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Home Page  Home and Family Pets Choosing a Ferret Diet: is a Natural Diet Right for Your Ferret? |
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Choosing a Ferret Diet: is a Natural Diet Right for Your Ferret?
Until the last 40 years, ferrets were fed what we refer to as a "natural diet," which was similar to the diet of the domestic ferret's wild ancestors. In recent years as ferrets have become more popular, they have been fed commercially prepared ferret, cat, and kitten diets. While this is convenient for us as owners, is it what our ferrets were meant to eat? What exactly is a natural diet, and what are the benefits and concerns associated with it?
Closest diet possible to what your ferret would eat in the wild. High in moisture (unlike kibble). Fewer incidents of hairballs and obstructions because of the variation in food consistencies. Protein and fat sources are high quality. Because you design your ferret's diet, you have more control over what your ferret eats. Owners who feed a natural diet report that their ferrets have more energy, plusher coats, better overall dental health, and smaller stools with less of an odor. Ferrets in countries that feed a natural diet have significantly lower incidences of insulinomas. Concerns associated with a natural diet include:
Can be difficult to switch your ferret over to a natural diet. Slight possibility of choking on bones or internal injury from bones. Bacteria or parasites could be present if the whole prey isn't from a reputable source. Food must be handled carefully or you risk salmonella or e. coli contamination. Can be expensive and inconvenient. FEEDING A NATURAL DIET Before you do anything, it is very important to speak with your veterinarian. Your veterinarian will determine what your ferret's nutritional needs are and how healthy your ferret is. Switching foods, especially from a commercial dry kibble diet to a natural diet, can be stressful on a ferret, and you need to make sure your ferret is up to the change. You may need to limit his access to kibble for short periods of time to get him to try the prey or meat, so you will need to make sure that your ferret is not insulinomic and his blood glucose levels are stable. Finally, it's important to keep your veterinarian abreast of any changes in your ferret's care, as it can affect how he or she will treat your ferret. As with any diet change, switching to a natural diet should be done gradually. There may be a point where you have to completely remove your ferret's kibble, effectively forcing him to try the new food, but this should not be done right away. Start out by giving your ferret meat and meat gravy or broth baby food, if you aren't already, to get him used to eating meat. Once your ferret will eat baby food, you can try giving him some chicken. Move from that to chicken wings, either cooked or raw. Remember, any meat you give your ferret must be free of spices and sauces. Your ferret needs nutrients, not zesty barbecue flavor! Whether or not you feed the meat raw depends on your comfort levels. Once your ferret is comfortable with meat, you can continue to give that to him or you can try whole prey. (If you decide to feed your ferret whole prey, make sure it is fully defrosted.) If your ferret is refusing to try the meat, here are a few things you can try:
Be creative with the meat you give him - if he won't eat straight meat, try mixing cut up pieces of it with kibble. Use the juices that come from the meat and pour it over their kibble to get them used to the new taste. You will find that some ferrets are much more easily converted to a natural diet than others. Younger ferrets generally have a quicker transition because they aren't quite as imprinted on their food as older ferrets are. However, whether you're trying to switch over your six month old ferret or your six year old ferret, be patient and remember that different ferrets will like different things. There is a difference of opinion as to whether all ferrets can be switched to a natural diet. There are some owners who advise removing all kibbles, forcing the ferret to eat the meat, because they believe that all ferrets can be switched over. There are others who will only try until it's obvious that the ferret would rather starve than eat the meat. How you go about switching your ferret and how hard you are willing to push is something that you will need to decide for yourself after discussing it thoroughly with your veterinarian. If you are able to successfully switch your ferret over, be sure to give him a variety of different animals, meats, or other dietary components. The key to doing a natural diet properly is feeding a combination of different foods. Ferrets wouldn't eat only mice in the wild - they would eat anything they could catch - so they shouldn't just eat mice at your house either. You may also want to continue feeding kibble if you are feeding a raw carnivore diet. A NOTE ABOUT NATURAL VS. COMMERCIAL DIETS The point of this article is not to prove that the ferret food industry is evil. While there are ferret diets out there that are not as good as they could be, there are also manufacturers who strive to provide healthy, nutritious diets for our ferrets and work on developing great new foods. Likewise, if you choose to feed a kibble diet, you are not a bad ferret parent. You just need to be aware of the ingredients in the food and what the protein and fat sources are. It is important you understand that there is no hard evidence a natural diet is better than a kibble diet or vice versa. Much of the information available as to how either diet affects our ferrets is anecdotal, based entirely on ferret owners' personal experiences. Every ferret owner needs to decide what diet will be best for his or her ferret after doing research and discussing the options with an experienced ferret veterinarian. Rate this Article:
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/choosing-a-ferret-diet-is-a-natural-diet-right-for-your-ferret-393471.html About the Author:
Kristen Onasch holds a degree in English from Pennsylvania State University. She has extensive experience in educational publishing for various pet magazines and websites and has owned ferrets for over ten years. She is currently the Senior Ferret Copywriter at Drs. Foster and Smith Pet Supplies, the nation's leading online and catalog pet supplier.
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