Prepacked/freeze dried raw???

[Deleted]

I know there's a lot of brands out there and tons of different kinds from tubes to mixers to freeze dried. I was wondering if there where any premade raw foods that where recommend for ferrets?

While I'm not fully on board with feeding full in raw as it doesn't really work for my lifestyle at the moment the idea of premade sounds easy. I know I've read ferrets need a certain amount of different animal parts so I assume these aren't good for that but what about adding freeze dried mixers to kibbles?

[LibertyTS]

Hey there,

We feed raw, so I don't know any specific brands and it also depends on the country you live in. However, I do know that there are many Freeze Dried Raw (FDR) products out there that offer a whole and complete diet. So it isn't a big issue feeding FDR full-time if that is what suites you.

FDR must ALWAYS be rehydrated before fed as a meal. Small pieces as treats are alright. One thing you will have to continue with, if you've been feeding kibble, is brushing their teeth regularly. FDR don't contain whole bones like a raw meaty bone diet such as whole prey or frakenprey which assist in cleaning their teeth.

Do NOT mix any raw, FDR included, with kibble. The risk of huge bacterial growth and very upset tummies is much too high. If you must feed FDR and kibble, ensure it is a high quality kibble off of the list on this forum and that you remove the kibble for 2 hours prior to and 2 hours post feeding if the FDR to minimise the risk of bacterial infection.

Out of interest, what is your biggest blocker for feeding a raw meaty bone diet? You mentioned lifestyle as an issue, how so? If I may ask. My wife and I lead an extremely busy lifestyle and we feed to a Frankenprey style of diet without any huge issues. I actually find it much less time consuming as we don't have to waste time on teeth brushing. Which can be a bit of a chore at times, especially with a ferret that isn't interested in having their teeth brushed.

We buy all our meats, organs, etc from our local butcher (country town). We then portion these out into meals a freeze. This takes us somewhere between 45 and 60 mins at the most, once every couple of months. We take the required meals out the night before and dump them in a bowl when it's feeding time. Day to day, it is no more time consuming than feeding a kibble and significantly quicker than feeding FDR. We have also found it to be the cheapest option, by a significant margin.

Good luck

Chris

[Deleted]

I worry about attracting pest since I live in an older drafty home. I also worry about other pets or my son getting into the cage. We have extremely limited freezer space. I do not like handling raw meat at all. I actually refuse to handle it when cooking for myself. On top of that I work for a pet supply company and actually get quite a steep discount on fdr.

That all being said what are some things I should look out for when shopping for fdr? Also how much should I feed since the label suggestions are for cats and dogs? Are kinda for kittens better since they tend to have higher protein content?

[LindaM]

I feed FDR as part of my weekly menu, I do Frankenprey, FDR, and Commercial Raw.

So for FDR, there are indeed things you want to look for. A balanced FDR will include meat, bones, and organs. Now a perfectly balanced ratio for this would be 65-70% Muscle, 10-15% bone, 10% heart, and 10% organs (at least half must be liver). I find it helpful to contact the companies who make them if you need to get a rough idea of the ratios, and I highly suggest doing this whenever you find a new product, as sometimes even if the product looks GREAT, the ratios may not be right for a ferret (ie. too much organs).

Canine and Feline versions have multiple factors to take into account. Your Feline version will have more or less the needed amount of Taurine for ferrets, the Canine versions will not. More often than not, your Canine versions may also have a lower amount of Raw, versus veggies and fruits. You will want to keep to the 95% range, NEVER EVER less than 90%, and even then rarely 90% either. So while there are many, many FDR brands available, they are definitely not all suitable. Some Examples:
Primal Raw Feline around 90-93% raw (Okay) - Primal Raw Canine around 77-87% raw (No)
Stella Chewy's Feline around 98% raw (Yes) - Stella Chewy's Canine around 90-95% raw (Yes)

Okay, and then sometimes they include things that are best to be avoided when looking at their ingredient lists. Now the Stella & Chewy's Feline FDR now includes a synthetic Vitamin K that could cause issues in the long run, so I prefer to avoid it myself. Instead, I do the Canine FDR & Frozen Raw, and simply supplement extra hearts for the lack of proper Taurine. With the Stella & Chewys patties (FDR, mini patties for Frozen), I feed about 2 patties per ferret in a day on the days I do only FDR/Commercial Raw meals.

One concern with FDR is, that yes, ALWAYS feed it rehydrated, or it will try to dehydrate your ferret (FDR treats are okay, but don't give a bunch in one go). That, and you need to keep brushing their teeth regularly through the week, same as one needs to when they're eating kibble, since only bone-in meals from Frankenprey or Whole Prey will clean teeth through diet.

Now, let me try and address your concerns with feeding normal raw (frankenprey) or whole prey.

* As for handling raw meat, I HATE touching raw meat, and honestly, working with it for dinner can sometimes put me off dinner entirely, and I love animals to the mindset that to eat chicken (I only eat chicken breast fillets), I tell myself they got plucked from a tree in a factory. That's how big my own issues with meat is. Other than chicken (boneless breast, meat on the bones freak me out), I eat fish (skinless, boneless fillets), and only 97% lean ground beef (no steak, none of that), and bacon (no pork chops or the like). My husband always starts off the cooking of meat for me, and then I take over after a bit. But, you know, the funny thing is that I can still feed my ferrets raw. I can still chop up their meat, including sawing down a whole bunny. Honestly, it's like a switch that gets flicked in the brain, think about that power that allows you to do things for the ones you love that you'd never do normally. It's like that.

* As for attracting pests, I've never had that problem. There's a time-table that lets you know how long you can keep each kind of raw out as well. And remember, FDR is still raw, leaving it out for an entire day, if it doesn't fully dry out, it will end up rotting, so you still need to practice normal hygiene with it.

* Other pets.. well if you have cats and dogs.. they'd do better on a raw diet too honestly. As for your boy, well that's another problem, and might require supervision, but again, the same would count for the FDR.

* Freezer space, sadly, can only be fixed by getting a chest freezer, which there's decent ones for cheap available, but it's another problem if you have nowhere to fit it in.

If you have any other questions or concerns regarding raw or FDR, feel free to ask.