Hello and good morning, afternoon.  I was on my home from work yesterday and i took a road i don't normally take to avoid a wreck on my usual worn path home.  I came across a "Hollywood Feed Store" its a holistic feed for dogs and cats.  I went in and asked the store manager could he order for ferrets and he jumped at the chance to help me.  Now my dilema, there's not alot of options in jackson mississippi for ferret foods and toys etc in fact my vet is two towns away and thanks to my son's best friend his mom is a vet for my ferrets in case of emergency since she is an exotic vet three streets away (she has 3 sugar gliders and two hedgehogs use to have ferrets as well) I've ordered three bags of EVO ferret food that has arrived and i'm trying to get my two fuzzbugs off the marshalls ferret food, i also mix it with Zupreem. 

 Now, i can order the EVO from him he got the UPC code off the bag and is able to order it for me in bulk which is great but what else can i provide for them.  I saw bones with marrow in the middle and i've read so much from the website i think i might be confusing myself.  So here's the question, do i make the switch to raw holistic food like Stella and Chewy's or Natures Variety Cat formula cause it has Taurine or do I stick with kibble?  I want the best for my sweet babies and i heard raw is the best for them a tad more expensive but still the best.  I need advice and with the recent change i'm doing what are the chances they will go to the raw food instead of kibble?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Kathy

When it comes down to raw vs kibble, nutritionally raw will always win. That said, you have to be committed to making the switch, and provide a variety of meats etc.  If your ferrets have never eaten raw food before, chances are they won't eat it when you first offer it. You have to teach them that it's food.


Are you looking to feed commercial raw only (ie Stella and Chewys) or would you move to a frankenprey model in the future? Commercial raw can be really expensive, even more than kibble, but frankenprey is quite cheap. I've gotten a ton of meats for free from people cleaning out their freezers.

Ferrets: Wesley, Percy, Owen    -rip Bandit-
Bettas- Kitty, Pip, and Logan
Sun Conure- Kita
Gerbils- Piper and Tailer

This has given me alot to think on when it comes to raw, commercial or frankenprey model as you put it.  I think more reading about the benefits and just starting on commercial for now and progress from there.  Now to see if i can get my fuzzbugs to eat the raw food, its pretty much a challenge either way.  One i know will benefit them in the end, Thank you whiskandbowl for your advice it has given me alot to research and read.  

Kathy

Ours took to Stella and Chewy's right away.  We add water and let soak over night in the fridge, and then serve the next morning.  We do this twice a day (morning, evening).  It helps with our little insulinomic kiddos....

Other freeze dried commercial raw products include:  Wysong Archetype-I, Vital Essentials, Nature's Variety.  Since our kids like the S&C, we mix and match, and they are used to trying anythign in soup form.

Getting the kids to eat the REAL MEAT cat foods, and ZIWIPEAK foods was more of a challenge.  These dehydrated foods are like pieces of jerky, and the kids were used to the hardness of kibble.  We mixed the kibble with the dehydrated foods together and let them sit in ziplock baggies to let the flavors and scents intermingle.  We even created kibble dust (by pounding the kibble with a meat tenderizer) and mixed that with the dehydrated foods to help them transition.


Switching to a commercial raw diet has been wonderful for us.  Our insulinomic kids have lived such long and wonderful lives even after diagnosis.  I attribute that to the lack of BG fluctuations when their diets do not include carbs and sugars.  A steady BG is a happy BG.  (But that's just me, and I'm not a vet, nor animal nutritionist)

Casey's Hidden Pantry is in a short hiatus momentarily as we move, but they offer sample packs so you can try a few different kinds of raw foods before purchasing the whole bag.  Casey's is now in Ft Myers, FL - so shipping won't be exhoribitant.  (We just don't know how much it will be as we transfer)