Hi Everybody.. The great FOOD CONTROVERSY... Nearly every edition of the fml I read posts going into great detail about the contents of various cat foods.. and the extensive comparisons of protein in its ratio to fat in cat foods.. with usually cross comment comparing the cat food content ratios with ferret food ratios and so on.. All those statistics are all fine well and good but cat food is made for cats and ferret food is made for ferrets! There is a reason these two types of foods are labelled and recommended for the applicable species.. Ferrets have a three hour digestive tract time.. Cats have a five to six hour digestive tract time. Ferrets need nutrients released at the time the food reaches the part of the gut where it can be best absorbed.. And cats need nutrients released in their guts where they can be best absorbed.. the two species do not absorb the same nutrients at the same locations in their guts.. so the foods are engineered to break down at different rates and with species nutritional absorption timed to fit the gut of the appropriate critter. Cat food takes those extra hours to break down and the nutritional elements to become available to the animals digestive system. If you feed a cat food to a ferret the food will break down in the wrong sequence [some may match some of the time with some of the foods] and the ferret will have finished the digestive process long before the cat food has finished breaking down and releasing its elements. so all those great ingredients on the label tell you nothing about what actually is able to be absorbed by your ferret.. if the fats don't break down in the short three hours of ferret digestion they end up in the litter box not in the ferret.. and the same for the proteins. A cat fed ferret foods will have the food completely broken down and still have a gut trying to extract needed nutrition from now useless remains for the rest of their 5-6 hours of digestion.. Cats love ferret food but are chronically hungry and rapidly develop nutritional deficits forced to exist on this too rapidly broken down food source. Ferrets require very different vitamins and minerals in different dosages than do cats. So ferrets fed cat food can easily develop deficiencies that affect immune responses and resistance to disease. I have read outrage at ferrets fed dog food, and even rabbit food, and many posts condemning feeding ferrets bread soaked with milk! Dog food is for dogs, rabbit food is for rabbits, and cows milk is for cows and bread is [with a few exceptions] not for any living creature. These foods are designed for very different species. They take into account the nutritional requirements and digestive systems of the species they are engineered to nourish. No one seems to have a problem accepting that fact. Ferrets CAN exist on dog food, milk and bread, and even lab block made for rodents but that does not indicate those feeds are appropriate nor acceptable. Ferrets CAN exist on cat food too. And if there is absolutely no way to obtain quality ferret food [trash cat food is bad for cats too just like trash ferret food is bad for ferrets] your ferret can manage to stay alive on cat food... or dog food or whatever. That does not ever make it appropriate nor acceptable any more than dog food etc. is appropriate or acceptable.. It is a less than optimum compromise forced on the ferret owner by the lack of availability of the correct food for the ferret. To fully understand the ferret digestive system and its complex points of specific nutrient absorption and the extensive research that went into the production of Totally Ferret you have to attend one of the presentations of Dr. Williard, the person who spent years extensively analysing the ferret nutritional requirements and the necessary structure requirements that must be engineered into ferret food in order to provide the ferret with complete nutrition that breaks down correctly for the maximum nutritional advantage that can be provided for the species. This presentation is very detailed and truly educates the listener on all aspects of ferret nutrition and includes a slide series, graphs, detailed mapping of the ferret gut, and a picture of ferret requirements that is incredibly complicated and detailed. To truly educate someone on this subject takes a couple of hours, but when he is through you will really understand the results of those years of research and study and can then see clearly why proper food is so carefully and expensively created for each individual species. Quality cat food is also very expensive. The sources of fats and proteins are vitally important. That is pointed out in every post concerning the ingredients in these foods discussed. No one has a problem with not feeding dog food or rabbit food or rodent food. And there is just no possible way anyone can force cat food to be any more appropriate for feeding ferrets than any of those other wrong foods. Wrong food for wrong species simply cannot be justified. So its not what's in the food or from where the nutrients are derived ... Its the needs of the species that are critical here. It is simply not possible for cat food to ever be made 'correct' for nourishing ferrets! The money you save by feeding cat food [and the best quality cat food is very expensive] to your ferret may very well later be spent many times over treating the health problems that result from long term improper nutrition. If you will but take the time and trouble to attend Dr. Williards presentation, and then then locate and attend an equally in depth presentation on cat food nutritional requirements and the digestive systems of cats, you will see very clearly why these two species foods are ONLY correct for the animals for which they are engineered .There is a very good reason why it takes many years to earn a doctorate in nutrition and even more post graduate study to become expert in animal nutrition! For the sake of your ferrets please do everything in your power to obtain the correct food for them. Accept the food designed for another species only if you are absolutely forced to do so. With ferret ownership comes the obligation to provide proper food and to do otherwise is to fail in your responsibility to your pet. We are very fortunate, here in the U S to have correct food available for our ferrets, residents of other countries have to go to incredible lengths and expense to obtain what we can get with one phone call. As is always the case, each person must decide for themselves what they will feed their ferrets. But I would no more feed my fuzzys another species food than I would raise my children on canned dog food. A Healthy Fuzzy is Happy Fuzzy.. and a Happy Fuzzy is a Joy to behold! dayna and the Woozles :] "Resident of... Marvelous Menagerie Of Mirthful Mayhem" dayna frazier 102046,3162 18-Sep-1996 23:22:20 PST [Posted in FML issue 1697]