Worried about Greenwoods, and other queries

[furyet]

I thought it'd be a good in between for kibble and raw feeding. I currently am not in a situation where raw feeding is a realistic option.

I thought I could just whizz up a can of the Greenwoods food, a kind of nutritionally complete soupie that my elderly boy Merlin could eat. I know that a lot of you consider Greenwoods to be incomplete due to its limited number of protein sources... but the whole point of multiple protein sources is to ensure enough vitamins/minerals, and these are added to the canned food - so I am not worried that they will be missing it from their diet. The long life of them also appeals to me, as well as the fact I don't have to use up precious freezer space - although I am seriously considering sacrificing a drawer to them, and eventually clearing out my storage cupboard to put in a chest freezer...but that's neither here nor there right now! 

The worries I have with Greenwoods is the bone content.

Either they are canned unsafely, and pose a serious botulism risk.
Or they are cooked and the bones are incredibly dangerous to consume :/

I have emailed Greenwoods for clarification. This food is usually recommended on all the ferret groups I am part of as a good alternative for raw I hope they have a good explanation.

WHICH LEADS ON TO MY NEXT QUESTION

If I wanted to incorporate SOME raw meals into my ferrets diets - would the occasional bowl of forum-recipe soupies be okay?
How long should they stay on soupies for? I know it's only a temporary measure. 

And...how much of a jump is it in terms of cost, freezer space etc. to fully transition into raw? I would like to get them fully raw next year - I have a lot of life changes going on at the moment, routine is all up in the air, need to move and so on - moving is gonna cost a lot so I'm in a tight position financially too. In the meantime I want to provide them the best I can. Currently they're on amazon thrive premium+ which is a decent food according to the kibble charts. 

As a side note - my elderly boy Merlin is 10 and it really feels like I am providing palliative care rather than trying to improve his life. I would like him to have more energy in general, and I think he is struggling to eat his kibbles (there's a LOT of bitten in half kibbles over his cage, iyswim?). I think a softer blended meal would be better. He yums up raw eggs and loves his olive oil (not so keen on salmon oil). I don't give him any olive oil anymore though since its not meat based - I would love to be corrected here though and be told he can have it since its his favourite treat everrrrr. He used to love eating cooked turkey mince too.

...Is turkey soupies a thing?

Sorry for the question overload and all over the place thoughts! It's late here (England) and I need to get to sleep!

Thanks in advance!
^_^

[LindaM]

Canned foods are cooked, so the bones in it will be cooked. As will the food, which is WHY they have added vitamins and minerals, because cooked food loses pretty much all its nutritional value as compared to raw. Those bones can pose a danger, I used NV Instinct for my cat at one stage, and I actually cut myself on one of the small bone shards, I tossed the cans after that experience.

And, yes, we recommend a variety of proteins for reasons of variation in minerals and vitamins. But this is not the ONLY reason why either. Food sensitivities can develop when heavily relying on a specific protein for too long. Ferrets can also sometimes get fed up with a single protein fed too much for too long and stop eating it. Sadly, neither of those are things that added vitamins and minerals to a can will be able to fix.

Full raw will usually be cheaper, though it does depend on what your end goal is, but if you are going with commercial raw options it's gonna cost an arm and a leg. The Frankenprey menu is by far the cheapest raw option.

Can't quite comment on the current kibble. I know the Overseas kibble chart lists Thrive Cat Food, not sure about the Premium+ one, just keep in mind that the same brand can carry less ideal kibbles too. Most owners will also prefer to avoid Sweet Potatoes in the ingredients, as just like peas it can lead to bladder stones.

For the oil.. try this little trick. Mix a little EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) with the Salmon oil. Increase the Salmon oil as he gets used to it.

You can most definitely make the raw soupie using any protein. Just replace the chicken with turkey and voila!