From:
AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: 2004-03-26 03:20:00 UTC
Subject: Re: carbohydrates
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1d7.1d0418b4.2d94fb60@cs.com>
Hi ferretgirl,
If you look at how much carbohydrates are in a
rat carcass (1.2%) or in a mouse carcass (4-5%),
you can see they have a low carbohydrate level. These
small prey animals are the "food" that ferrets were designed
to eat. Unfortunately most kitten and ferret diets have a 20-30%
carbohydrate level. The manufactures use carbohydrates in the
food because they are inexpensive, and most pellets need 20+%
carbohydrates to actually hold the pellets together.
The problem is when ferrets eat the high carbohydrate diet and
treats. They digest the carbohydrates into sugar. When
a lot of sugar enters the blood stream, it stimulates the
pancreas to make insulin. When you overstimulate an endocrine
organ (the pancreas) it leads to hyperplasia and neoplasia
(insulinoma). A low carbohydrate food such as Gerber's baby
food, or Pretty Birds "Natural Gold for Ferrets", or Hill's a/d
is a lot closer to what a ferret was desiged to eat. The Natural
Gold for Ferrets has a less than 5% carbohydrate level. This is
very similar to the carbohydrate level of a mouse. Remember
ferrets can use protein to make glucose. Thus the high protein,
low carbohydrate diet ("Atkins diet for ferrets") works well for
ferrets and for ferrets with insulinoma.
Hope that helps clear things up,
Jerry Murray, DVM