Hello, fellow Westerburg students! My name is Molly Werner, and I’m a senior here!
I’m a student council member here at Westerburg!
I’d love to help you around if you need anything with the school’s vending machines, they get stuck sometimes.
Report to me if there’s anything in the sinks, stalls, or trash cans that seem weird. Mkay? (I don’t want Erin graffiti-ing the stall doors again..)
I also do speeches, and you may see me in the gym speaking for the Republican morals as part of the Debate Club.
If you’re seeing this, Heather, please interact with me, I want to be one of you guys.
That’s all for now! Bye-bye!
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Basic DNI, satanists
I know yall would probably hate her since she’s conservative but shes my fave ensemble character because LOOK AT THAT FASHION.. PLUS RNT YOUNG REPUBLICANETTES TYPICALLY UNDERSTUDY HEATHER DUKES
Article #3: Johnson-Delaney, C. A. (2014). Ferret nutrition. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract, 17(3), 449-70.
To be totally honest, I was a little hesitant to post notes for this one. It’s a really good article and makes some great points, but people can get very...meh about nutrition on this site and I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to deal with that. But it’s valuable information that I don’t want to withhold to avoid uncomfortable conversations. SO. Listen. It would be really easy to cherry pick things on both sides of the argument but I really encourage you to read the full article before drawing conclusions. The conclusion of this article is NOT “diet A is better than diet B”. It’s a pretty thorough discussion of various types of diets, nutritional requirements, and feeding behavior.
This definitely challenged how I thought about ferret diets, but ultimately it kind of reinforced what I already thought: ferret diets are a hot mess. There’s pros and cons of all possible diets, just like with cat and dog food.
Obligate carnivore; dentition and GI tract adapted to carnivorous diet
European polecats feed on birds and other small vertebrates
Anatomy and Phys
Very short GI tract and lack cecum and ileocolic valve; simple tube from stomach to rectum
Small intestine 5x longer than ferret’s body (compared to 8-10x length in cat)
3hr GI transit time, 1hr in kits
Inefficient absorption of nutrients
Lower concentrations of some brush border enzymes like lactase
Spontaneous secretion of HCl; may store food and eat small amounts at frequent intervals rather than gorging
Large intestine is 10cm long in adult male
Do not fast for more than 3hr pre surgery
4-6hr fast can reduce gut content as much as overnight fasting in cats and dogs
Ferrets with insulinomas can become severely hypoglycemic after more than 1-2hrs of fasting
If necessary to fast ferret w/ insulinoma keep feeding low-vol supplements like Nutri-Cal
Lack usual anaerobic gut flora found in other mammals
Flora present does play some role but treatment with abx doesn’t usually cause GI upset
Dentition
I3/3 C1/1 P3/3 M1/2 = 34
Exaggeration of carnassial teeth
Loss of grinding function in molars--used more for crushing bones
Overlapping and interdigitation of mandibular arcade by maxillary arcade to prevent lateral movement of mandibles. Prevents grinding motion but allows for shearing
Canine teeth form tight interlock when mouth is closed
Concerns that shift from whole-prey diet to dry kibble could have deleterious impact on dental adaptations
Kibble reduces dental calculus but may cause structural changes to the tooth--excessive wear of tooth and may cause fractures. Dentition not suited to grinding kibble.
Ferrets previously fed mink diet but prefer chicken flavor over fish
Whole-prey or freeze dried raw diet may actually be more appropriate; chicks, mice, rats. At least as occasional treat.
Most cat food not appropriate for any ferret life stages, but some premium foods were used successfully in trials
Require high protein + fat and low fiber; main source of calories should be fat
15-30% fat sufficient, up to 40% has been fed without incident
Most ferrets can free feed without becoming pathologically obese unless fed fatty treats
Tend to inc food intake by at least 30% in winter and gain great deal of weight--considered normal
If fed ad lib ferrets will eat up to 10 meals/day
Dec food intake as daylight inc
Ferrets require higher protein than most animals--30-35% composed of meat sources
Kits need at least 30% protein--conception rate, litter size, survivability of breeding ferrets inc with protein levels 35-40%
Proportion of carbs higher in grain based diets as compared to meat based
Natural source of carbs for mustelids is prey gut content
Cats can tolerate up to 40% carbs in diet and ferrets have an even shorter GI tract
Inc fiber diets in ferrets causes a relative protein-calorie deficiency in ferrets--cannot eat enough low-density food to meet their maintenance requirements
Cereals are not digestible, fruits and veggies provide minimal nutritional benefit
Ferrets prefer fructose over other sugars, did not respond to artificial sweeteners
Nutritional requirements
No diet trials have been done in ferrets
Daily estimated DER 200-300kcal per day per kg of body weight
Premium cat foods, ferret foods, mink foods of similar analysis and quality/ingredients are expected to provide adequate nutrition for a breeding ferret and more than enough for a pet
Palatability is a concern--most ferrets will not tolerate a mink diet
Diets with carb % = or > than protein % were assoc with urolithiasis and poor reproductive performance
Many gaps in our knowledge of specific requirements for ferrets, esp amino acids
Physical condition suffers when <30% protein
Taurine levels recommended at feline levels; some ferrets with DCM showed clinical improvement when supplemented with taurine
Assumed that arachidonic acid is and EFA for ferrets--only in animal tissue
Fish oil is good source of arachidonic acid, meat based diets not usually deficient in this or taurine
Minerals and vitamins
Little research on ferrets but extensive research on mink, assume requirements are similar
Ca:P should be at least 1:1; milk and meat meal with bone is well balanced Ca:P but muscle meat, liver, grains are low in Ca
Diet of exclusively meat leads to Ca deficiency
Ferrets on high quality cat food or ferret foods do not show mineral deficiencies unless persistently fed supplement/meds that unbalance diet
Oversupplementation of vitamin A has occurred in exclusively liver diets
Vitamin E added to commercial diets; deficiencies unlikely
Able to convert betacarotene to vit A but not very efficiently so diets should contain vit A
Study that used ferrets as a model for lung cancer found that addition of betacarotene, vitamin E, and vitamin C blocked formation of preneoplastic lesions and lung cancer tumor formation
Commercial diets generally have adequate Ca:P ratios and vit D
Thiamine in commercial diets is adequate; a diet of raw eggs may predispose to thiamine deficiency
Vitamin B12 deficiency has not been reported
Other vitamins appear to be adequate in commercial diets
Water requirements are ~3x as much water as dry matter food; prefer to drink from a dish
Selecting a complete diet
Form strong preferences
Maintenance diet should be 30-35% CP, 15-30% fat
Meat, poultry, meat/poultry by products or meals should be first in list of ingredients
Some premium cat foods can be satisfactory but most are not. DO NOT FEED DOG FOOD
Low-cost grocery store diets have been linked with health issues
Metabolism of cereal protein alkalinizes urine-->struvite formation (urine pH should be <6.5). 5-10% of lactating jills fed diets high in cereal proteins had uroliths
Poor diet in young ferrets leads to immune dysfunction
Juveniles on low quality cat food predisposed to Helicobacter
Osteodystrophia fibrosa is mainly caused by feeding all meat diet with no Ca; noted in cases where commercial diets are not being fed
Zinc toxicity reported in ferrets exposed to galvanized feeding pans and water dishes
Young ferrets imprint on food by smell at a very young age; expose them to a variety of food tastes, textures, smells, and protein sources as early as possible
Ferrets on balanced kibble diet do not need supplementation
Feeding large amounts of coat conditioners with linoleic acid and other fatty acids can cause reduction in intake of balanced diet
1stp of Ferretone/day can dec intake for a healthy jill by ~40kcal (20% of caloric requirement per day). If on balanced diet, will probably only cause weight gain, but if on poor diet, can lead to deficiencies
Supplements should be limited to no more than 10% of daily caloric intake
Good treats: soft-moist meat or liver snacks, baby meats with no carbs, egg yolk, whole cooked egg, small amounts of raw meat or liver
Growth: kits fed generic cat foods exclusively have poor haircoats, distended abdomens, greater susceptibility to resp and digestive diseases. Meat based dry diet of at least 35% protein and 20% fat should be constantly available
Reproduction: Raising protein >35% improves conception rates
Lactation: ferret milk is ~10-20% fat
Weaning occurs starting around 5 weeks
Kits left with the dam until 6 weeks grow faster than early weaned kits
Sick ferrets: Dook soup, Carnivore Care, Emeraid Carnivore. Can use as sole diet for 24hr then slowly introduce chicken baby food and Nutri-Cal for the next 24-48hr, then gradually mix in soaked, ground regular diet
Insulinomas: Repeated episodes of severe hypoglycemia cause permanent brain damage. Want to minimize occurrence of clinical hypoglycemia
Ferrets that appear to be unresponsive generally will lick and swallow glucose, 50% dextrose, or Nutri-Cal place on lips or gums for rapid recovery
Nutri-Cal is better than corn syrup alone because it also has fat which is absorbed and metabolized slowly to help maintain glucose at steady level and prevent rebound hypoglycemia
Should have constant access to food and encouraged to eat at least every 2-4hr
Avoid treats high in simple sugars (raisins, peanut butter, etc)
Geriatric (>3yr)
Some suggestions for lower protein diets but no real evidence for nephritis
Ferret kits: Puppy/kitten milk replacer enriched with cream until fat content is 20% (3 parts puppy milk replacer to 1 part whipping cream)
Start with 0.5mL/feed and inc to 1mL/feed by 1 week
Can introduce soft foods at 3-4wk
Feed every 2-4 hours and gradually inc interval between
Eyes open at 3-4wk and can learn to drink from dish
Stimulate to urinate and defecate up to 3wk
IBD: Speculation that it is associated with current diets but no hard evidence
Use of novel protein has anecdotally been associated with resolution of signs
