Hi Ya'll, Cooking a pot of beans and gonna make cornbread. You know that goes with chocolate cake, at least in my family. Traditional to eat beans on top of the cake. hehe. Don't ask. All the men in the Merchant family eat this. On Borax- I used borax to kill fleas in the carpets for years. Works well. But...after I got ferrets, my vet recommended that I use something else or get the encapsulated boric acid available at the pet stores or through Flea Busters. His concern was the ferrets proximity to the dust and being a lung irritant. Boric acid is technically poisonous. Lots of things are used to make things that are used topically that are not meant to be ingested. But boric acid has a low toxicity rate compared to man made chemicals, with a lethal dose of 50 (about as low as you can get). I would use borax or regular boric acid only where I know the ferrets are not going to reach it, and treat common areas with the micro-encapsulated form of boric acid. It is excellent for controlling sugar eating ants, I mix it half and half with powerdered sugar and trail out for the ants to eat. Also, ants will not cross chili powder lines, but again, keep this away from animals, believe me it can irritate the hell out of you if you breath it. I have used organics for a very long time, they work well, are less toxic and less harmful to the environment. I would caution folks that although herbal, organic or any similar term sounds benign, often nature makes some nasty items. You should still be well informed, and cautious when using ANY form of pest control. On Taurine- actually, taurine (and the other amino acids) are a COMPOUND of protien, not protien itself. In fact, if anyone knows any of the theories on vegetarian eating, one will recognize the terms complete and incomplete protiens. The amino acids inside the protiens are what is refered to here. Is is a theory, now known to be invalid, that vegetarians need to make sure and combine proper protiens in order to make use of the amino acids they contain. However, current thinking says that as long as the amino acids are eaten within a couple of days of each other, you are ok. Most can be manufactured by the body. However, there are some (called essential amino acids) that cannot be manufactured, they must be ingested to be obtained. Taurine is one of these. As of a couple of years ago, there were no dietary guidelines in place for cat, kitten, or ferret foods regarding the AMOUNT of taurine needed in these animals diets. It is known they need it, but there is no known amount that is needed. Thinking then was that more was needed than realized. This is one of the reasons percentages of taurine is not normally listed on pet foods. In fact, it often isn't listed anywhere, which can give the impression it isn't in the food. This can be rather misleading. One of the things a lack of taurine will do, in the long run, is cause blindness. It will affect the overall health of anything. That is why you should not feed dog food on a longterm, or main, basis. Dogs do not require the taurine that cats and ferrets do. I add taurine to my duck soup recipe. I feed this every week. I have asked the folks on this forum if you can overdose on amino acids, but got no answer. The head of the forensic anthro dept here at the school, Dr. Stout, felt it could be conceivable to over do the taurine in humans, but he has no good background to give me an opinion on ferrets. You can then extrapolate this knowledge to your's and your ferret's diet. Think about it, it is really quite simple. We all evolved to eat a certain way. Pre civilization did not allow for anything to eat balanced meals of various foods at one sitting. Even in anthropology, the term hunters-gatherers has been reversed to more accurately reflect the diet of early man. We ate what was available, as do animals even today. Carnivores in the wild eat what is available and can go a good bit, and regularly do, without meat. While I think it is important to feed a good diet, I think we make too much of this also. I feed Totally Ferret, which I have seen wonderful results with. But I am also not a stickler on treats, or feeding a wide variety of foods. And even those who are currently advocating carcass feeding for their ferrets, in the not too distant past, advocating feeding treats of all kinds. The biggest problem is pets getting fat on such a wonderful diet. But one has to realize that each ferret is an individual, and each individual will carry different weight. And make use of the available nutrition in different ways. Because something is available in the food, does not mean that each individual can make use of it. That is why some folks, no matter what their diet is, can't eat a totally vegetarian diet, or not have to take iron supplements for their anemic blood. You have to look at each animal. Trust your eyes. See how their coats look, how active they are, how alert they appear. And if you think there is a problem, ask YOUR vet. And remember something a rather prominent Houston vet is complaining about, not everyone on the internet is what they claim, nor do they have the knowledge they appear to. Maggie Mae, Margaret, Marie, Margie, you know... HER [Posted in FML issue 2304]