Ridiculed at vet

[griffyn]

We had a freak accident last night and thought Ferrah swallowed something she shouldn’t have. We took her to the vet and her scan came back good, she didn’t swallow anything thankfully. The vet asked me what diet we use and I said raw. She said we were putting her in grave danger and that the raw diet is “old” and “awful” for them. She then recommends me “Totally Ferret diet” and “Mazzuri” diet. I go on the ferret kibble chart and one of them is ranked red and the other in orange. They are both filled with carbs like rice and peas. Why would she recommend this and why is she against raw? She also said if I stay on raw I need to cook the meat??

[unclejoe]

Just ignore it. You're right that the kibbles you mentioned are more dangerous than feeding raw. as long as you store and handle their raw diet properly it's safe for them and you. I have yet to have a ferret eat any kind of cooked meat with the exception of small bits of luncheon meats or hamburger given as treats or to bribe Bobo et al to let me eat my lunch in peace

[Charlie]

Unfortunately vets aren't always well educated on diet for a variety of animals. Kind of like people doctors....they don't tell their patients much about diet either other then prescribing drugs to their patients. As people, we eat junk food too just like the kibble is junk food for ferrets. If you google what weasels or polecats eat in the wild that will give you an idea what we should be feeding our domesticated weasels, after all they are from the same family. My vet didn't say too much to me when I told her I fed raw. Her only concern was salmonella and I think that was me getting it not the ferret. I forget exactly how she said it but it was so general I was just assuming it was concern for me. lol I've had no issues and ferrets' digestive systems are so fast that they don't get it and neither do any of their cousins in the wild.  I've even taken in raw meat for my ferret to the vet so he had something to eat while he was there the whole day.  They fed it to him.

[abbeytheferret6]

Oh yeah I had a problem with my vet too, a testy exchange. She finally said she would work with me. Mine did get bacteria overload at first, but it was treated with antibiotics and they adjusted to the raw. My baby though did not have any problems. I did have a couple who could not handle chicken---always diarrhea. You will have to find a another bone protein if this happens. Anyway, vet always commented how good their teeth were, even at six years old!

Bacteria (the bad) overload will be diarrhea and awful smelling pooh. 

[unclejoe]

i'VE ONLY HAD ABOUT 6 ferret VETS TOTAL. All of them were willing to work with me as to treatment and diets. If we had a disagreement, the vet agreed to do more research once I told them I was a member/mod of this forum. Only one of them had more than minimal ferret experience and being scientists/practitioners they were all willing to learn. Coincidentally, every one of my vets for all of my critters were female, except 1. I've had pets for over 45 years.

[Charlie]

Nov 8, 2021 18:28:49 GMT -5 unclejoe said:

i'VE ONLY HAD ABOUT 6 ferret VETS TOTAL. All of them were willing to work with me as to treatment and diets. If we had a disagreement, the vet agreed to do more research once I told them I was a member/mod of this forum. Only one of them had more than minimal ferret experience and being scientists/practitioners they were all willing to learn. Coincidentally, every one of my vets for all of my critters were female, except 1. I've had pets for over 45 years.

I've had the same vet for 30 years!  She has been open to learning and she also knows I do a LOT of research on my pets when it comes to exotics like rats and ferrets.  I've also had a cat and a dog who she treated as well.  Both my cat and dog and a few of my rats have lived longer then their expected life spans so I must be doing something right.  I'm hoping to do the same for my ferret.  Charlie is my only pet who has 2 vets, one local and one out of town.

[eclipso]

Vets aren't the most reliable:


1. You can't expect them to know about ferrets specifically because they work with all tiny pets and might not know much good info about ferrets

2. Vets aren't nutritionists. They didn't study in-depth animal nutrition, or specific ferret nutrition. They are specialized in solving diseases and illnesses, not diet problems.

3. Sadly, many vets are sponsored. This means they get a lot of money. The pet food companies pay them to recommend their products and sell them to clients. This makes them unreliable for diet questions

4. Think of it like if you were the ferret: Would you eat a carb loaded diet your whole life: A crunchy brown tasteless mush? Every day? All day? OR would you eat a varied fresh diet with many types of natural food? Ferrets are used to eating raw whole prey. Anything close to that is a pretty good diet. Kibble is not close to that, so rely on your knowledge more that your vet in some situations.


I used to trust everything vets said, so I wouldn't do much research on animal diseases and their needs. I rescued a wild bunny with parasites, and I took him to the vet to get him healthy. Now- parasites can drown, so usually vets dip the animal in a mixture of water and an antiparasitic thing- but bunnies CANT get wet: THE FACT IS SO BASIC! Everyone with a bunny knows that. The vet was a bunny specialist. She decided to dip him in the mixture. He came back that day with severe hypothermia. He died that same day. Sadly, vets are people too. They make mistakes and can forget simple things like we do. You know you will do great research on ferrets, and you know you're the most dedicated to keeping them healthy.
Trust your knowledge. Trust the people who dedicate themselves to ferrets.

[msav]

I had that happen to me once. I calmly asked the vet where they got their dietary training from and who sponsored it. Before they could answer I said I bet the answer can be found with the food you sell here.

I then said I will not be visiting them again.

from then on before I even make an appointment with a new vet I ask the question, "what is your felling on a raw diet" that determines if I make an appointment with them.