Category: Food & Treats

When considering treats, you need to remember that treats should be a very small part of your ferret’s diet.

It’s helpful to look at the size of the treat in relation to the ferret’s head, then imagine how big a cookie for a human would have to be to equal that size! Most of the ferret’s nutrition should come from food, not treats.

Chicken or turkey baby food (just the meat — not the kind with noodles or vegetables in it) warmed in the microwave and served off the tip of your finger makes a wonderful treat. All protein, a little fat, no sugar, and served by their favorite human — perfect!

People give their ferrets something called Duck Soup when they’re sick — it’s basically a high protein, high fat mixture, ground up with liquid to make a soupy goo most ferrets love. I recommend that you give duck soup as a treat — then when your ferret gets sick and doesn’t want to eat, you can offer the duck soup and the ferrets will gobble it up! (“Gee, mom is giving me all treats!”)

Another great treat is a piece of cooked chicken (leave the fat and skin on). Cooked beef or pork, a piece of salami, even a piece of hotdog — are you getting the idea? A great treat is MEAT, something ferrets need anyway.

Other treats that are good in moderation are things like Cheweasels, Marshall’s Chews (pretty much the same thing, although my ferrets like the Cheweasels better), N-Bones, Foamy Fries, Rosie’s Rewards and similar treats. These are protein-based and contain little or no sugar.

Treats such as Yogies (yogurt-based) aren’t bad, but they do have sugar and should be strictly limited. Anything that is cereal- or sugar-based should be limited. Raisins are a popular treat, but they fall into this category, too. What is “limited”? Well, many people believe once a week is plenty for these sugary treats, certainly no more than one raisin or one Yogie (or equivalent) per day.

Ferretone is a popular treat. The manufacturer says to put it on the food, but you don’t need to do that if you feed good food. Also, it would be easy to overdose them that way. Ferretone contains oil-based vitamins (like A and E) that can build up in the liver. Water-based vitamins (like vitamin C) will just flush out of the system in the urine. So we recommend giving Ferretone as a treat, one drop at a time. I generally save it for nail clipping. A few drops on the tummy will make the chore easier for you and much more pleasant for your ferret. I also use it to reward good behavior (tricks, using the litterbox, etc.), to distract at the vet’s office or to comfort them if I accidentally step on their tail.

Innova EVO, made by Natura Pet Products, is an excellent food choice for ferrets.

Even the dog version is such high quality it can be fed to ferrets. This is the only dog food I would ever recommend. When EVO first came out, the dog version was all that was available, but with 42% protein, 22% fat and an ingredient list starting with turkey, chicken, turkey meal, chicken meal and potato, it was an exciting new food.

The main selling point for this food is that it contains no grain. It’s low-carb and high-protein, exactly what a carnivore needs.

Later, they developed cat and ferret versions. The ferret EVO has 50% protein and 21% fat, and the ingredient list starts with turkey, chicken meal, chicken, herring meal, chicken fat, and peas. The cat version has 50% protein, 22% fat and those ingredients start the same as the ferret version.

In the shelter, I have been using Innova EVO Dog small bites. It comes in large bags which brings the cost down to a typical good ferret food, and the ferrets at the shelter thrive on it. In fact, when I switched to all EVO (after that last tainted wheat from China episode), the shelter ferrets suddenly became softer and more fluffy. At the time I was angry that the US purchased ingredients from China, not to mention tired of all the recalls (moldy corn is a common problem). Ferrets evolved to eat animals, not graze! I discovered that EVO had no grains (plus a great ingredient list) and switched to it. I’ve been using EVO in the shelter for at least four years with great success.

The only issue I’ve heard of is that the super-high protein might give some ferrets “pudding poop” — a little runny and somewhat stinky poo. People who switched from ferret to dog EVO said the poops were better. It’s possible that some ferrets couldn’t use all that protein.

Another issue is that it might not be a good idea to switch an elderly ferret to a food with super-high protein. If they have silent kidney issues, the extra protein might push them all the way into kidney failure. I have not had that problem in the shelter, but I have heard of other people who did. I would not hesitate to feed EVO to any ferret up to age 4. If you are considering switching a ferret older than that, I’d have the kidney functions checked first. What they used to eat can have an impact on the condition of their kidneys. If they were previously fed inferior, low-protein, low-fat food, the kidneys may already be damaged. If that’s the case and they are doing well on another food, I’d leave them on that food.

The Three Rivers Ferret Council has a franchise to sell Innova products. We typically stock all three EVO varieties: dog, cat and ferret, and we can special order any other Innova food you might like. This food (as well as other merchandise) can be purchased in person at TRFC meetings (typically the third Sunday of the month at a local church), or at the shelter (call first before stopping by).

The only possible issue using the dog version of EVO might be taurine, but there are no established levels of taurine for ferrets. EVO does add some taurine to the dog food, but since we don’t know how much ferrets should have, we don’t know if it’s adequate. Low taurine can cause heart problems and cataracts, but I have not had ferrets (either personal or shelter) develop those problems, so I’m thinking the levels must be okay. If you are worried about it, you can give your ferret a little Ferretvite once a day, since that does have taurine in it.

Since Innova EVO came out, other companies have developed similar products. We will post about those in another article.

For the best health, ferrets need a high-quality food. This usually means it will be more expensive compared to some other foods. You might think you’re saving money by feeding less expensive food, but this isn’t true. The animal will eat more of the lower quality food and it will most likely have more (very expensive) health problems. So over the life of the ferret, it’s actually less expensive to feed them the better food.

Ferrets are strict carnivores — ALL their teeth are pointed. That means they should eat only meat. In fact, ferrets have a short digestive system (lacking the piece that digests cereals) and cannot even digest corn. So if a food has corn as the first ingredient, the manufacturer is counting the protein in the corn as part of the total protein, but the ferret won’t get any good out of it.

Soy is another grain that ferrets can’t digest, and it’s dubious how much good they get out of wheat and rice, beyond some carbohydrates (which should be kept to a minimum).

A good ferret food should have meat as the first ingredient. It?s even better if a meat source is listed more than once in the first 5 ingredients. Any food that lists corn first (or any other grain like wheat, barley, rice, etc.) is NOT a good food for a ferret. Protein should be at least 36% and fat at least 18%. More is better when it comes to protein, as long as it’s a meat-based protein.

I prefer to use foods that do not contain fish, as the fish will make the food, ferret and poop all smell stronger. It won’t hurt the ferret, though, and is a valid source of protein.

Speaking of poop, feeding high-quality food means less poop. The cheaper the food, the more they eat, and the more they poop. High-quality foods are digested more thoroughly, and therefore there is less left over to be pooped out.

— Barb Carlson

After doing a lot of research, it seems the less grain in the food the better. They don’t even digest corn, wheat, soy, etc. (they might digest a little rice or wheat, but that?s just a carbohydrate source and should be minimal) so any protein in corn, etc. are counted in the analysis don’t really do the ferret any good. Corn especially seems to be linked to bladder stones in ferrets.

What I recommend is to read the ingredient list and see what is listed. Items like “turkey”, “chicken”, “turkey meal”, “chicken meal” are better sources of meat protein than “chicken by-product meal” or “chicken digest. Little or no corn (the farther back in the list, the less of it is in the food). I don’t like soy for ferrets, either.

Another objection I have to grains is that you are always hearing of recalls due to poisonous molds growing on the grain. No grain, no worries about molds. That whole “tainted wheat from China” really put me off foods with wheat in them, too. What are American companies doing buying wheat from China anyway?

If you look at the ingredient lists for the foods you use, you’ll see:

8-in-1 Ultimate: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E, Beta Carotene and Rosemary), Chicken Digest, Raisin Juice, Banana Puree, Fish Oil, Garlic Oil, Taurine, Dried Whole Egg,… Protein: 45%, Fat: 16%

The first 5 ingredients are the most important. Chicken and chicken meal are very good sources of protein. Then rice (which is okay but not thrilling) and chicken fat (preserved with *natural* things, not BHA or something else toxic). So Ultimate is a good food. I’m not thrilled with the “raisin juice” but that’s pretty far back there.

Kaytee Forti-Diet: Poultry Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Poultry Fat, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Wheat, Dried Egg Product, Soy Oil, Beet Pulp, Fish Meal … Protein: 35%, Fat: 20%

Poultry meal is okay but because they’re not being specific, it makes me suspicious they’re trying to hide the source. Poultry by-product meal is not as nutritious as some sources of protein. Then we have rice, fat (which they later say is preserved with mixed Tocopherols, which is okay), but then we have soybean meal and wheat. So in the first 6 ingredients, you have grains/carbs listed 3 times. Better than a lot of foods out there, but still high. Compared to the 8in1 Ultimate, which has a carb/grain source listed once in the first 5 ingredients (although raisin juice is 6th and that’s a carb), the Ultimate comes out looking better than the Kaytee. At least Kaytee doesn’t have corn.

Not all ferret foods are created equal, and a manufacturer that makes a decent food often will make a seriously inferior food under a similar name and market it to poor people. Walmart is a great example. 8in1 sells “Premium Ferret Food” in a box. That stuff has only 30% protein, 8% fat and the first 5 ingredients are: Poultry By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Fat… You can see that it’s a very low-quality food. Who knows how much protein a ferret actually gets from that food with a low-quality meat source and rice, corn and corn counting as part of the measly 30% protein?

Walmart also sells an 8in1 “Harvest” Ferret food that isn’t much better.

What we use here is Innova EVO foods. Even the dog food is better than most ferret foods (it’s considered a “super-high premium” food). The dog version has 42% protein, 22% fat and the first 5 ingredients are turkey, chicken, turkey meal, chicken meal and potato. [Kibbled foods (dry crunchy) need some kind of starch to hold it together. Potato is considered better because it doesn?t seem to cause stones, is easily digested and generally isn’t involved in mold issues.]

EVO contains no grains at all and is low-carb. I like the dog formula because it’s simple. They also make a ferret EVO which has even more protein, but I’ve found some of the shelter ferrets get runny poo on it because they’re not used to such high protein. So what we here is Innova EVO Dog Small Bites Turkey & Chicken Formula.

There are a couple other really high-quality cat foods out there that would make great ferret foods, too. Wellness CORE cat food and Blue Buffalo “Blue Wilderness” cat foods are two examples. They have ingredient lists similar to the EVO.

Other ferret foods that aren’t bad are Zupreem (but it’s very hard and some ferrets won’t eat it). Their first ingredients are: Chicken meal, Chicken fat, Ground wheat, Wheat flour, Chicken, Egg product … but as you see, it lists wheat twice in the first 5 ingredients, and like I said earlier, I’m leery of wheat at this point. Ferrets eating Zupreem seem to do well, though.

One highly regarded food, Totally Ferret, is one I actually don’t even like. The ingredients for their “active” formula is: Chicken by-product meal, rice flour, egg product, chicken fat, poultry fat, wheat flour, corn meal … First, the protein source is low-quality, the second ingredient is rice, and it lists wheat flour and corn meal 6th and 7th. Also, the ferrets I’ve seen on it don’t have as nice-looking fur as the ones on the Innova EVO dog!

So you can see the question of food is a very complicated one. I’ve done a lot of research on it, and I feel you’d be better off either only feeding the 8in1 Ultimate or perhaps getting some Innova EVO Dog small bites and mixing it in. The other nice thing about the EVO dog is that there is no fish and the food doesn’t stink. I find the Kaytee Forti-Diet rather fishy-smelling. Fish is an okay protein source … I just don’t care for the smell in the food.

— Barb Carlson