From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2008-11-12 00:44:03 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Food Questions?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
There is no "perfect" or "ideal" food for ferrets.
Raw has some infection risks. Usually, those
infections are not a problem but some of them
are hard as heck to treat if the exposure the
ferret has is too large, the strain is too strong,
or the ferret is compromised, and some of these
are hard to treat or impossible to treat, while
some are fatal.
Made at home or provided at home can have
nutrient balance problems if not done right.
That is a short sentence but take it seriously
because in recent years that sort of problem
has been documented over and over again.
Some kibbles may pose tooth wear problems,
and one hypothesis is that the carbohydrates
in them might turn out to be a cause of insulinoma
(though the hypothesis that evolved from was
that those caused diabetes in cats while several
recent studies say that instead obesity, inactivity,
and genetics are the three things that turn out
to be actual causes). So, respect the hypothesis
because it is not disproven but know that like any
hypothesis it might not stand up to rigorous
testing.
Do each of these also have positive aspects? You
can bet your britches they do! (And anyone who
knows what almost happened to me on the first day
of the symposium knows to take that statement
seriously)
So, no matter what your choice is know the bad as well
as the good, and don't let anyone intimidate you or
try to make you feel guilty if you feed a balanced diet
and are ready to deal with downsides should they happen.
Sukie (not a vet)
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
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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