From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2007-01-29 17:12:50 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] people food ??? no bananas please
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
An occasional tiny bit of non-dried banana can be useful to get a
ferret used to and enjoying because if diuretics are ever needed (as
can happen with several diseases, esp. heart disease) it is a
wonderfully safe way to replace the lost essential potassium without
over-doing that element.
A little bit now and then isn't going to hurt, and having them
willing to accept a bit of banana can make all the difference for
those who have to be on heavy amounts of diuretics like Lasix.
Dried bananas have caused blockages. Dried fruits and dried veggies,
or any other vegetable item that is dense (for example, raw carrot or
raw potato) can cause blockages. Stashed potatoes have another worry
because if they begin to turn green or sprout those areas of the
banana contain a solaneous plant poison related to nightshade.
I would be interested in an English language copy of Dr. Moorman's
lecture transcript, please.
Speaking of food: these two URLs will be of interest to those who
wonder about the nutrient make-up of part of natural polecat diet
which varies among locations but generally consists mostly of small
rodents, frogs, fish, small birds, insects, some fruit and vegetable
matter in season, some rabbits (harder catch, though), etc.
http:www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf
Notice the vitamin A differences between wild mice and lab grown mice:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/109062567/
ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
As per location and polecat diet in some studies of the diet of
polecats though other studies may vary so what may be most important
is noticing the variety and timing as well as difference in the prey
seasonally and from wild to human raised since the make-up of the
prey itself can differ when human-raised (these are polecats which
normally have short lives and -- yes-- they do get diseases and
parasites; living wild is a very hard life):
Southern Britain: frogs and insects made up a large portion of the
diet in a study
Northern France and Switzerland: voles were the majority of the
winter diet and frogs the majority of the summer diet in a study
Southern France: eggs, small rodents and carrion from other kill
sources (larger animals, natural deaths, automobiles, etc.) in a study
I don't have the attributions handy but people can do searches on
their own and find a number of such studies and can at times request
reprints from authors of others.
Ferret diet is one area where there is a lot more to learn so no
answer is perfect; each high quality approach has its good points and
its bad points -- except for for the mistake of feeding poor grade
kibble, unbalanced food of any sort, or feeding meat *only* used long
term in a non-terminal ferret (not kibble and not whole prey) no
matter whether cooked or raw because meat only is not a balanced diet
since meat is sorely lacking in many needed minerals and other
nutrients. Here is a site with people who help people design foods
for those who decide to make homemade:
http://www.petdiets.com/
Many other aspects to dietary choices have been discussed to death in
the past repeatedly in both the FML and FHL so those discussions and
references can be found in the archives of each (thinking of all of
those who roll their eyes to the heavens each time those debates come
up yet again and again and get out of hand instead of having a
balanced discussion... LOL)
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
Sukie (not a vet)
Current FHL address:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth
People can join there or can send a blank mail to the automated
joining address:
ferrethealth-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
and then follow the directions.
(The second is recommended for those having problems with Yahoogroups
web settings, and afterward send a blank mail from your subscribed
address to
ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
to get the digest instead of individual mails. )
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
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/