From:
"Jen & Andre"
Date: 2002-11-19 16:57:16 UTC
Subject: A question about raw and natural foods
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <016b01c28fec$b8529970$0100a8c0@ajk>
I have read from various sources advocating natural diets that carnivores
(dogs) have a more concentrated stomach acid than people do, which enables
them to eat contaminated foods without becoming sick (I am generalizing to
suppose that this would also apply to cats and ferrets), but I have yet to
find anything to support that theory. Is it true that animals have stronger
concentrations of stomach acid? Is it true that a dog (or ferret) could eat
something containing E.coli or salmonella with a lower risk of becoming ill?
I was discussing this with a classmate who told me that she had read an
article in... JAVMA I think it was, that spoke of the public health dangers
associated with pets eating raw/contaminated foods and excreting the
organisms in an infective state (that could be transmitted to people).
As I said in a recent post, I fed my ferret raw egg while she was sick,
thinking that her susceptibility to salmonella would be very low, and I even
recommended it to other ferret owners I knew who had health issues with
their ferrets. I acknowledge Dr. Williams comment that it is rare to
encounter salmonella via eggs, but I would like to know whether or not it is
true that animals could be more resistant to foodborne pathogens than people
are.
Jen
End of ferrethealth Digest
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