they in fract cherished, loved companions or merely experiments for his twisted and tortured mind? He's written of ferrets devouring each other, ferrets desperate for water, ferrets being fed products intended for herbivores, ferrets staked out vulnerable to all manner of larger predators, he's written of poking deep into their ears and suirting ice water in their ears whenthey are simply going potty! This recent post, which I had to go back and find due to the FML uproar, and one which I had skipped simply due to considering the author; has me thinking that regardless of anyone's personal religious preference, practically anyone who trully cherishes their companion at least believes in some sort of after life. And if one doesn't then they are at least polite enough to keep such views to themselves and show respect for other people's views! Apparently E.L. is the typical playground bully that is happy to trounce upon the sadness of others and certainly doesn't have a polite bone in his spineless body! He's in his glory now, because the entire list is talking about HIM and . He doesn't care that we are not speaking well of him. If this was a regular style forum format we could all put him on "ignore" and eventually he'd go aggravate some other list. Alas he still gets to post here. BIG has his work cut out for him especially since he apparently already filters E.L's posts. I've never said anything REMOTELY repulsive as E.L. and yet I've been "censored" simply because I believe in feeding what is naturally healthy for ferrets to eat! I'm still trying to figure out the workings of this list. On one hand it claims to be a place that ferret folks can communicate and share; on the other hand you are only apparently supposed to share what everyone wants to hear or what everyone thinks is O.K. I am not adverse to contrary ways of thinking - or swimming up stream, but I don't post horrible things like E.L. repeatedly does! Does the fact he's been around for years play a part in him being able to say such things? Or is BIG trying to show us that there are truly warped minds out there in our fluffy cute ferret world? Does BIG send through E.L. posts to demonstrate the absurdity of some members and to expose people to the need to make common sense choices for themselves? Who knows? One thing is for certain E.L. has MUCH to chew on now with his big ol' foot in his mouth! And he'll have considerable irritated bowels with our collective FML boots up his you know what! Regards, Kim [Moderator's note: What Kim fails to mention is that she wrote and sent me a GREAT rebuttal to Ed's post. It was very informative and discussed nutritional needs, yet it didn't attempt to convince us that the *only* way to feed a ferret is a raw whole prey diet. I encouraged Kim to post it to the FML but it never appeared. Funny thing is, personally, I am in favor of feeding whole prey. I've told Kim that. I also explained why I feel it's counter-productive to start another food debate now. For example, several people unsubscribed as a direct result of the last food debate. People ALWAYS unsubscribe as a result of food debates. People won't "reached" by driving them away, nor will they be reached by endless repetitive posting, nor by insinuating there are absolutely no alternatives. And since most of us have just experienced a "food debate", we've all heard it already. The only result of restarting such a debate now would be the annoyance of the majority of subscribers. All of this may sound a little crazy given the complaints I've had in the last couple of days about E.L.'s posts though there are some major differences, but that's a rant for another day. BIG] [Posted in FML 6295]