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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2013 12:27:11 GMT -5
As far as insulinoma and feeding kibble once a week, well once a week is not that much. Also, it hasn't been proven that carbs cause insulinoma. I know some vets suspect that it may, but it hasn't been proven. When talking to breeders I learned that ferrets that are exclusively fed raw get insulinoma as well. It is just like it was considered that high carb diet cause diabetes in cats, but eventually it was proven otherwise. That said, I agree that freeze dried is a better option. I do give my ferrets some freeze dried once a week and if budget allows freeze dried is much-much better option. It's true that it's better to be 100% safe!
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Post by Sherry on Oct 18, 2013 17:44:04 GMT -5
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Post by Thérèse on Oct 19, 2013 8:47:23 GMT -5
I was going to mention Bob Church. His study involved him sampling to redundancy. That means his sample size is so big that anything that doesn't show up is that rare that it is a freak occurence. He went all over the world and I have actually heard from his lips that it was those that ate processed foods that had the insulinoma (even those who only sometimes ate it) but those on a completely raw diet (and he studied not only pets but european polecats and the NZ feral ferret population) did not. The numbers were independent of location or breeding or anything else. That is no matter where you were or where you got your ferret or it's hereditary, if you feed processed food it will likely get insulinoma (although may not show symptoms, some of those he found insulinoma on necropsy but they had never had symptoms) and if you don't ever feed processed foods (which is hard because most ferrets have already received some prior to you getting them) it won't. He was surprised because especially back then it seemed that insulinoma was more prevalent in the states but his research showed that things like that had no bearing on whether your ferret got insulinoma, it really is diet.
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Post by crazylady on Oct 21, 2013 3:55:49 GMT -5
vets claim kibble is best why simple they are given a percentage of sales by the kibble companies! ferrets are obligate carnivores they are not designed to eat carbs ! ask your self how have they survived over 2000 years before kibble was invented ? ( no kibble trees in the wild ) I was around when kibble was first introduced to ferrets and over the years have noticed the appearance of insulinoma and the change in the shape of ferrets ( a lot more pear shaped ferrets now when I go judging teeth are also messed up due to tarter even in kits)my advice to anyone is think wild when regarding your ferrets diet what would they survive on in there natural habitat just my two pennys worth take care bye for now Bev
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2013 14:51:16 GMT -5
I've been visiting vets around my area, inquiring on whether they have any specialists who can see Ferrets... and I was given the names of a few who do, and when visiting one, and they asked me about what I was feeding mine, I told them about the kibble that I was feeding.
I said, "At the moment we're feeding them Wysong Ferret Epigen 90 and attemtping to get them to accept a mix of Orijen Cat and Kitten with it and eventually hoping to get them to take some raw food as well."
Well the Vet told me, first, that they had never heard of either of the kibble brands; which surprised me cause this particular vets name was given to me as a reliable vet experiences in ferret care...
Then the vet got after me for trying to feed cat food to a Ferret, telling me that a Ferret should NEVER be fed cat food of any type... which I know from other sources as well as from here, is not entirely true, as there are some cat food types that can be fed to Ferrets.
However this Vet went on saying things like, "ok the first ingredients on the list may be ok, but most of these foods have dozens and dozens of ingredients and a Ferrets digestive system just is not designed like a cats and cant handle certain ingrediants mixed into various cat foods, etc etc etc etc...."
So I asked him what they recommended for Ferret Food, and he told me that they sell Totally Ferret. As for which type of Totally Ferret, he said they usually do not keep it in their office but order it for their customers and have it shipped directly to their homes, and will order whichever type of Totally Ferret the customer wants.
Ok well I know, as per the Kibble Chart on Moredooks, that there is a Totally Ferret kibble that is rated pretty good in one of the top tier slots, so ok at least this Vet was not pushing some junk food type kibble like the generic Marshall's junk...
As for the question of Raw food.
This same vet told me, "No don't do it... ferrets can get lots of diseases from different types of raw foods depending on how its prepared, etc, etc, etc... and the Kibble foods are processed specifically for a ferrets nutritional needs, etc etc etc etc...." ... and you all get the picture.
Bottom line.
Often, certain vets are paid to push certain pet foods that they sell in their own offices and steer you away from foods other then what they're supposed to "recommend" to you. Granted though, some Vets do their homework and really research specific brands of pet foods... but I have seen several cases of a Vet pushing a food just because the food manufacturer wanted them to push it...
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Post by Sherry on Oct 25, 2013 19:12:35 GMT -5
Of course they do. That is a given, especially when you consider how many scholarships certain pet food companies sponsor in return for pushing their brand of food once in private practice
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