Some final comments before the question-answer period. Something that is discussed as an issue but is really a "non-issue" is the latest preoccupation with "tainted" raw meat. Ferrets were domesticated more than 2500 years-ago, and was mostly fed raw meat that entire time, and they certainly survived fine until now. Thier ancestors, the European polecat *still* eats raw meat, as it has for millions of years. Did some animals contract disease and die as a result? I'm sure they did, but even if a hundred ferrets died yesterday of food poisoning, that has nothing to do with the nutritional quality afforded by more natural foods compared to kibbles, or that raw foods are better for carnivore to eat. Lets face it; not only is life inherently risky, it always terminates in death. Raw meat is not an issue when you can easily eliminate contamination through light cooking, peroxide baths, or buying your meat from a reputable butcher or slaughterhouse. Another non-issue is the concept that domesticated animals should eat kibble because they are domesticated. This ia a prime example of a circular argument where the argument becomes the evidence. Does that mean wild animals that eat domestic animals need to be punished? Should we feed zoo animals nothing but other wild animals? How about animals in the process of domestication? Should they be fed only semi-domesticated animals? Kibble might *look* like breakfast cereal, but it usually contains a minimum amount of animal protein. So what is the difference between feeding a ferret a raw piece of meat compared to a piece of kibble made up of animal byproducts? There is *NO* moral nor ethical difference. Non-issue number three is the idea that feeding raw foods makes the ferret more bloodthirsty or predatory. Rubbish. The so-called stalking instinct is just that; a deeply-rooted instinct--like eye-blinking--that is nearly impossible to bred out. It is written in the genetic code. Ferrets *learn* what is good to eat, and good luck getting them to eat something new after a year or so of kibble. An example of how this is a reality of ferret life lies in the occasional stories of how mice will occasionally eat ferret food within striking distance of ferrets, yet the ferret ignores the mouse. That is usually because the mouse never moved in such a manner to trigger the ferret's instinct to attack, and because it was never seen as food. Since most ferrets are never in a position to associate stalking with subsistence, please explain exactly how eating raw meat increases the ferret's instinctual or predatory behavior. The fourth non-issue is that it is cruel to feed a carnivore natural prey. This is usually because the death is terrifying or horrible, or because the carnivore may play with their food after or *during* the kill. I can't tell you what goes on in the mind of a mouse or goldfish at the moment of predation any more than I can tell you what a ferret is thinking as it crunches on kibble. I have never proposed that ferrets be fed live foods; I do think mouse carcasses are extremely healthy for ferrets to eat--far more so than kibble diets. I cannot quantify the terror quotient, therefore cannot tell you that a sudden bite to the base of the skull is more or less terrifying than standing in line at a slaughter house. What I can say is this. Carnivores are specialists at stalking, catching, killing and consuming live animals, and have been doing so for tens of millions of years. It is *just* as cruel to force a carnivore into an unnatural herbivourus lifestyle as it is to kill a goldfish. What *IS* the issue is the quality of the various foods fed to our ferrets. Where do they come from? What are they made of? How do you know they are balanced or complete diets? What does the food do to ferrets? THESE are the issues, these are the things we need to consider if we wish to feed our ferrets a diet designed to make them optimally healthy and happy. Each ferret owner is in fact a caregiver who positions themselves between the world and the ferret, protecting it as much as possible from the hazards we have introduced, and filtering out those things that negatively impact the ferret's life. Part of that job is to realize exactly what the ferret is, how it once lived and evolved, and what things preserve its mental and physical health. If those requirements of caretakership are too difficult for a person to accept because of their personal beliefs or ethics, then perhaps the companionship of a pet with a more compatable dietary history should be selected. I recently recieved an extremely rude and violent letter from a person upset because I advocated ferrets eating raw meat. I was compared to vivisectionists, Nazi torturers, and promoting species-related genocide. I am worse than that....I advocate open discussion and thinking, the exchange of ideas and of knowledge. That makes me a dangerous person indeed; not like those people who forbid the exchange of ideas because they are at odds with their own personal beliefs and who do so to the point of illegal harassment. This series of diet posts was not designed to convince anyone of anything; they were designed to explain what the foods were, as well as what the ferrets need and why. Each of you has to determine what you will or will not accept and the truth is, I could effectively argue against several of my own statements. These posts were made with the idea that there would be an open, honest and unemotional discussion of the issues at the end because the ultimate goal was the improved caretakership of the ferrets. To have such a discussion, it is important not to punish those with different ideas, or those whose ideas which make little sense. To do so penalizes all of us because it forces those who fear such reprisals into silence and potientially important information or techniques are lost. I submit the discussion of issues is healthly and wise, but the punishment of those who have different ideas than yours is just as immoral and just as disgusting as torturing a ferret (or goldfish) to death. Such people are "Thought Nazis" and show little or no tolerance towards other belief systems. To prevent such acts of moral and intellectual violence, if you submit your questions or ideas to me on the subject of diet, I will forward them to the FML in the Q-N-A part of the series, protecting you from the shallow and intolerant. Release the hounds! Bring on the questions! Bob C and 20 MO Fur Hounds of Carnivore Land [Posted in FML issue 2340]