It doesn't appear that readers are actually opening any more links or doing any more reading about the endocannabinoid system. Because if they did they might talk about the eCB instead of trying to misdirect the discussion to LH and FSH GnRH and Scandinavia and bungee jumping or cliff diving. Travelers needn't have to scuba dive to discover just how deep is the river or measure the depth of a crevasse in order to cross! Most travelers do rely on paths or roads or bridges built by others. But some travelers discover certain bridges are unstable or roads full of potholes and chose to take an entirely different path! Sukie, you wrote about activity levels and its effects on reducing health problems, yet kibble fed ferrets have nowhere NEAR the energy level or stamina of natural fed ferrets. Thanks for that reiteration. An ounce of kibble does not offer the same TDN (total digestible nutrients) as an ounce of mouse - the proof is in the poop! That alone should encourage more folks to offer natural raw foods. A scientific white paper isn't necessary to prove what I've experienced or to observe what's already been approved by mother nature. It isn't necessary to feed my ferrets kibble for 30 years and watch them suffer horrible diseases to know that feeding them naturally for the past 6 years is healthier for them! What "genius" made the leap to feed an obligate carnivore corn, wheat, rice, barley, fruits and vegetables and went on to promote this as an ideal food for an animal that cannot even digest it? Yup, a profiteer with great marketing skills and illustrators to draw on the bag pretty pictures of meat (and vegetables and fruit) and wording to claim what is in the bag meets or exceeds the ferret's nutritional requirements (except that these ACTUAL requirements are unknown). Did you read about the eCB and its role with insulin? The endocannabinoid system is still being discovered, evaluated, researched and so far what HAS been discovered IS shedding light on how an organisms well being is completely intertwined. Endocrine systems create and dispense hormones that affect various actions, growth and reactions within the body and they can only do so with proper feedback from the body. Removal of integral parts WILL cause problems. Like that dining room table - remove one leg and it may remain upright - but stability is lost. You can still set it and load it with the family meal but eventually everything crashes! The eCB is also explained here: <http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-endocannabinoid-system-and-energy-metabolism/> "Abstract Many different regulatory actions have been attributed to endocannabinoids, and their involvement in several pathophysiological conditions is under intense scrutiny. Cannabinoid receptors cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and CB2 participate in the physiological modulation of many central and peripheral functions. The ability of the endocannabinoid system to control appetite, food intake and energy balance has recently received considerable attention, particularly in the light of the different modes of action underlying these functions. The endocannabinoid system modulates rewarding properties of food by acting at specific mesolimbic areas in the brain. In the hypothalamus, CB1 receptors and endocannabinoids are integrated components of the networks controlling appetite and food intake. Interestingly, the endocannabinoid system was recently shown to control several metabolic functions by acting on peripheral tissues such as adipocytes, hepatocytes, the gastrointestinal tract, the skeletal muscles and the endocrine pancreas. The relevance of the system is further strengthened by the notion that visceral obesity seems to be a condition in which an overactivation of the endocannabinoid system occurs, and therefore drugs interfering with this overactivation by blocking CB1 receptors are considered as potentially valuable candidates for the treatment of obesity and related cardiometabolic risk factors." more here: <http://www.mendeley.com/research/endocannabinoid-system-new-target-regulation-energy-balance-metabolism/> more on the eCB's emerging role of regulating the endocrine system: <http://www.mendeley.com/research/emerging-role-endocannabinoid-system-endocrine-regulation-energy-balance-3/> What I am putting forward is that the kibble manufacturers, especially the ones with the so called animal nutritionists sporting PhDs, know very well that while a ferret IS an obligate carnivore they also have a sweet tooth, so in order to fool the ferret into eating products they normally would ignore - the manufacturers put sweeteners in their foods and these sweeteners speak to the ferret's eCB which trigger responses to fool the body into wanting more! That was where I started, but what is coming to light (from further reading) is how MUCH the eCB system influences the body and NOT just the dietary parts - but also the musculoskeletal system, reproductive system,even stress handling! Is it necessary to crash my car to see if the seat belts, airbags and engine cut off work? Or should I continue to drive safely and take responsibility for my own safety? Why should feeding naturally be such a hard concept to accept when mother nature has already proved what works best for the ferret?. Cheers, Kim please visit : for ferret help and info: http://holisticferret.proboards60.com/index.cgi http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi yahoo groups Natural Ferrets [Posted in FML 7347]