From:
Danee
Date: 2007-06-10 20:34:37 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Ferret Food Question
To: "Ferret Health List" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
"Darla" tdsmc@yahoo.com wrote on 6/10/2007, 7:01 AM:
> What exactly are the three top foods to feed ferrets for the best
> health? I've looked at charts and read reviews but I'm confused. Some
> of the ones listed as the top food have either chicken by products or
> chicked meal as the first ingredient.
Hi Darla,
You will more then likely get a lot of varying responses to your
question. There are people who believe that feeding prey or raw meat
and bones is the way to go, and others who have their favorite
commercially prepared food.
Reading pet food labels can be very confusing. While there are some
standards to how they are written, the standards are loose enough that
pet food labels can hide a lot.
For example, while the ingredients are listed according to weight, they
are allowed to compare dry weight to wet weight. So, fresh meat, which
contains a lot of water, will weigh a lot more them dried meal. But,
with the dried meal, you may actually be getting more of the better stuff.
By products and meal sound less desirable, but that isn't necessarily
the case. Muscle meat, while high in protein, is lacking in many
necessary nutrients. To provide a balanced diet, you need organ meat
and bone. By products and meal usually are dehydrated carcass, which
have the organs and bones in them. So, they can actually be better then
fresh meat. But - the can be is important. Because they can also be
the scrape, like intestines and feet, which are not as nutritious.
In looking at a commercially prepared food, I would look for one that
contains no grains, and gets most of its protein from animals based sources.
I say to avoid grains not because of the recent food recalls, but
because the ferret GI tract is not designed to digest grains. We are
seeing great increases in the number of ferrets with chronic GI
problems, and my personal opinion is this is in part due to food
allergies to grains. I know that I have had several ferrets with
allergies to grains.
Plus, there is no reason from a nutrition standpoint for a ferret's diet
to contain grains. Grains are used because they are a binder - they
help to hold the food together.
There is an excellent online article by Dr. Susan Brown on what should
and should not be in a ferret's diet. Here is a link to it:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=479&S=1&SourceID=43
Currently, I am using a number of different foods for my kids. I do
feed some raw prey (is isn't nearly as bloody or gross as I thought it
would be). But, I also feed some commercially prepared foods. I like
the Wysong canned foods and also the Archetypal. The Archetypal is a
cold processed dehydrated food that I reconstitute with warm water. I
also keep a mix of kibbles on hand that contains Totally Ferret and
Innova Evo, as well as the Wysong kibble. I have 4 older ferrets that
refuse to eat anything but kibble and cooked meat.
Here in the US we are lucky to have some commercial foods available that
do not contain any grains. Of course, no matter how good a food is,
your ferret won't gain any benefit from it if he/she won't eat it.
Another food I think is excellent, but my ferrets refuse to eat, if the
Pretty Pets Natural Gold.
--
Danee DeVore
International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator
http://www.ferretcongress.org
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com
You can help fight ADV!
Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/