YEP send one case study or journal article published and you could have proved a point. Instead he uses the F bomb and proceeds to insult me calling me a moron... THEN ASKS ME FOR $50 for him to SEND me his research, Since when does the review of scientific research cost money? This is not stock market investing tips its SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH and is open to the scientific community for review! I did reply to this last e-mail, again keeping it very professional (well as best as I could) Here is the last e-mail to him First of all your use of foul language and insults only lends credit to the reports that you are not in fact any type of professional Dr. or Scientist but a fraud and a hack (you were the one who found it necessary to use the F word and attempted insult my intelligence). A true professional would never use that language or try to insult a potential consumer, especially when the consumer seems to know about the "claims" you are making and how to do their own research. As you put it my "Views, are just that views", you are the one who is mistaken. The statement about Cats and Ferrets being OBLIGATE CARNIVORES is not a VIEW it is a SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION!! LOOK IT UP unless of course you claim that the scientific classifications are just tools of the meat/pet food industry as well!?! Now I understand that it would take someone with understanding of science to be able to look up the definition of those words (OBLIGATE CARNIVORES) and understand their meaning (although I did quote you a dictionary definition in my last e-mail, and it was in basic english!) You CLAIM to be a scientist, IF that is indeed so then you should KNOW the process of publishing Scientific research. Research is done by running test trials. Test Trials REQUIRE an Experimental group and a Control Group, a large enough sampling to help ensure accuracy and control for any deviations and most important DATA, lots and lots of DATA. ALL Research must be repeatable, another person should be able to repeat your exact experiment and if they have similar results their data will support the initial study. Research MUST BE PUBLISHED in a RECONGNIZED SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL for peer review. Research studies that are not published for review are NOT CONSIDERED RESEARCH AND ARE NOT SCIENTIFICALLY VALID! It is based upon peer review and approval that the "Theory" is accepted or discredited based on the evidence found, data presented and overall effectiveness of the research and methods. (This is done by publishing not JUST your findings but also your experimental steps so others can reproduce your research as a means of proving or disproving the findings) This is Scientific method 101, we learned it in 1st yr. Jr. HS but you can't seem to remember this yet claim to be a scientist. Simply noting that a number of animals were able to live a certain amount of time while being feed 1 food while others lived the same amount on another is NOT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH! It is a correlation! CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION! (one of the 1st rules of research!) As you seem to protest so much but are unable to produce DATA it is clear that all you have is correlational data and no real research. Statements from pet owners and signed affidavits do NOT CONSTITUTE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, scientific method and statistical data does! Drs./Scientist NEVER CHARGE a FEE to view their research, that is what a scam artist/con-man would do. IF you had ANY VALID DATA it would have been published in a journal and all you would have to do is reference the journal it is in, the issue, and pg.# and anyone with a brain and a computer could find copies of your published works. SINCE you asked for MONEY rather than being able to reference your "research" it is clear that you are EXACTLY as you claim NOT a Dr./VET. You are not even a real scientist! For someone who CLAIMS that he has helped countless customers without a fee you sure put out your hand for $$ just for someone to see what you claim to be facts. As to where did I read the FACT that FERRETS CAN NOT DIGEST FRUITS AND VEGGATABLE it is on the AMERICAN FERRET ASSOCIATION WEBSITE for one (here is the URL to the page
http://www.ferret.org/read/faq.html and the FAQ that states it is below 9. What foods should I not feed my ferret? Ferrets should not eat sugary cereal, peanut butter, grains, corn, rice, carbohydrates, raisins, bananas, other fruits, vegetables, dairy products, chocolate, other sweets, or any food with sugar. All of these items are loaded with complex carbohydrates and a ferret's strictly carnivorous digestive tract cannot process these foods. Diets high in carbohydrates may lead to intestinal problems and some types of cancer. SO Are you Claiming that the AFA is also run by the MEAT/PET food industry? Why else would they make such claims if it wasn't proven that they are OBLIGATE CANIVORES? AFA doesn't sell food, actually they suggest a raw or whole prey diet when possible. Or do you claim that they know less about a ferret's diet than you do because you spent over 22 years specializing in ferrets? OH That’s right YOU ARE NOT A VET! Many of the AFA members ARE! Here is part of an article from the RSPCA (European version of the ASPCA) URL
http://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/ferrets/diet A balanced diet suitable for their age, health status, level of activity and reproduction status. - Ferrets are strict carnivores – they need a well-balanced, meat based diet to stay fit and healthy. Ferrets cannot be vegetarians. (DID YOU SEE THIS PART CANNOT BE VEGITARIANS) - Consult with your vet or another ferret expert about a complete, commercially available diet for your ferret. - It’s thought that ferrets can’t digest large amounts of fibre or complex carbohydrates (starches), e.g. bread and cereals. It is therefore advised not to feed these to your ferret. SO the RSPCA an organization dedicated to the rescue and health of all animals are also saying this why? To sell their food or are you claiming that the meat/pet food industry controls them too? But they have only been doing animal rescue and education since 1824 (almost 200 years) so what would they know Here is info from Dr. Fosters and Smith, REAL VETS with a GOOD REPUTATION and YEARS of TREATING ANIMALS you know as a REAL DOCTORS that TREAT REAL ANIMALS! The URL is
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=11+1296&aid=498 Ferrets are carnivores Ferrets, like cats, are obligate carnivores (meat eaters). They cannot survive without meat in their diet. (DID YOU THIS THIS PART TOO CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT MEAT IN THEIR DIET) However, although fresh raw meat is part of the ferret's natural diet, it may contain harmful parasites and micro-organisms that create risks unacceptable to pet owners. Meat is only part of a natural diet: predators eat not only the muscle meat of their prey, they also eat the liver, kidneys, and intestinal tract, and crunch up bones as well. A diet limited to meat alone would cause harmful and eventually fatal nutritional imbalances. A good diet for a ferret has to be: high in energy high in protein low in fiber Finally here is an excerpt from article from an EXOTIC animal VET who has been practicing for 25+years. URL
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=479 So what should a ferret be eating? Let's look at ferret gastrointestinal (GI) physiology to find out. Ferrets are strict carnivores, meaning they are designed to eat whole prey items, which includes all parts of the killed animal. The only nonmeat items they might encounter in their diet would be in the stomach and intestinal tract of their prey, where it is partially digested. This might include small amounts of grains, fruits and vegetables. Ferrets have a very short GI tract and the flora (the organisms living in the GI tract) are very simple, unlike animals that eat more vegetation. It takes about 3 to 4 hours for food to go from one end to the other and thus they absorb food rather inefficiently. Ferrets tend to eat several smaller meals and carry any excess to their dens to eat later. Did you ever have a ferret that took food and tucked it away in the corner of the cage, or a chair? Because of the short GI tract and the poor absorption of nutrients, ferrets require a diet that is highly concentrated with FAT as the main source of calories (energy) and highly digestible MEAT-BASED PROTEIN. This would match the basic composition of a prey animal not excluding the essential vitamins and minerals it also contains. Ferrets should never be fed carbohydrates (such as vegetable, fruit or grains) as the main source of energy in the diet. Ferrets cannot digest fiber, as is found in some vegetable and fruit sources. If there is a significant amount of fiber in the diet it serves to lower the nutritional value of the food. As mentioned, ferrets need a highly digestible meat-based protein in the diet. Vegetable protein is poorly utilized. In the presence of excess vegetable protein the ferret can suffer from such diseases as bladder stones, poor coat and skin quality, eosinophilic gastroenteritis (wasting, diarrhea, ulcerations of the skin and ear tips and swollen feet) poor growth of kits and decreased reproduction. Dog food and vegetarian-type pet foods are completely inappropriate for use in ferrets because of the high level of vegetable protein and fiber. The bottom line is that ferrets use fat for energy not carbohydrates and they need a highly digestible meat-based protein not vegetable protein. (NOTICE MEAT PROTEIN NOT VEGETABLE PROTEIN) Another concern regarding the feeding of high carbohydrate foods to ferrets is the stress that may be created in the beta cells of the pancreas. Unfortunately, insulinoma, which is a cancer of the beta cells, is extremely common in ferrets over two years of age in the U.S. The main function of the beta cell is to respond to increases in glucose in the blood stream by producing insulin to control it. If normal beta cells are bombarded with higher than normal levels of glucose (which comes from carbohydrates) they can become hypertrophied (overactive) trying to keep up with insulin demand. If the high carbohydrate diet continues, the result may be a complete burnout of the cells, which is what happens when a pet or a person develops diet-induced diabetes. However, another possibility is that instead of the cells burning out, they go from hypertrophy to neoplasia (cancer). Neoplasia is an abnormal growth of cells and can be preceded by a hyperplastic condition. I would like to stress that this exact mechanism has not been scientifically proven in ferrets to date, but the scenario is entirely within the realm of possibility. It has been disturbing to note that over the years in countries where ferrets were fed a raw carnivore-type diet insulinoma was a rare occurrence but now in these same countries where processed diets are becoming popular, cases of insulinoma are on the rise. Regardless, do we need to be feeding our ferrets diets laced with inappropriate materials? Now comes the question of what is the most appropriate diet for a ferret? Many of you will cringe when I say (and I have been saying for years) that a whole prey diet is the most balanced diet for a ferret. We would like to believe that we have a pet that doesn't touch such “nasty” stuff, but they are carnivorous predators and no amount of packaging or advertising can change that fact. Personally I think we should appreciate them for just those predator qualities that make them the special pets they are and stop trying to make them into something they can never be! This article was from a VET who does NOT make her own food nor does she advocate a brand of food, notice she advocates RAW or WHOLE PREY diet. CARNIVORES MUST EAT MEAT, we cannot make a Carnivore into a Herbivore regardless of what we might like. SO I have given you some of my data from PUBLISHED sources, that can back up their claims with scientific data, where is yours?........ My guess is that it isn't coming as it doesn't exist.