Good brand of balanced grind?

[Sander]

Hello, I don't have a ferret yet but I'm planning to have one, so I'm also planning how to feed it.

I read about raw diets on the forum and about the different providers. I've found that I can get one of the brands you recommend, Carnivora, at a store 40 minutes from where I live, but I've also found that I can get the Big Country Raw brand in stores much closer, is this brand good for ferrets? It's balanced with 80% muscle (I think the heart is included here), 10% bone, and 10% organs.

I've thought about giving it chicken, beef/lamb, and pork at the very least, but I'm still worried it would be missing something. So I thought about feeding it half raw and half with dry food. In fact, I worked at a zoo where we fed the ferrets dry food in the morning and whole prey at night. In case of feeding it also with dry food, what should I look for that it does NOT contain? (we already know that many contain things that SHOULDN'T contain).

Thanks

[Corvidophile]

I checked out their website, Big Country Raw seems pretty good, but low in taurine for some of their varieties and some other varieties seem to need supplementation with fish oils to meet fatty acid needs. Check that the taurine per 100 grams is at least 0.1. If not, you’ll have to supplement it yourself.

Ingredients to be wary of in other foods: Watch out for peas, which bind to calcium and cause kidney stones. Watch out also for any food high in oxalates, which will also cause kidney stones, and block taurine absorption. Foods high in oxalates you’ll likely encounter in pet food are potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, soy meal, brown rice, and spinach. White rice is lower in oxalates but should also be avoided as it’s an unnecessary carb, as is corn and wheat. Carbs in a ferret’s diet put strain on the pancreas and can lead to insulinoma.

[Sander]

Jul 17, 2023 11:15:46 GMT -5 Corvidophile said:

I checked out their website, Big Country Raw seems pretty good, but low in taurine for some of their varieties and some other varieties seem to need supplementation with fish oils to meet fatty acid needs. Check that the taurine per 100 grams is at least 0.1. If not, you’ll have to supplement it yourself.

Ingredients to be wary of in other foods: Watch out for peas, which bind to calcium and cause kidney stones. Watch out also for any food high in oxalates, which will also cause kidney stones, and block taurine absorption. Foods high in oxalates you’ll likely encounter in pet food are potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, soy meal, brown rice, and spinach. White rice is lower in oxalates but should also be avoided as it’s an unnecessary carb, as is corn and wheat. Carbs in a ferret’s diet put strain on the pancreas and can lead to insulinoma.

Thank you very much, I'll take it into consideration. How much oil should be added to complement?

[Corvidophile]

According to their own product line of salmon oil, they say 5 mL per 25 pounds of body weight of pet daily. That works out to 1 mL (one average syringe) for a big five pound ferret, or 0.5 mL for a more average 2.5 pound ferret, so even less for an even smaller ferret.

General advice for ferrets and salmon oil is no more than 1/2 tsp a week, that checks out as good, as 1/2 tsp works out to nearly 5 mL. 5/7= 0.72 mL daily.

[silentdook]

I'd like to add that it isn't just peas, but all legumes such as beans of any sort, soy included, and chickpeas.
The issue here is that they are high in phytic acid, which is what binds the minerals together to form bladder stones.
I really wish that would be spoken of more, because Mazuri is on the "pea-free" kibble chart and it is high in soybeans.

[Sander]

Thank you both very much, all this information is very useful 😊