Responses from Whole/Natural Prey Suppliers
I fear that lately this widespread and devastating problem seems to have slipped under the radars as the tide of daily life and problems have swept back in to fill our lives.
"Out of sight, out of mind".
But this does not mean the problem has gone away or even been corrected. In order to protect ourselves and our animal companions many people have considered undertaking home-cooking.
On the one hand, the AVMA does not support this because "pet nutrition is very complicated and unique to species and individual animals." .
On the other hand, they make this statement:
"If you are certain you wish to cook for your pet, the AVMA does recommend you first consult with your veterinarian and do some research on appropriate diets for your pet. A pet owner should only consider recipes for pet food that are developed for ..(their pet) by veterinarians or trained professionals in animal nutrition.
Dr. Tony Buffington, DVM, Ph.D., an Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine professor of clinical sciences and a member of the AVMA, agrees that preparing food for your pet can be tricky. In the event a pet owner is determined to make pet food at home, he recommends Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative by Dr. Donald Strombeck as a good cookbook for pets. Dr. Buffington also recommends http://www.petdiets.com/ as one the best Web sites on home-cooked pet diets. "
Full AVMA article here.
Additionally, Wysong Archetype (previously known as Ferret Archetype-I) and AFS Cat Patties are other safe products you can use in liu of home-cooking:
Cat Pet Patties @ AFS
Ferret Food @ Wysong
AFS does not have ferret-specific foods, but the cat food is well balanced especially in comparison with the specially formulated Wysong Archetype (previously known as Ferret Archetype-I) . As the AVMA has said before, just be informed and scrutinize the labels.
FURTHER READING:
Bob Church, a well-known and well-respected natural feeder, wrote an article for the March/April 2007 edition of FERRETS magazine about incorporating natural foods into your current dry kibble regime. The title is "Foods that Entice!". Example of an enriched feeding schedule from his article:
| FOOD | SUN | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT |
| Kibble #1 | AM | PM | |||||
| Boiled Chicken | AM | PM | |||||
| Shredded Beef | AM | PM | |||||
| Raw/Cooked Fish | PM | AM | |||||
| Scrambled Egg | PM | AM | |||||
| Kibble #2 | PM | AM | |||||
| Chicken Baby Food | PM | AM | |||||
| Chicken Broth | AM | PM | |||||
| Turkey Baby Food | AM | PM | |||||
| Kibble #3 | AM | PM | |||||
| Beef Broth | PM | AM | |||||
| Cat Snack | PM | AM | |||||
| Ferret Chew | PM | AM | |||||
| Chicken Gravy | PM | AM | |||||
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