cystine stones

[Deleted]

I've read through this topic and I am noticing many of the people I'd like to connect with seem to no longer be on this forum.

I'm feeling like a switching to a raw diet is the best option for my ferret (he had cystine stones caused by the zupreem grain free)

My only interest is the suggestion from one article of LESS protein solving cystine stones. I can't see how he would benefit from this in other health aspects so I am not going to be doing that unless there is someone who has had good results from doing this that can discuss it with me.

I'm interested in hearing if anyone has had this issue, switched to raw, and then not seen any future isssues? I read of one case on this forum..but I'm really just looking for situations where ferrets have healed from the surgery and lived happily from then on. (I hope to do whatever these owners did)

I also find it important to mention he does still have two stones in his kidney. We were told we need to xray it every few months for monitoring. I understand things can go south at any moment with this...but I'm wondering if anyone has had luck or success in this situation.

[Deleted]

The only way that I can really help you is to offer a few ideas for contacting those members or for some search help.

Do you belong to the Facebook Holistic Ferret Forum? Sometimes, after a ferrent has finished with their Mentor and switched to raw, they move over to the FB page and you might find them there.

Also, sometimes it's easier to search thru the threads for more info, (that has been buried) by using your browser search bar and typing in Holistic Ferret Forum Cystine Stones (as an example), that will bring up older threads from the original forum.

I'm tagging miamiferret2 for you, as she has been with the forum alot longer than I have.

There is also a former member who goes by Mustelamania, who often writes very informative articles and has her own web site.

And Last but not Least, look for articles written by Bob Church. He has studied ferrets for quite awhile and is a leading expert on ferrets. He often writes articles for the small animal channel and other ferret publications. He might have written something that would interest you.

:wave2:

[Deleted]

I had no idea there was a Facebook page thank you

[Deleted]

I'll tag gfountain (who is recovering from an illness) and bitbyter. The FB page is invitation only and they should be able to add your name.

[Celene]

I can't see how he would benefit from this in other health aspects so I am not going to be doing that unless there is someone who has had good results from doing this that can discuss it with me.

Well I don't know anything about stones, but I CAN tell you about other benefits from feeding raw, including health-wise. In no particular order:

• Better Nutrition: Cooking foods (meat, vegetables, etc.) always destroys some of the nutrients. In the case of kibble though, the meat is often left refrigerated for several days during transport and rots. If often also comes from 4D (diseased, dying) meat and other meat that isn't fit for human consumption. In order to make it edible for pets the meat is "sanitized" and processed so much that the end result is barely meat at all. If you're interested in learning more you can google, although there are a lot of sensationalized "articles" that claim euthanized sick pets from shelters and roadkill are added as well and other crazy claims which I personally doubt is true.
• Better Nutrition 2: Kibble will always contain fruits, vegetables and starches no matter how good a quality. These are required in order to bind the kibble together. In lower quality kibble even more is added as well as grains and starches which are a cheaper filler. It should also be noted that any grain/fruits/veggies are also leftovers/rotting/potentially infested and not fit for human consumption. Either way, carbs and sugars are really bad for fuzzies and leads to insulinoma.
• More Energy: I have personally noticed a huge increase in my girls' energy since switching them to raw. Sometimes it can get annoying since it means they get into more trouble more often, but I know it's because they're healthier so I don't mind.
• Nicer/Healthier Coats: I actually started noticing this before I did a full switch but was giving them raw egg. Of course when their winter coats came in they were so soft and thick - Mocha feels like a polar bear made of cotton balls and down feathers.
• Better Dental Health: Kibble is not good for ferret teeth. I won't go into any technical detail (if you're interested feel free to ask, there's also a link to a good article on one of the boards). Regardless, ferrets who have been fed raw from a young age have amazing teeth. The motion of chewing on bone actually cleans teeth and keeps them sharp whereas kibble grinds them down and encourages plaque growth and yellow teeth.
• Improved Digestion: Since ferrets' bodies aren't designed to process carbs it can be very hard on their systems. When ferrets eat raw they use a much higher percentage of the food for energy and muscle which leads to more efficient digestion. Which leads to..
• Smaller and Less Stinky Poops: No joke, my girls' poops are about 1/3 of the size they were on kibble and WAY more infrequent. Obviously the poop is still stinky, but at least I can't smell it from across the room as soon as they use their box.
• More Hydrated: This one doesn't need much explanation. Kibble is dry, meat has a high water content. So by eating meat they are hydrating themselves at the same time. I've noticed that my girls drink way less water from their dish now.
• More Stimulating Mealtimes for Fuzzies: Just think how excited about food you'd be if you ate the same crunchy tasteless stuff all day, every day of your life. My ferrets definitely look forward to mealtimes and follow me around as I'm preparing it. They get to try all sorts of different meats and organs with different tastes and textures. They aren't eating much bone yet, but I imagine eventually they will have the thrill/challenge of navigating a larger piece of bone-in meat and trying to decide where to start and how to tackle it, compared to simply sticking their faces in a bowl and eating the same shaped/sized thing over and over.
• More Bonding with Fuzzies: Maybe this isn't the case for everyone, but I feel like through switching to raw I am bonding closer with my girls. It's one thing to always play and cuddle together, but I feel like we're learning and trying new things together, and I am also doing a lot of hand-feeding/feeding with them on my lap which they seem to really like.
• Less Smell: Since switching to raw my girls have basically lost all their odour, except on their tails. I do kind of miss their yummy ferret smell, but when people come over it's nice to hear "wow, they don't smell at all!" Plus I know the lack of scent probably means they are excreting less toxins/preservatives/whatever through the oils in their fur.

There are probably more benefits that I have missed. I'm not going to lie and say feeding raw is easy or convenient, although it is a lot easier once you get used to it and develop a routine. Of course raw isn't for everyone so if you do decide to keep feeding kibble, I recommend reading this chart. I especially recommend Go! Fit and Free. My husband actually works for their sister-company (actually a craft brewery which the owners decided to buy) so I know first hand the people who work there are all huge animal lovers and the company is very ethical and treats all of their employees really well. The owners are really down-to-earth and friendly and basically started the company because they wanted to feed their pets a healthier food and couldn't find any. NV Instinct Rawboost and Orijen are also quite good as far as kibbles go.

[Deleted]

I don't know if I phrased it wrong, but I meant the less protein thing as far as health benefits! Sorry if I phrased that poorly lol I don't have the best grammar skills.

[Deleted]

Although, I must say it is super awesome to have all of those benefits listed for me!! That makes me look so much more forward to doing all of this

[Celene]

Oh, my bad. Well I'm glad I typed it out anyway because next time someone asks why they should feed raw I can come find this thread and copy+paste it.

As far as health benefits, since ferrets can't eat carbs/fibre, their diet is basically just protein, fat and bones. So if you're deceasing their percentage of protein it just means you're increasing their fat and/or bones (although I believe the bones are just for minerals and such and don't contribute much to their calorie intake). With ferrets fat=energy so it's definitely good, but I don't see how you could really feed them less protein unless you threw the rest of their diet out of whack or simply fed them less.