From:
Nancy Farlow
Date: 2001-10-06 02:51:00 UTC
Subject: low-protein diet
Dear Dr. WIlliams:
In a cross-post on today's fml, I read the following in one of your
responses:
"Low-protein diets are of some benefit in prolonging life in
animals with renal failure, but do not appear to have these
benefits in older animals with normal renal function."
This has me somewhat confused, because I remember reading
in one of your posts a year or so ago (sorry, I didn't keep the
post), that you you advised a low protein diet for ferrets over 3.5
or 4 years of age, to help preserve kidney function into old age by
putting less demand on the kidneys. (Or at least that's how I
remember it, and it made sense to me at the time.)
My six ferrets range in age from almost 4 to almost 7. They have
been on a diet of Totally Ferret their entire lives. After I read your
advice last year, I started feeding them a 50/50 mixture of regular
TF with the senior formula TF, hoping it would be beneficial to
them. Actually, I first tried switching them to 100% senior
formula, but they all started losing weight, even the eldest - even
though they were eating heartily - so I decided on mixing the
foods. Since all my ferrets live together and eat out of the same
dishes, it would be very hard to feed different diets to some of
them. In fact, they also all get Prozyme mixed with their food,
since one of them has Eosinophylic Gastroenteritis, and my vet
recommended it for him.
The bottom line is that I just want to do what is best for them, to
help them live long, healthy lives, so I'm now wondering what
that is.
Thank you very much,
Nancy and critters