Hello from new ferret owner with 2 cuties!

[Deleted]

AWWW. Love those names! Never hear of a Fenton. That's really cute!

You will be surprised with the cost of raw. For me it has been LOWER than the cost of kibble, so far. You can get meats on sale and make "soup" out of them, as you will find in the mentoring program, and we have tons of tips for saving money. I think for my three I end up spending no more than $15 for 4 - 6 weeks of food, depending on if they take to the mix and I don't have to go out and buy more things.

Also, the smell of the kibble and their poops isn't as strong, and their poops are MUCH smaller on raw. So you will use less litter. Most importantly, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you are doing the absolute best diet out there for them Probably avoid a few of the more common illnesses associated with dry food. Major, MAJOR kudos to you for finding this out about them from the get-go!!

[Deleted]

I keep hearing that the raw diet makes them smell less and their poop less stinky. I gotta be honest, I would LOVE it if this happens.

I started out using Marshall ferret diet since the pet store told me that's what they were used to, and man, their poop and pee is VERY smelly on that stuff, and they produce so much of it that it really surprised me, I wasn't expecting so much poop every day. Some people say the fish meal is to blame for the smell, and I could believe that, there does seem to be a gross fishy element to the odors. Anyway, I'm excited for less stinkiness

[Heather]

You will be amazed at the lesser smell. Some meals do cause greater stink but the shear lack of huge poops is well worth it. I've never fed Marshals but I've had a few little ones who have come in eating it. My husband knows the instant I have a new rescue....the house stinks of icky kibble poops and the ferrets stink too.
ciao

[katt]

Oh man. When Kenai came home, he was the tiniest scraggliest little thing! And I was actually a bit concerned he might disappear if he kept pooping! I swear his poops were like half of his body weight - they were HUGE. And the smell... *shudders* It was awful!

[Deleted]

Wow so it really makes a big difference in poop size and smell? Awesome...

My fuzzbutts's poo and pee has been incredibly stinky on Marshall's, they seem to poop all the time to the point where I watch them poo before I let them out of the cage then after playing with them a while they poo again, and it's like what??? Again?? Already?

Not to change the subject but my nephew is on about week 3 of owning his little guy Rosco (from the same litter as Fenton) and he is REALLY struggling with smell issues, more than me. He has been feeding a cheaper food that I read is even worse than what I was using, it's called Fiesta Max and the reviews online are terrible, and the nutritional analysis seems bad too. His ferret's poo seems even stinkier than what mine produced. I don't know if he is willing to go raw though.

For someone who can't or won't do raw, is it possible to get a significant reduction in smell and quantity of poo just by switching to a higher-quality kibble? Some people say Fiesta Max is one of the worst ferret foods, if he was to switch to 8-in-1 Ultimate for example (they sell this locally and it has 45% protein), could that tone down the stink? Or does only a raw diet tone down the smell?

He would be very happy if his ferret stank less!!! His wife is not happy about it, the whole house smells like ferret poo and I am worried she is going to make him get rid of the little guy.

[katt]

Wow so it really makes a big difference in poop size and smell? Awesome...
Oh, MAJORLY! ;D

My fuzzbutts's poo and pee has been incredibly stinky on Marshall's, they seem to poop all the time to the point where I watch them poo before I let them out of the cage then after playing with them a while they poo again, and it's like what??? Again?? Already?
Yup! That was Kenai when he came home! He pooped like once an hour, and the poops were the biggest turds I have ever seen come out of something so small. They were like poops of a small dog...coming from a ball of skin and bones that fit in my palm! ;D Part of this too is that they are kits. You will notice more of a change later. They are going to be eating a LOT of meat at first to make up for the time that they were on kibble, and because they are growing. Ferrets reach adult size by the first 4-6 months of their life. They do keep growing after that, but not as quickly, so the first few months they need a LOT of protein and calcium to fuel their growing bodies. Even eating as much as they will be though, the poops will be much smaller (and will get even smaller as adults IME). They will also stink WAY less. Look at it this way. Poop is all of the stuff that your body couldn't make use of. With raw, they can make use of almsot all of it. Also, because they are getting more protein and nutrition per ounce of food, they actually eat a lot less on raw (*ahem* again, this will come in time kits are little piggies). Think of herbivores. They have to eat constantly to get enough protein from plants bc plants are soo low in protein. So they eat and eat and eat. Kibble is the same way. Very low in real nutrition, so they need that much more of it to get what they need. And most of it they can't use so it passes right through. Add the two up and you get BIG poops and LOTS of poops.

Not to change the subject but my nephew is on about week 3 of owning his little guy Rosco (from the same litter as Fenton) and he is REALLY struggling with smell issues, more than me. He has been feeding a cheaper food that I read is even worse than what I was using, it's called Fiesta Max and the reviews online are terrible, and the nutritional analysis seems bad too. His ferret's poo seems even stinkier than what mine produced. I don't know if he is willing to go raw though.

AH! Tell your Cousin he NEEDS to get them OFF of the fiesta mix NOW! That is a GUARANTEED way to insulinoma. He might as well kill his ferret now and save it the suffering. Marshalls is some of the WORST stuff you can feed a ferret....but sadly there are things even worse. Kaytee foods is one of them. It's like poison. Ferrets cannot process the plant matter and sugar. S*** goes in, S*** comes out. So naturally, his ferret smells to high heavens. Seriously, that stuff is like eating poison.

For someone who can't or won't do raw, is it possible to get a significant reduction in smell and quantity of poo just by switching to a higher-quality kibble? Some people say Fiesta Max is one of the worst ferret foods, if he was to switch to 8-in-1 Ultimate for example (they sell this locally and it has 45% protein), could that tone down the stink? Or does only a raw diet tone down the smell?
Absolutely. Evo, 8-in-1 ultimate, and someone mentioned a kitty kibble that is new (to me) that is all natural and high in protein and even better than Evo. Also, tell him to look into freeze dried raw. It is expensive but will provide most of the benefits of raw...including getting rid of the smell and making for healthy ferrets.

He would be very happy if his ferret stank less!!! His wife is not happy about it, the whole house smells like ferret poo and I am worried she is going to make him get rid of the little guy.

No offense to you or your cousin, but if he does not STOP feeding them fiesta mix ASAP, then he SHOULD get rid of him. That stuff is some of the most terrible junk that you can feed. It (sadly) does get worse (people feed candy, cereal, hamster food... ) but Kaytee foods are WAAAAAYYYY down on the chain of BAD badbadbadbad foods.

[Deleted]

On a scale of 1-10, feeding Marshall or Fiesta kibble is like an 8 or 9 of poo power. In my experience, switching to a better kibble that agrees with your fuzz brings it down to, say, 5. Maybe not overpowering, but still stinky.

Now, a poo that's made of a whole mouse... that's a 0.

[Sherry]

If he's willing to go to a better quality of food, despite the expense, go for Evo cat/kitten, Wellness Core, Go, Orijen. But always go for grain free. Freeze dried would be even better, especially moistened. And Katt is right- it's a recipe for insulinoma, amongst other things.
The smell will decrease, but he will still be a kibble fed ferret, and thus smellier than a raw fed fert. But much better. Maybe once your's are on all raw, they'll notice the difference???
Refer him here, just to read if nothing else

[Deleted]

I will try to refer him... but I don't know if he is interested. He doesn't really buy into the notion that ferrets are so "delicate" that they would need such a specific diet. He just kind of figured his ferret will be fine on whatever food he gives it, and that they are hardy little animals and don't need all this special work to take care of. This is what I gather from talking to him about it.

Talking to him, it sounds like he kind of sees people like you guys as zealots or extremists who obsess way too much about all these exact percentages of protein and fat etc, and he thinks it's all silly. He pretty much figures there are however many thousands or even millions of pet ferrets all eating cheap kibble and they do fine, and if there really was a problem with the nutritional value of these foods, people wouldn't keep buying them and recommending them and the food manufacturers would fix the problem.

I on the other hand think this is a way too optimistic simplification of the situation. I went down this rabbit hole before researching raw diets for my dog, and I am convinced that it really is healthier for the dog, for many reasons. I think that just because something is mainstream and the status quo, doesn't mean it must be good. Man, are you kidding me? We live in a world where inferior quality is the norm, and cash is king. I think the cheap mass-produced foods typically are only going to provide the bare minimum that can keep the pet alive, because money talks and they want to make the food as cheaply as possible so they can sell more and make more money, and well... quality ingredients just aren't cheap. Corn is cheap. Do dogs naturally eat a lot of corn? I don't think so... Much less ferrets! I think it makes sense that a ferret's diet needs would be MORE delicate than a dog's. My dogs will eat and enjoy any food source they can find, and wolves in the wild might partake of all sorts of meals of opportunity. Plus dogs have been domesticated far longer than ferrets, so it makes sense to me that they would be more tolerant of a varied diet that their humans would provide. So to me, if dogs are healthier on a raw diet (which my dog was), much more so a ferret!

Anyway... didn't mean to rant! But there it is. I feel like if I approach the issue with him from the "it's healthier" point of view, he just shuts down and stops listening because he thinks it's all silly. If I approach it from the other tactic, talking about how it will reduce the odor and poop quantity, well... I think he is more receptive to that idea right now.

[selantra]

I don't think so much as a ferret's diet being delicate, as it is appropriate. In the wild, this is what a ferret eats, what could be better than the natural diet. Also it helps to prevent certain problems leading to fewer and less expensive vet bills and can be less expensive than quality kibble.

As for the kibble, I think you are right. I always think of it this way, processed food is not good for people. Why would it be good for animals?

[Sherry]

I don't know if this would help, but ferrets never fed kibbles seldom if ever develop insulinoma, and those purely kibble fed have a much higher risk, and the cheaper the food- the higher the risk. It also saves on future vet bills

[katt]

I will try to refer him... but I don't know if he is interested. He doesn't really buy into the notion that ferrets are so "delicate" that they would need such a specific diet. He just kind of figured his ferret will be fine on whatever food he gives it, and that they are hardy little animals and don't need all this special work to take care of. This is what I gather from talking to him about it.
Again, no offense to either you or your cousin, but if he is not wiling to feed his ferret a species appropriate diet, then he should not have a ferret. Kaytee foods are NOT species appropriate. Sadly, just because it says "for ferrets" on it does not mean that it is actually appropriate for ferrets. I really hope that you can convince him to change his ferret's diet, or rehome him.
If it helps get him to look at it this way. It has NOTHING To do with ferrets being delicate. But Kibble is like McDonalds. If he ate a diet of nothing but McDonalds ever day he would get sick, and he would smell also. He is not delicate. But a diet of crap would make him sick. The same goes for ferrets. He is feeding them not only the equivalent of McDonald's food, but something even WORSE! He is essentially guaranteeing that his ferret will have terrible health and need tons of vet bills later.
When iguanas were first captivated they were fed monkey chow, and "iguana food" and lettuce. Well turns out all of this "iguana food" was actually killing the igs as they can't process animal proteins and need a diet rich in a variety of leafy greens and veggies. Lettuce=cardboard. These products were marketed for iguanas, and captive iguanas were surviving, but none lived past a few years old tops. On a proper diet, we now know that captive iguanas can live for well over 20+ years, even up to 29 and 32 years old (oldest known captive igs to my knowledge). This whole story is the same thing for ferrets. Ferrets in the US are weaned and neutered too early and then fed crap kibble. The average lifespan of ferrets in the US is somewhere around 5 years. In Europe, where most ferrets are fed a natural diet, the average lifespan is much closer to 10 years.

Talking to him, it sounds like he kind of sees people like you guys as zealots or extremists who obsess way too much about all these exact percentages of protein and fat etc, and he thinks it's all silly. He pretty much figures there are however many thousands or even millions of pet ferrets all eating cheap kibble and they do fine, and if there really was a problem with the nutritional value of these foods, people wouldn't keep buying them and recommending them and the food manufacturers would fix the problem.
It's a matter of proper nutritional balance for the species. Despite being domesticated for several thousands of years, they have only been fed kibble for the last 30-40 years and their digestive tract is still almost identical to wild polecats. They simply CANNOT process grains and fruits and sugars (Kaytee foods is high in these) and corn and plant protein. It is a Biological, Physiological FACT. Because they are not able to process it, it sends their bodies all willy nilly, they stink, they get sick, and they die early.


I on the other hand think this is a way too optimistic simplification of the situation. I went down this rabbit hole before researching raw diets for my dog, and I am convinced that it really is healthier for the dog, for many reasons. I think that just because something is mainstream and the status quo, doesn't mean it must be good. Man, are you kidding me? We live in a world where inferior quality is the norm, and cash is king. I think the cheap mass-produced foods typically are only going to provide the bare minimum that can keep the pet alive, because money talks and they want to make the food as cheaply as possible so they can sell more and make more money, and well... quality ingredients just aren't cheap. Corn is cheap. Do dogs naturally eat a lot of corn? I don't think so... Much less ferrets! I think it makes sense that a ferret's diet needs would be MORE delicate than a dog's. My dogs will eat and enjoy any food source they can find, and wolves in the wild might partake of all sorts of meals of opportunity. Plus dogs have been domesticated far longer than ferrets, so it makes sense to me that they would be more tolerant of a varied diet that their humans would provide. So to me, if dogs are healthier on a raw diet (which my dog was), much more so a ferret!
Exactly. Also, as a side note, ferrets have been domesticated almost as long as, if not AS long or longer than, dogs have been. They were used in Europe for hunting rabbits and were fed rabbit bits, meat scraps, and whatever food they could catch on their own. Aka their already natural diet in the wild. This is why their digestive tracts have stayed the same despite thousands of years of domestic breeding.


Anyway... didn't mean to rant! But there it is. I feel like if I approach the issue with him from the "it's healthier" point of view, he just shuts down and stops listening because he thinks it's all silly. If I approach it from the other tactic, talking about how it will reduce the odor and poop quantity, well... I think he is more receptive to that idea right now.
Rant away! ;D Tell him this... You wouldn't feed a tiger lettuce and corn and wheat and berries, it is a carnivore. Ferrets are carnivores, so why is he feeding his ferret a diet full of plant foods? This is what he is doing to his ferret. He is feeding it a biologically inappropriate diet. He might as well feed it poison. Because he is poisoning it plain and simple. The amount of sugars and grains in that food will most certainly destroy that poor ferret's body. If he wants an animal that eats foods like that, he should get a guinea pig.

*fumes*

Sadly, we can only do so much to convince people who think they are right.

[katt]

Maybe you could offer to take the ferret off of his hands, so that he won't have to deal with the smell. And then he can get a pet hamster or something more appropriate for him.

[Deleted]

Well thanks for the info. I will work on him. I think he really likes his ferret a lot, so I'm hoping we can convince him to feed a better diet

[Sherry]

The evidence he sees once your's are on an appropriate diet should help a lot