From:
Steve Austin
Date: 2002-06-23 23:32:00 UTC
Subject: fish food
I will assume that it is not sufficient diet alone, don't
know what
food you are referring to. I have pelleted, flake, and frozen
here.
I also have a vegetarian fish and a mixed flake food.
If it is a vegetarian fish food, not good at all- can't digest
most
of the protein in the diet- BTW the protein in it is 33% but
its
main ingredients are seaweed, peas,etc.
So protein can come from plants, and this type ferrets can not
utilize.
Regular tropical flakes do contain some fish meal, and shrimp
meal
which the ferret may be getting some nutrition from, but the
rest is wheat and soy protein.
The ferret doesn't get any calories or nutrition from the
starch
in potatoes and I doubt digests the cucumber very well.
The cat food would be the best of the choices, and you may
want
to try that again. You can also try mixing the baby food (
mine
like the veal and the chicken) with some heavy whipping cream
or ferretvite- and feeding it from your finger.
If initially the ferret refuses the cat food you could moisten
it, warm
it a little in the microwave, add a little fish food for
taste, or ferretvite
and also offer off your fingers. You may want to look at the
ferret or cat foods with fish in them- it may be the taste she
likes.
I think MF uses fish, ? Mazuri, and a lot of cat foods offer
that flavor.
Be careful that she is getting taurine from some source
since it is an essential part of the ferret diet that is not
found
in dog food, or other food except cat and ferret.
If the fish food is just a treat, and is not in a form that
may cause
an obstruction , I can not think of it causing harm in small
portions.
Patty
Does anyone have any ideas on the effects of feeding ferrets
fish food? My 8 yr old with insulinoma will not eat any of
the foods I know she should be on i.e.. duck soup, baby food
or ferret food . She has free roam of the house and has
always ate the cat's food (O.N.E. brand.) I have tried
everything I know to get her to eat better repeated times
but it is always a fight with no luck. Her favorite treats
are raw potatoes and cucumbers along with the fish food. The
fish food is 35% protein. I am treating her insulinoma with
pedipred 1 mg bid and other than once when we had to
increase the dose she does not have any symptoms of
hypoglycemia.
Sunshine & Yeage