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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2011 18:41:16 GMT -5
Well the fact that I prepare my pets food where I prepare the food for my family has me a bit OCD about microbes, and crazy lady I am not usually squeamish about things but I do admit the maggot scenario would send me on an obsessive compulsive rampage for sure! LOL I have zero tolerance for stashed meat!!!
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Post by Sherry on Jun 30, 2011 21:09:06 GMT -5
You also have to consider- her ferrets stash meat in the enclosure, not the house ;D I also leave meat on the counter to thaw, then come to room temperature. I've got spoiled fuzz who flatly refuse cold meat
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2011 22:45:27 GMT -5
Ah that would be a bit of a difference.....I REALLY hate maggots no matter what though, my hair stands on end-even in the yard!! Ugh! Luckily mine are stomachs with teeth lately and cool meat does not phase them
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Post by Sherry on Jul 1, 2011 9:14:24 GMT -5
I do understand what you mean by those....THINGS If I have one true phobia, that's it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2011 10:10:37 GMT -5
It seems most of us are preparing in the home, and our ferrets may be stashing in the home LOL-it is a good thing to be aware of foodborne illness. Seeing now, that so many that have never experienced any problems with illness in their ferrets, this is a great topic and strong evidence to continue feeding raw diets. Salmonella and e coli are dangerous illnesses, though, and this post is a good way to point out the importance of food handling safety for the humans in the family
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Post by crazylady on Jul 1, 2011 15:13:28 GMT -5
LoL No no maggots in the house my ferrets have there own house ( I am the maid lol ) I cut and prepare all the meat in the main house then take it down to the ferret house lol another reason why I use shredded white soft paper lol no laundry just scoop it out into a bag and dispose of in with clean new white paper lol ( there clean sheets lol ) god forbid I was doing laundry for all my crew my machine would be worn out in a a few days lol thankfully I do have running water and lighting ( which I never use lol ) in the ferret house so they do have some modern conveniences haven't given them a tv yet but they do have several fans lol take care bye for now Bv aka crazy lady
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2011 16:09:57 GMT -5
Ha ha! No offense meant-I hear the word maggot and my skin starts to crawl!!! I go running for the bleach!!! LOL You must have a lot of ferrets they must LOVE having their own house!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2011 19:14:10 GMT -5
Wasn't there just a widespread issue with salmonella found in BEAN SPROUTS in Europe? We have had all kinds of issues with cantaloupe, spinach, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables in foods....The only place I have heard of salmonella and e. coli in ferrets from eating raw is at the vets' offices and/or in traditional veterinary medicine texts. There are vets who strongly recommend raw for ferrets. My traditional vet "ragged" on me about raw....2 years later he changed his mind becuse of the apparent health of my kids. He now feels it's superior for ferrets. Dr. Wagner (the Deslorelin Doc. in the US) told me that the raw fed ferrets are much healthier than kibble fed ferrets at the IFC Symposium last month. My new ferret vet now agrees after seeing my ferrets. (My old vet retired ) All three of these vets are traditional vets. Holistic vets hate kibble for ferrets. Ask your vet about all the animals that died from aflatoxins from grains used in kibble - how about the melamine? That usually shuts up the disbelievers! Anyway, I'll stop my ranting and provide you with some useful info now ;D... If you're paranoid about "food cooties", consider feeding Nature's Variety frozen raw or Stella and Chewys frozen raw. Both products use a "pasteurization process" that involves pressure/compression (not heat) to kill pathogens in food. Keep in mind that with any food (cooked, raw, pasteurized, etc.,) the risk of toxins always exist - even with kibble. Toxins can be produced when contaminated foods are "spoiled" to the point where toxins are produced. Toxins are not alive, so they cannot be killed. Such is the case with aflatoxins which are the by-product of fungal infestation on nuts and grains. Aflatoxin poisoning killed hundreds of pets years ago - the grains in the kibble were spoiled. The bad part about the kibble is that you cannot tell if any of the ingredients that go into it are contaminated - it all smalls the same. You can smell spoiled fresh foods, and you can see it as wel. Now, here's an example that may ease tour mind as well. I away for a week and left he brats at home unattended. I always do this - I have web cams in the room (including infrared) so I can monitor them. Right before I left, I fed the brats some soup as a treat. I left the bowl in the room because they either finish it, or they don't touch it once it starts to get dry on top. I could see on the web cam that they had not finished the soup...I figured it would just dry out by the time we returned since I was confident that the brats would not touch it - they had PLENTY of freeze-dried raw available. The day before we returned home, Kachina was eating the old soup!!!! When we got home, we went in the house, and you could smell the soup . Kachina had a couple of loose stools, but that was it. she had eaten about an ounce of spoiled meat/soup, and it didn't really bother her...her stools were even that bad. The other thing to be aware of is that my ferrets have eaten some foods that have been involved in recalls but they've never gotten sick from it. Bacteria/pathogens must be present in large enough quantities to cause illness. A small amount of E. Coli or Salmonella won't bother most ferrets. -jennifer
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2011 5:55:45 GMT -5
Just my 2 cents, adding to the stories: I sometimes offer live mice. One time the ferrets killed one and I guess I forgot they had stashed it in the playroom. Long story short, several days later my Fenton finds the old, rotting mouse carcass, and proceeds to eat at least half of it. YUM! That carcass was disgusting, smelled terrible, and was infested with maggots. He didn't get sick or anything from eating it, he had a normal poop with mouse fur in it. Then there are the times they (usually Fenton) sneak a piece of raw meat out of the cage and hide it behind the fridge, or under my bed, etc. Then they come back later when it's all gross and eat it. Sometimes even with maggots. I usually find out the hard way when that happens: I suddenly have a lovely crop of flies keeping me company I guess I'm not the most neat and clean ferrent... but nobody has gotten sick yet...
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Post by Heather on Jul 2, 2011 14:04:54 GMT -5
And they won't, just be careful for yourself Ferrets are meant and designed to eat those denderised treats but we're not geared to handle that stuff. Yes, I too have played follow my nose. I'm actually doing that right now I haven't found the offending piece of meat yet but I can smell it ciao
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Post by goingpostal on Jul 2, 2011 16:26:29 GMT -5
Long story short, several days later my Fenton finds the old, rotting mouse carcass, and proceeds to eat at least half of it. YUM! LOL! I had a similar thing happen once, we took out the carpet in their room but never put up new baseboard and there's a small gap in a few places between the floor and wall where stuff can fall. Cleaning their room one day I moved the cage and found one in there from a few days prior, had to grab it out and there's Pandora trying to grab and eat it. Gross! We've never had maggots though, that would be super nasty, I hate maggots!
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