Ferret News
Pet Ferret Care Tips
and Information.

www.ferretnews.com

contact: marymodernferret.com

In this newsletter:

• Ferrets and Cat Food: A Bad Mix?
   
• End-of-July Price Cut for Modern Ferret Back Issues
   
• Ferret Blog Moved

Check out ferret-related auctions from ModernFerret on Ebay.

Cool Ferret Stuff Up For Auction Now!
(And some cool non-ferret stuff, too!)

By Mary R. Drews

In the early days of pet ferrets, we didn't have ferret-specific diets. Ferret owners had to rely on cat foods (kitten foods, usually, because they're higher in meat protein) or home-made foods to feed our little furry beasts. Ferrets that ate low-quality cat foods generally were not as healthy as those that ate more appropriate foods with high meat protein content. Now there are so many high-quality ferret foods available, no one needs to feed kitten foods.

But that doesn't mean ferrets don't eat kitten food in certain circumstances -- or even that kitten food is bad for them. For example, if you have cats as well as ferrets, it's inevitable that your ferrets will get some cat or kitten food from time to time, even if you're very careful about keeping the cat food away from the ferrets. Ferrets are thieves and if there's something you're trying to keep away from them, they want it. Badly. And now. The occasional "treat" of a few pieces of cat food, no matter how crummy it is, shouldn't present a problem for most ferrets.

The problem arises when ferrets eat cat foods that are high in corn or other vegetable matter on a regular basis. (Those cat foods aren't good for cats, either, by the way.) Even foods that are all right for cats usually have too little meat protein to keep ferrets healthy. Educated pet owners read labels and generally don't feed their cats low-quality cat foods, but even many high-quality cat foods may be inappropriate for ferrets. In short, ferrets are ferrets and cats are cats.

So, are ferrets and cat food a bad mix? In short, yes. The long answer, however, is that it all depends on the cat food and how much the ferret is eating of it. In an ideal world -- and we all know this is not an ideal world -- all ferret foods would be created equal and nutritious and would be available to every ferret owner everywhere. Certainly with the ubiquitous nature of the web, pretty much anyone can purchase high-quality ferret food from an online source. Even if ferret food isn't available, a high-quality kitten food is a much better compromise than cat food.

For more on ferrets and cat food, see FerretNews #39.

Price Cut for Modern Ferret Back Issue Package

Things are tough all over. The economy stinks. But it's summer and time for summer reading. So ... from now until the end of July 2009, you can get the 28-back-issue Super Monster Pack of Modern Ferret back issues for only $37.50 at www.modernferretstore.com. This sale is only from July 14 - 31, 2009, and is only at the Modern Ferret Store web site. The cost includes shipping to addresses in the US. On August 1, the price goes up to $45.00.

Modern Ferret Blog Moved

If you're looking for www.modernferretblog.com, you won't find it. I've moved that blog to www.marysferretblog.blogspot.com. I've also (obviously) renamed it. You can still find all the archived blog posts there. I just figured that since Modern Ferret has been defunct for awhile now, it might be a good idea to retire the name.

So it is done.