Post by jenniferinfl on Jul 25, 2010 19:54:00 GMT -5
I wasn't sure where to post this, so if there's a moderator who thinks it belongs somewhere else, please move it.
My last ferrets I owned about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, back then I didn't have access to the internet and just fed them what my vet recommended, which was dry cat food (I know, horrific)
Of course, they didn't live very long, the oldest made it to 8 but they started having issues with adrenal disease according to my vet long before that. Of course, in retrospect, he wasn't a very good vet anyways.
While I enjoyed my ferrets, I haven't ever gotten another one because of how sickly they were, the expense of their medical problems and so on.
My last ferret died 10 years ago, so it's been awhile.
Anyhow, fast forward 10 years and in the mean time I had adopted a rescue dog that had severe food allergies along with many other health issues and a rescued cat that had urinary tract disease. After following my vets advice for awhile and just using prescription foods and medications that did little good, I stumbled across a raw diet forum and haven't looked back.
My rescue dog is now 10 and healthy as a horse and just 5 years ago we were using medications and still considering euthanasia for her many problems. My cat hasn't had a single incidence of urinary tract disease ever since we switched. Which is amazing considering my vet and I had already talked about a penilectomy for him for his next incident!
So, anyhow, back to ferrets. This has got me thinking that maybe ferrets aren't that unhealthy after all. Maybe they're just unhealthy because most of them are eating a species inappropriate diet. So, for those of you who do feed a raw diet, do you find that it has appreciably reduced chronic disease in your own ferrets? What are the most common serious diseases of ferrets now and how do you feel a raw diet impacts those diseases?
We found too that the litterbox waste with our cats is completely different after the switch. I swear, one of them especially used to clear the room! Now, you hardly smell the poo and it's not as bulky. One of the other things that discourages me from ferrets is the amazing piles of poop in the litterbox at the local pet shop. BUT, the shelter cats living on dry food are just as bad, so perhaps ferret poop improves with a change too?
Anyhow, just thought I'd get some thoughts on that. I really do miss having ferrets. I just don't want to deal with the heartbreak of several thousand dollar surgeries and still having a sickly, dying 6 year old ferret..
My last ferrets I owned about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, back then I didn't have access to the internet and just fed them what my vet recommended, which was dry cat food (I know, horrific)
Of course, they didn't live very long, the oldest made it to 8 but they started having issues with adrenal disease according to my vet long before that. Of course, in retrospect, he wasn't a very good vet anyways.
While I enjoyed my ferrets, I haven't ever gotten another one because of how sickly they were, the expense of their medical problems and so on.
My last ferret died 10 years ago, so it's been awhile.
Anyhow, fast forward 10 years and in the mean time I had adopted a rescue dog that had severe food allergies along with many other health issues and a rescued cat that had urinary tract disease. After following my vets advice for awhile and just using prescription foods and medications that did little good, I stumbled across a raw diet forum and haven't looked back.
My rescue dog is now 10 and healthy as a horse and just 5 years ago we were using medications and still considering euthanasia for her many problems. My cat hasn't had a single incidence of urinary tract disease ever since we switched. Which is amazing considering my vet and I had already talked about a penilectomy for him for his next incident!
So, anyhow, back to ferrets. This has got me thinking that maybe ferrets aren't that unhealthy after all. Maybe they're just unhealthy because most of them are eating a species inappropriate diet. So, for those of you who do feed a raw diet, do you find that it has appreciably reduced chronic disease in your own ferrets? What are the most common serious diseases of ferrets now and how do you feel a raw diet impacts those diseases?
We found too that the litterbox waste with our cats is completely different after the switch. I swear, one of them especially used to clear the room! Now, you hardly smell the poo and it's not as bulky. One of the other things that discourages me from ferrets is the amazing piles of poop in the litterbox at the local pet shop. BUT, the shelter cats living on dry food are just as bad, so perhaps ferret poop improves with a change too?
Anyhow, just thought I'd get some thoughts on that. I really do miss having ferrets. I just don't want to deal with the heartbreak of several thousand dollar surgeries and still having a sickly, dying 6 year old ferret..