11816 N. 56th Street Temple Terrace, Fl. 33617

813-985-2889    

                                        close to I-75,  University of South Florida, and New Tampa 

board-certified specialist in dog and cat practice

       special interest in ferrets, rabbits, small mammals, and birds

on this page : nutrition, links to informative websites, common signs of illness, common problems

NUTRITION

Ferrets are strict carnivores, meaning they are designed to eat whole prey items, which includes all parts of the killed animal.   Ferrets have a very short gastrointestinal (GI) tract and it takes about 3 to 4 hours for food to go from one end to the other and thus they absorb food rather inefficiently. Ferrets tend to eat several smaller meals and carry any excess to their dens to eat later.  

Because of the short GI tract and the poor absorption of nutrients, ferrets require a diet that is highly concentrated with fat as the main source of calories and highly digestible meat-based protein. This would match the basic composition of a prey animal not excluding the essential vitamins and minerals it also contains. Ferrets cannot digest fiber, as is found in some vegetable and fruit sources.  In the presence of excess vegetable protein the ferret can suffer from such diseases as bladder stones, poor coat and skin quality, eosinophilic gastroenteritis , poor growth of kits and decreased reproduction. Dog food and vegetarian-type pet foods are completely inappropriate.

Ferrets are carnivores and need a high protein, high fat diet with minimal carbohydrates. A dry ferret diet should contain at least 30% to 40% crude protein and 15% to 20% fat. The protein should be of animal origin and highly digestible. Ingredients on a pet food label are given in order of their amount in the diet, starting with the largest. For ferrets, the first three ingredients should be meat-based. Processed dry foods are heated during production and in the process nutrients can be destroyed or altered and then have to be replaced artificially. In addition, other additives may be used to keep the food from spoiling. Several commercial dry diets are readily available on the market today. Another choice is to feed a balanced raw carnivore diet. There are more and more of these diets available in either freeze-dried or frozen form as pet food companies realize that heat processing the food and making little baked kibbles may not be the answer. Several of the fresh, frozen or freeze-dried carnivore diets have been successfully used in ferrets. In general, you should look for diets that they are made from meat suitable for human consumption (preferably organic) containing all the parts of the animal (organ meat, muscle, fat and bone), a high level of fat and containing no grain or grain products, sweeteners or chemical preservatives.

Visit these maufacturers' websites for more information.   Wysong     Marshall Farms     Totally Ferret

Links to ferret innformation:       LongBeach Animal Hospital    NetVet    Ferret Universe

                                                  Miami Ferret     Ferret Central       Veterinary Partner   

Midwest Exotic Hospital           Ferret Anonymous        

                       Common Problems                                                                Signs of Illness

                    Copyright(c) 2004 Animal Diagnostic & Wellness Center. All rights reserved.
                 address questions and comments to info@animaldiagnosticcenter.com