From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2004-03-31 01:36:18 UTC
Subject: blood glucose origins if no starch in diet
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <CE63751C-82B3-11D8-BCC5-000A95CD182C@mac.com>
I am sick tonight so bear with me because I am doing this between
fevers and I put down exactly what a vet nutrtionist sai dto me
tonoght:
Asked if ferrets can create blood glucose from protein (which I hadn't
thought they could directly but someone asked the question some time
ago so I wanted ot get it right) he said: "If they do they will be the
only animal on Earth which can."
What they can do if they don'd have any starch in the diet is they can
create sugars from stored fat BUT breaking down fats to do that
produces the byproduct, ketones. In high amounts or for long times
ketones can damage the kidneys.
Ketosis is documented in other members of Carnivora. For example, cats
can go into ketosis with a starch intake of below 8% and that's the
lowest documented level which is well known, so the person says that
even though ferrets "make cats look like omnivores" it makes sense to
have that 8% to be safe for the kidneys unless later when more is known
it shows that lower levels are okay. If lower levels become well
documented as safe for ferret kidneys then lower than the 8% can be
tried for in ferret foods, but for now that 8% is important for kidney
health.
So, that is why there needs to be some starches in the kibble, even
thnough more modern processing can take the starches down lower than
the 20% or more found in some older kibble types. (There are
processing procedured now which can get the about 8% which is about how
mice turn out when analysised as a food source.)
Hope that helps.
End of ferrethealth Digest
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