I, too asked my local pet shop about the 8 in 1 food and the owner said much the same thing as the one in the Twin Cities. He also said that he had heard a lot of ferrets' coats became dull and dry, and even started falling out when put on 8 in 1 but when changed to another food such as Iams or a premium ferret food, all the symptoms disappeared and the ferrets' coat improved drastically. This guy refuses to carry the food, even tho he carries other 8 in 1 stuff. Just my two cents worth. Chris, Willow, and Smudge [Posted in FML issue 1153]