Why feed high quality food?

Q: Just wondering, what’s the benefit of your custom food mix versus one of the ferret foods out there?

A: We feed high protein, high fat, no grain, low carb — as close to what a carnivore should eat as we
could get. Plant proteins encourage the formation of bladder stones, which is an emergency surgery
situation. Much cheaper to prevent than cure that problem. (Emergency bladder stone surgery runs from
$600 if it happens during normal business hours to $3,000-$5,000 at the emergency vet)

Carnivores don’t need carbs for energy. They can break down the fats for energy. Therefore, carnivores really shouldn’t be fed carbs. A few here and there won’t kill them, but we are very suspicious that high carb diets encourage the disease insulinoma (tumors on the pancreas that produce too much insulin). This causes low blood sugar and that causes weight loss, screaming seizures and death. It can be treated at least for a while with prednisone, but they don’t usually live more than 2 or so years after developing it.

We’ve also found over the years that when we switched to a diet higher in fat and protein, their fur got softer and shinier, a typical sign of good health.

Sasha

Sasha before raw

Ferrets really should be eating a whole prey and/or a raw diet, but since they’ve imprinted on kibble as babies, they prefer the kibble. Some people have been successful at switching kibble-fed ferrets to raw, and found remarkable changes in their health.

Sasha after raw

Sasha after raw

For example, Joe Rembisz (one of our volunteers), is fostering an elderly ferret named Sasha. When he got her, she was thin and had rather thin fur. She had some energy, but it wasn’t all that great. We figured it was due to her age (6). However, he got her switched to a raw diet (a mix of raw items and freeze dried raw) and she’s gained weight, her fur has come in thick and soft, and she has the energy of a much younger ferret. It takes some work to feed a balanced raw diet, but it’s obviously better for them.

Kibble is easier and most people prefer it, so we try to feed the best blend we can. Orijen cat/kitten chicken is a very high quality kibble. EVO dog little bites chicken is also in our mix. We are watching EVO closely, though, as the company has been sold twice and who knows what they’ll be putting into it. It’s less expensive, though, and when you’re trying to feed 25 ferrets, cost has to be a consideration. The list of foods we don’t consider worth feeding is much longer than the list we would consider using. Nothing with corn, wheat, soy at all. Rice, maybe, depending on where it is in the list. Peas have been causing bladder stones in some ferrets, so we don’t use anything with peas higher than 6th on the list. Orijen is supposed to be produced in the US soon. We’re going to keep our eye on the ingredient list.

Check out the exhaustive list called the More Dooks Food Chart. We don’t usually feed anything other than foods in the GREEN section.

Richard and Hannah

Richard came into the shelter in January 2015 when he was about 8 months old. The family had two ferrets, but the young owner didn’t like Richard (he was nippy) and didn’t let him out to play. They also couldn’t afford to care for two, so they surrendered Richard.

When he first came, he banged and pounded on the cage like a madman. It only took a couple days, though, for him to realize that he wouldn’t be stuck in there all the time. He was ecstatic to be out to play! He was also very nippy, chewed at shoes incessantly, and was basically pretty difficult at first. Then we introduced him to another shelter ferret and a lot of the bad behavior went away. We’ve been working with him and the nipping is much less and he only has trouble when you are scrubbing the floor. If your hand is waving back and forth, he gets a little over-excited.

He’s basically a happy ferret now and has calmed down a lot since he first came in. He’s accepted most ferrets, but he can be very rough. He’s currently living with Hannah, who keeps him in line. Hannah and Richard seem to be a good team.

Hannah came into the shelter  in October 2014. As a baby, she got very sick at the store and no one noticed until she laid in her own urine long enough to get horrible burns. Someone took her and got her the care she needed, but her belly remains scarred. She’s very sweet, doesn’t bite and is quite lively. She has a particular love for a toy mouse that hangs from the cat tree in the shelter. She spends quite a bit of time trying to get that mouse loose. It’s very cute.

If you’d like to put in an application, please fill out this form: Adoption Application.

 

Name: Richard 15012701
Birth date: 5/1/14
Color: Chocolate
Sex: Male
Name: Hannah 14101002
Birth date: 4/10/14
Color: Sable
Sex: Female

Richard

Richard

Hannah

Hannah

Richard

Richard

Ollie

Ollie is the last of a large group of ferrets. She was surrendered with 3 other ferrets, and four more older ferrets were due to come in because the owner was moving to Virginia. The older ferrets ended up staying with the owner. Ollie was left alone, so we put her in with Bandit’s group. There was some squeaking at the beginning because Ollie didn’t want to share her hammock. There were no fights or trouble while out playing, she just didn’t want anyone sleeping with her. She eventually became friends with Daisy from that group and we find them together in the same hammock fairly often now.

She’s been here since April 2015. She’s almost a twin to the tiny Daisy, except Ollie has a stronger mask and is just a little longer. She would be happy as a single but might accept other ferrets, too (probably with some initial squeaking until they get sleeping arrangements figured out). She likes to be cuddled and will fall asleep in your arms if you are still enough. If you’d like to put in an application, please fill out this form: Adoption Application.

Name: Ollie 15040404
Birth date: 9/30/13
Color: Champagne
Sex: Female

Ollie

Ollie

Ollie

Ollie

Ollie

Ollie

Bandit, Charlie, Daisy and Louie

Bandit, Charlie, Daisy and Louie were surrendered because the owner was overwhelmed caring for her dying mother AND had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.

They are all beautiful, happy ferrets. Daisy is the tiniest female we’ve seen in a while. She keeps the boys in line, though! She’s also friends with Ollie, an unrelated ferret who lives with the group. (Her story will be posted later.)

They’ve been at the shelter since May 2015. Louie came in named Lucy because there was a case of mistaken identity early on. He doesn’t seem to mind the name change. They boys are super lively and while Daisy is lively, she is willing to be cuddled a bit. If you’d like to put in an application, please fill out this form: Adoption Application.

Name: Bandit 15051104
Birth date: 02/16/2014
Color: Dark sable
Sex: Male
Name: Charlie 15051101
Birth date: 2/16/14
Color: Silver mitt roan
Sex: Male

Bandit

Bandit

Charlie

Charlie

Name: Louie 15051102
Birth date: 10/17/13
Color: Chocolate roan
Sex: Male
 Name: Daisy 15051103
Birth date: 10/17/13
Color: Champagne
Sex: Female

Louie

Louie

Daisy

Daisy

Chai and Latte

Chai and Latte were seen wandering a neighborhood near a busy road for several days before they were caught. They have been here since January 2015.

Latte is a DEW, but when he came in he looked like a coal miner. He was covered with car motor oil, presumably from crawling under cars to hide (or maybe he was trying to stay warm). They were hanging out with some feral cats who lived under a porch. They probably had to fight for food, though.

Their birth dates are an estimate, obviously. Chai is younger, very large and very active. When excited, he’s been known to nip, but that has calmed down since he’s been here. Latte is older and very sweet and laid back. We’re pretty sure he’s deaf. He likes to be cuddled from time to time. Chai wants to run run run all the time! Latte most definitely does not like other ferrets. He’s also reactive to dogs and cats, probably from his time out in the wild. These guys looked out for each other when no one else would. Thanks to a couple sincere animal lovers, they made it to the shelter in one piece. If you’d like to put in an application, please fill out this form: Adoption Application.

Chai 15010201
Birth date: 1/11/14
Color: Champagne
Sex: Male
Latte 15010202
Birth date: 1/1/12
Color: DEW
Sex: Male

Chai

Chai

Latte

Latte

Chai

Chai

Latte

Latte