Which would save me the most money?

[izzybees88]

Before I get my ferret (or 2) I want to know which would be better cost wise; Raw or Kibble?
Now my boyfriend has already gotten into the habbit of buying whole chickens and feeding the scraps to our dog (but she is still fed regular dog food since they're not very big).
I want to have happy healthy ferrets, but I also want to make sure if there was an emergency (ANY emergency), we could afford it.
We have a 2 year old daughter and my boyfriend's mother pretty much dumped her old half blind/deaf 14 year old dog on us to care for (the girl still has another 5-6 years in her which I am not too happy about). I'm just worried that when the dog finally has to be put down we'll be screwed!

[izzybees88]

My boyfriend can also be quite frugal. The cheaper the food the better (even if it tastes horrible).

[rebel135]

raw is the healthiest is there any ?

[goingpostal]

Well honestly neither is going to hold a candle to what vet costs on ferrets are. Ferrets get sick a lot, are prone to about a million issues and you really should have access to a grand per ferret at any given time, even a minor vet visit will probably run you $300. I spend about $30-$40 per month whether I feed kibble or raw but it really depends on what you feed. You do have the advantage that raw fed ferrets probably won't need dental cleanings and you are decreasing the chance of insulinoma.

[kpaz]

Perhaps it's best to wait until the dog has passed away. That way you won't have to be put in that situation. For a quality kibble (like Wysong Epigen 90) it's about $73 dollars for 18 lbs according to the website. At my grocery story, meat is about $1.74/ pound for pork and chicken...that's a little over $31 dollars for the same weight of food.

[kpaz]

Oops...gorcery STORE* Raw diet is overall healthier for the ferret anyway. If you are feeding frankenprey (not whole animals) it's important that they get a balanced diet, though. So you would still need calcium (crushed eggshells for example) and organ meats, etc. Whole prey is probably more expensive, but then I imagine you wouldn't need to worry about proportions (except chicks, I know those don't have much nutrition).

[izzybees88]

I've noticed every time it seems like I can finally get a ferret life rears its ugly head and bites me in the @$$.
Junior high I discover they're illegal in the state of California. Move to a state where they are legal; I become pregnant and laid off from my "job" due to "cut-backs." Now I'm given another chance and we get a sick old dog dumped on us because my boyfriend just couldn't watch the dog be euthanized just because his mother didn't want it any more...

[izzybees88]

I'm sorry if I'm starting to sound like a negative person. People say it's a habbit of mine that I need to stop.

[kpaz]

My advice would be to give the old dog lots of love until she lets you know she's ready to go. Also, I don't know many(if any) dogs who live to be twenty, six years sounds pretty hopeful for a blind and deaf dog. You never know, she may end up bringing a lot of joy into your lives in her last years here. She is probably confused and needs extra love after being rehomed.

[Heather]

Knowing what it costs me to care for my ferrets, I would definitely postpone your ferret for a bit longer. If the dog's care is hurting you financially, it's nothing to what a ferret is going to cost you. Raw feeding is comparable to the highest quality ferret food cost wise. It pays you back big time in the long run, usually in being able to cut the costs of vet bills. The line "garbage in, garbage out" comes to mind. There is no way to cut costs or corners in ferret care. If you do it bites you in the rear everytime As was mentioned earlier these are costly wee beasties to care for properly. I just spent over $500 on a surgery where the vet phoned me and asked my permission to put my wee boy down because he wasn't going to survive the proceedure anyway Yuri was 5 yrs old. Minion cost me $300 for a surgery and he wasn't even 6 months old. Captain Jack costs about $100 a month in meds alone (that doesn't count his food).
I understand about costs and trying to make ends meet. You've bravely taken on another's burden and that can set one on edge. We took on my MIL's 2 senior cats when she went to the home. It wasn't that she didn't want them but she couldn't keep them with her. We often take the hand that is dealt, it's what we do with it that makes it count. I would see about getting a healthy diet for your dog and while doing that investigate how much it's going to cost to have ferrets and what their dietary needs are. I know that the people here are usually very up front and honest about their costs. The initial cost may seem overwhelming but it's nothing to what the accrued costs are for the lifetime of the ferret(s)
Just my 2cents worth

[Deleted]

I hope this great advice is taken into consideration. They are plenty of work