From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2009-02-17 15:29:52 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re:My ferret likes eggs.....too much!
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
There should not be any problem with cooked yolks,
cooked whites, or both for ferrets.
Raw eggs have some risks, but luckily ferrets are
pretty resistant to salmonella (though it can be a
whopper of an illness and very hard to treat when
they do get it). They are not as resistant to some
other infections, some of which are serious. Given
too often raw egg whites have TWO types of nutritional
problems they can cause.
There have also been some past posts from people
whose ferrets may not have tolerated egg well, but
that is highly personal, varying with individuals, just
like with humans, and perhaps an allergy.
Eggs tend to have very high quality, easily accessible
protein.
If the eggs are raw infection risk goes up. Ironically, one
of the ways to deal with one type of infection (salmonella)
involves a cleaning process which strips the outer layer
of the shell away, making it more permeable to other
infections -- which is why when i was a kid we'd
just leave the eggs we gathered out on the counter and
eat them within a day or two, but grocery eggs must be
refrigerated.
There are also two types of dietary nutritional disorders
which can be caused by raw eggs: biotin and thiamine
problems. (In fact, I think that one vet text has an editing
error that got one of these wrong, but don't count on me
to be right on that score because I can't clearly recall the
error so it might have been in relation to something else.)
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2472
in which I garnered info from perhaps the most detailed
of ferret vet texts on nutritional things:
BEGIN QUOTED PAST POST FROM 9/10/07
According to _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, 2nd edition_ raw
eggs have caused not only salmonella risks and Biotin deficiency in
ferrets, but also can cause Thiamine deficiency. See page 168.
Symptoms vary from lethargy and anorexia to worse symptoms with
advances cases, even convulsions.
A more common cause of Thiamine deficiency in ferrets has been diets
high in fish species that contain high levels of Thiaminase.
Some info on biotin (which already came up in discussion) and raw
eggs since the question came up whether raw worsens the Biotin
deficiency risk (answer is yes):
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=3Ddailytip&dbid=3D71
BEGIN QUOTE
...Biotin
is an important B-complex vitamin that's
found in both the whites and
the yolks of raw eggs. Not all of this
biotin is availability to our body
when a raw egg is eaten, however,
because there is another substance found
in raw egg whites - called avidin -
that binds together with biotin and
prevents it from being absorbed from
our digestive tracts. The best way
to prevent this lowering of biotin
availability is to cook the egg
whites. The cooking of an egg will destroy
the binding power of avidin so that
the biotin in the egg will become much
more available...
END QUOTE
http://www.breedsmartpartners.com/bronline/en_US/jsp/BO_Page.jsp?
pageID=3DRLDP&articleID=3D114
BEGIN QUOTE
...Because raw egg white contains
the biotin-binding protein avidin,
feeding large amounts of raw eggs
to dogs has the potential to cause a biotin
deficiency. Although uncommon,
this could pose a problem for owners
who insist on supplementing their pet's
daily diet with raw eggs. Signs of biotin
deficiency include scabby skin lesions,
hair loss, and pruritus. Depigmentation
and dulling of coat color has also been seen in
biotin-deficient mink and foxes.
END QUOTE
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