Prowl

[zuulmom]

I normally don't post here (more of a "lurker" ), but seeing as this is more of a "raw food" question, I thought I'd ask this here....

www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/prowl/

Found this over the weekend at our local natural pet food store. Looks like a dehydrated raw cat food, but my first thought was hmmm... maybe a nice instant soupie for the ferrets?

Has anyone used this product? The protein is a little low for ferrets, but I was thinking all in all, it could be a good addition to a soupie mix or used in a pinch when you don't have the time for a "normal" soupie.

[odin]

It is to my understanding, and i'm sure some of the other experts will come on here with a more detailed answer, that one of the ingredients in that is flaxseed, which is terrible for ferret digestion.

[Jackie]

I think a small amount of flax is fine (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Quoting mustelidmusk: "The flax is more of a "roughage thing" to help condition the bowel. It's similar to undigested fur, bone bits, etc. These items tend to "scrub"/"'massage" the intestines, which helps maintain healthy elasticity to the tissues."

I don't think it's a bad food. Here are my issues with it:

No organ or bone in the mix
Low protein

I think if you are using it to supplement a raw diet and/or for the occasional rushed meal, it would be fine. But it would not be able to be the base of their diet.

I recently asked this same question, and mustelidmusk stated that her ferrets would NOT even try it.

On their website, they have 1 oz packages for $1 and 6 oz packages for $5, so maybe you might want to give it a test run before buying a bunch.

Let me know if you decide to try it!

[mustelidmusk]

32 percent protien is very low.....there are kibbles out there with higher protein than this. sonce the fat content is < 30 percent with potatoes and yams high on the ingredients list, this is most likely kibble in a powdered form.

-jennifer

[zuulmom]

Thanks for the responses. I figured it wouldn't cut it as "the only food", but like I mentioned before, maybe a good addition or for a quick soupie while you're in a pinch. Even the instructions on the bag say to supplement this with raw for cats.

I actually have the trial bag of it that I got for free, just haven't had a chance to hydrate some of it yet.

[zuulmom]

Rehydrated a serving of the Prowl yesterday - it is most definitely not a "food group", for either the ferrets or the cats. Lots of plant matter in it and not as much actual meat as I was expecting from a supposedly "raw" food.

Although a few did come back for another lick or two (and making a "yuck" face afterwards), the consensus was this is not food and I was trying to poison them.

Ah well. At least it was a free sample.