Which Kibble should I feed my Ferret

[chimiere]

Hi there!
I know that raw is the recommended diet on here, and I do plan to EVENTUALLY transition my Ferret (soon to be 2) to a raw or whole prey diet. She is almost 6 months old now and has been on the marshall diet her whole life (shes also a marshall ferret) and i was wondering if anyone had other suggestions?
Wysong is far too expensive for here ($100 for a 5 lbs bag in CAD).
I've read that some people use Orijen cat & kitten, but I've read some mixed sorces from other sites and my one coworker who used to own a pet store that using cat food is outdated and recent nutritional research has shown that any cat/kitten food is only good for temporary use? 
The brands I read that some people used were: Natures Variety: Instinct RAW, Nutrience Sub Zero, Halo, and of course, Orijen cat & kitten.

The only other ferret food around here that isn't extremely expensive with online ordering is the Zupreme (not grain free one) that the store I work at sells (I work at a pet smart).

Sorry if my questions seem jumbled, essentially what I'm asking is:
Is it still ok to use Orijen Cat/Kitten for a ferret's main diet? (Even though I plan on switching to raw diet in a few months when my life is a bit more stable)
Is Zupreme ok? Are the other aforementioned brands ok? (Instinct, Sub zero, or halo)

Thanks so much in advance and sorry if my questions are all over the place, just most of the information i see regarding kibble is a bit outdated!

[Blue]

Hi, and welcome to the forum! Here's a very complete chart with kibble recommendations:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ugt4k4JPUw8X-WDsxbbOIBUqIKkTubrkpyba4YsUeEg

Orijen Cat & Kitten is a good one. It's good to get your ferrets used to at least 3 different kinds of kibble in case one changes its formulation, or goes out of stock, or has a recall.

At 6 months old your ferret might still be relatively easy to switch over. You might want to try to feed her a piece or two of raw meat just so that she recognizes it as food. But to be honest, the earlier you switch to raw, the better. Frankenprey (combining different raw meats to make up a balanced diet) is actually one of the cheapest methods in the long run, especially once you factor in the savings at the vet (a lot of kibble-fed ferrets develop insulinoma for example). Good luck and keep us updated!

ETA: Never use Zupreem grain free, that one often creates urinary tract stones.

[chimiere]

Thank you!
I was mostly curious about the cat kibbles being used for ferrets, since I read that feeding cat kibble is outdated... I also haven't looked into raw meat prices here (food in general is pretty expensive here in Vancouver).
I have been reading a lot about the Frankenprey and am 100% interested in transitioning to that eventually, I just need to budget it all, however if giving her some raw pieces now will help the transition later i'll definitely do that!

Is the regular non-grain free Zupreme also bad? Just curious about that one, mostly!

[Blue]

Both Zupreems have plant matter as their 2nd ingredient. That's really bad. It's just that the grain-free version in particular has been linked to stones.

Some cat kibbles are OK for ferrets, but you need to read the ingredient list. Plant proteins are bad, and peas in particular are thought to create stones.

Giving her a bit of ground meat might be the easiest way to get her interested (pure meat, no additives of any kind like salt or spices). Adding a little warm water often helps. Hopefully she'll take to it!

[reese6959]

We just purchased wysong. We got it from chewy.com for about the same price as marshalls but a smaller bag by two pounds

[chimiere]

Makes sense for Zupreme,
I plan on switching her and the new boy to Raw Frankenpray once I get the chance to scope out all the butchers here and what's available! I'll be making a new thread on that to make sure I get the proper coverage

also Reese, unfortunately chewy.com doesnt ship to canada and wysong is very expensive here probably much more than a raw diet would be- I was just trying to find a temporary kibble till I can switch to raw since the marshall food theyre eating now is just really horrible and i want to get off of it ASAP, thank you though!!!

[Sherry]

If you want raw grinds in the diet, Carnivora is a really good one, as is Mountain Dog. Both make whole animal grinds. If you have a Tail Blazer's anywhere near you they carry those.

[chimiere]

Oh those are awesome suggestions! Thanks Sherry

[br8080]

OK - forgive me (new ferret dad here) - As I look through the chart I see fish highlighted in blue - Is that just to bring it to attention or as a negative or just an added ingredient/substitute protein needed for our ferrets diet?


I'd like to go raw but the fact of the matter is the healthiest kibble mix I can provide will have to do. I'll use the Wyson Epigen 90, most likely the Orijen cat and kitten and another food - any suggestions are welcome.


Thank you - I will treat with raw chicken necks/hearts/gizzards on occasion

[powerwoman]

Aug 25, 2018 3:31:08 GMT -5 br8080 said:

OK - forgive me (new ferret dad here) - As I look through the chart I see fish highlighted in blue - Is that just to bring it to attention or as a negative or just an added ingredient/substitute protein needed for our ferrets diet?


I'd like to go raw but the fact of the matter is the healthiest kibble mix I can provide will have to do. I'll use the Wyson Epigen 90, most likely the Orijen cat and kitten and another food - any suggestions are welcome.


Thank you - I will treat with raw chicken necks/hearts/gizzards on occasion

Hey there! In the same boat here (currently a student and keeping various animal organs in a shared mini-fridge apparently just isn't the way to make friends and influence people, so,) I've had my ferret on a mix of Wysong digestive support (which I've heard is better than the Epigen, I think Wysong changed the formula since the chart came out- heard about a couple bad reactions,) and Go! fit + free, for just over a year now since I got him, and he's doing really well! Orijen looks like it'd be fine as well to mix in with the Wysong.

I'm not an expert on the chart so I might be misinterpreting this, but from what I can tell the ingredients are highlighted just as a way to keep track of them, when thinking about balancing a diet. From what I've read the main thing is making sure they aren't getting much of anything other than meat, so be sure to avoid grains/fiber. I think fish is fine so long as it isn't all/most of the protein they're getting. I've recently started giving mine a little salmon oil as a supplement, which he's finally warmed up to and started to really enjoy. Hope this helps, and best of luck!!

[Sherry]

If you have to use a kibble, wysong is the best, then orijen. But just an FYI, whole raw frankenprey will be less expensive than either of these