Hmmm, wonder what those mustelids ate to survive during starting over 16 million years ago? Definitely NOT kibble! Since KIBBLE has only been manufactured for about 100 years and FERRET kibble only the last several decades! Oh gee, could they maybe have evolved eating small mammals, birds, invertebrates, lizards, frogs, rodents, rabbits and even carrion? Please, say it ain't so! This interesting study came to light recently (for those NEEDING published scientific studies) about a scientific comparison of raw, cooked and kibbled diets fed to cats: <http://evolveanimalnutrition.blogspot.com/2012/03/raw-diet-research-finally.html> The study was focusing on "digestibility, fecal characteristics, urine characteristics, and serum chemistry" between the three types of diets: Raw, Cooked (from raw), and Grain free Kibble. The raw and cooked diet was beef based, they didn't expound upon the brand of kibble - so the meat protein sources of the kibble are unknown - we can only guess that maybe they were also using a beef based kibble. The study's end results bolster what those of us that feed raw already have discovered regarding digestibility: Fecal output of eating raw is about half that of kibble and ammonia release is much less - according the the study its about 3 times less! The study also lists BCFA totals (Branched chained fatty acids) left over and considering their description of BCFA as being "putrefactive compounds produced during colonic fermentation of endogenously produced and non-absorbed amino acids.", its good to know that feeding raw creates 2 and 1/2 times less than what kibble creates! With Putrifaction being defined as:enzymatic decomposition, especially of proteins, with the production of foul-smelling compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and mercaptans; this is just one reason that ferrets fed raw diets don't smell as bad as kibble fed ferrets do; neither on their bodies, nor in their litter pans! The study clearly recognizes that protein in kibble is not as digestible as protein in raw, with raw being 15% MORE digestible than kibble! Digestible energy from raw is almost 7% MORE than kibble! This study used a grain free, kibble as a comparison. Its pretty safe to surmise that if the cats were fed grain based kibbles, there would be even wider gaps in the percentage differences as well as the fecal matter output, ammonia and BCFA. When you start crunching the numbers( no pun intended - well, maybe not) it becomes apparent that ferrets would have to eat so much more kibble than raw but still cannot glean the same amount of energy and digesting kibble creates so much more odor, so feeding raw is a win- win method! I, for one, will look forward to their further studies they promise to do on whole prey this summer! FINALLY a study done for those that need proof that feeding RAW offers more benefits than kibble! Cheers, Kim for ferret help and info: http://holisticferret.proboards60.com/index.cgi http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi yahoo groups Natural Ferrets [Moderator's note: When I pointed out to Kim that the study also investigated COOKED food and the differences between cooked and raw were less pronounced, she suggested I could add the following: "I'm not so convinced of the very small changes the study illustrated regarding cooked and raw - there isn't much info on the method of cooking. Furthermore the benefit of feeding raw offers safe edible bones. Unless you boil the snot out of a whole raw carcass, the cooking will make the bones dangerous. Dry cooking methods will increase the brittleness of the bones and charcoal cooking of course adds those carcinogens to the food. Most cooking sites will indicate that heat changes or destroys many nutrients. So yes, I focused on the raw results which showed significant differences from kibble diets. This was only a 60 day study too - and there wasn't much description of the "beef based diet". As raw feeders know, a meat only diet will soon shortchange the animal on necessary nutrients. The abstract specifically mentioned they were not testing for nutrients and minerals. It takes longer than 60 days for nutrient and mineral deficiencies to show problems. Too, they didn't note, if any, changes in the cat's behaviors, oral health, coat changes, energy levels etc. which are all areas that show immense improvement for raw fed ferrets. But as the abstract noted, the main focus was upon simple digestibility. If you want to use these paragraphs as an addendum to my post - feel free... Kim" BIG] [Posted in FML 7369]