From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2009-09-22 16:25:51 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] the everlasting food debates
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
MN is right:
>I'm just saying that you can justify live, raw, kibble or whatever
>but you can't and shouldn't try to make someone else believe what
>you believe.
No diet that is balanced is perfect and no diet that is balanced is
horrid.
I've been reading these debates for years and honestly, when
comparing the ferrets mentioned who are fed a good ferret food
(for example, Totally Ferret) or a mix of good ferret foods
and comparing to those who get a whole prey or get a combo of
whole prey and good ferret foods what I see are these overall:
1. There doesn't seem to be any difference in length of life if the
reports on each side are accurate.
2. There doesn't seem to be any difference in quality of life if the
reports on each side are accurate.
3. There appear to be different health considerations (to some unknown
extent ) which a person should be aware about. The ones fed raw whole
prey can wind up too low in calcium if they get only chicks and
pinkie mice, and they are more prone to certain infections (so
when immune suppressed for any reason it is best to go to kibble
for safety's sake). With certain kidney conditions it is also best to
avoid whole prey or meat diets as well as high protein kibbles because
of
too much phosphorous. Meanwhile, there is a hypothesis that the high
carbohydrate levels in some kibbles might predispose some vulnerable
ferrets to insulinoma but that has never had a clear physiological
mechanism
shown in a controlled study, so maybe but maybe not. Some
epidemiological
things might hint at it but those lack controls of other factors and
there has
never been a rates study published for insulinoma. Because of
this some keep down the carbohydrate levels in the foods of their
ferrets who do not have kidney disorders/diseases, or age related
reduction of kidney function. Some kibble types also wear teeth
differently, though it was interesting to read that when gingivitis was
looked at more closely kibble did not appear to affect the rate of
that. (See FML Archives on that; I think it was there, though I may
have run into it in the recording of the Canadian symposium or
elsewhere.)
So, basically, people should not let others make them feel guilty;
there is too much of that tacky technique out there. Make up
your own minds.
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/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
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