From:
Melissa Litwicki
Date: 2002-01-21 19:47:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Ferret food
> From: "ferret_girl79" <ferret_girl79@y...>
> Subject: Ferret food
>
> As far as I know, Flaxseed (oil) also contains the Omega-6 Fatty
> Acid, so I assume that flaxseed should not be fed to ferrets either.
> I found this to be a very disturbing discovery because I have been
> feeding my ferret "Home Made 4 Life" (www.homemade4life.com) raw
> Ferret food which contains ground flax seeds, for over 6 months now.
> I do not feed the raw food by itself as it does not contain *all* the
> essential nutrients a ferret needs, so I feed half "Tottally Ferret"
> and half the "Home Made 4 Life". But now I am concerned over the
> fact that the raw food contains flax seeds.
I visited the site you reference and feel strongly obligated to note that
in no way, shape, or form do ferrets need the vegetable ingredients of
this food. I am a strong proponent of raw food for pets, but "carrots,
broccoli, cabbage, yams, celery, greens, squash, alfalfa, kelp, apples,
garlic, parsley, and grapefruit seed extract" are totally unnecessary in
the diet of an obligate carnivore like the ferret, and are in many cases
undigestible by the ferret. Yes, you probably ought to supplement even a
diet that consists of raw muscle meat, organs, and ground bone; however,
from a ferret's perspective, vegetable supplements are utterly wrong.
As far as flax goes, my vet recommended flax oil for my ferret's itchy
skin. I find it unlikely that, in normal proportions in a natural diet,
that omega-6 fatty acids cause renal failure. They are necessary for
proper health for dogs, cats, and ferrets. The texasferrets URL you cite
uses 'poultry fat' in its example list of 'good ingredients', which is
interesting because chicken fat is composed of nearly a quarter linoleic
acid, which is an omega 6 fatty acid...(see
http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/small/info_sheet.cfm?CAT=62&INFO=24)
I encourage you to continue to feed raw meat to your pets, but to
investigate formulations that don't have as many unnecessary ingredients.
Melissa