Message Number: YPG583 | New FHL Archives Search
From: =?iso-8859-2?Q?Gasparin_Bal=E1zs?=
Date: 2006-12-18 23:51:37 UTC
Subject: RE: [ferrethealth] Re: Major find/Question-unknown illness!?(Sukie)
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>

Hi,

> Remember that meat by itself is NOT a balanced diet.
> It doesn't matter on that score if it is raw or cooked;
> in either condition it lacks a number of minerals and
> other needed nutrients, so it is okay to use for a sick
> or terminal animal but should not be the diet long
> term for any for whom recovery is possible. Meat by itself
> is a far worse diet long term for those who can survive
> than the balanced options, whether those are prepared at
> home or are high grade kibbles. (Mentioning it because a
> lot of people don't realize how lacking meat is in many
> nutrients, and I don't want your little one to go from bad
> to worse if this drags on a long time.)

I don't agree on this sentence. Meat in itself can be balanced or unbalanced
in itself. I think this quote should be understood as "pure meat by itself
is not a balanced diet."

I feed only meat for my ferrets for about two years. I don't give them any
kibble or any food of vegetable origin. They are very well and have
exceptionally good fur. I give them not just pure meat, but also bones,
organs, and every other part of the animal.

I know two years is not a long time when the subject of diet comes up, but I
think it would be obvious by now - based on the whiskers' appearance and on
the fur quality - if they'd have unbalanced diet. Most people around me feed
the same diet without problems, too.

I don't want to join the fight over which is better - kibble or meat, I only
want to say that: it is possible to feed a balanced meat diet if someone
wants to, and I think that this quote up here is not an accurate information
and may make people think that "kibble is good, meat is bad". I don't want
to say that meat is better than kibble; I'd only like to say that it's not
worse than kibble if given correctly.

Gaba
Ps.: I agree that the gravy types of foods are not good for long term use as
they are harmful for the teeth. They should only be given to sick ferrets.

[Moderator's Note: this is just a terminology confusion. In English "meat" refers specifically to muscle (though some also apply it to a few organs, though not all, and sometimes skin is attached but has its own word, "skin". Whole animals provide a large number of nutrients from parts other than meat, but meat by itself (flesh or muscle) is poor in a number of nutrients.

What you say and what the original post say are the same thing: that ingested muscle by itself is not a balanced diet but that other parts of the animal provide needed nutrients. I think the confusion is that "meat" does not mean the same as "whole animal".

There have been people confusing whole animal with just meat and feeding only meat, whether cooked, pureed, or raw, and in any form providing just meat (muscle) is not balanced.]




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