Ferrets are Obligate Carnivores

Question
Can ferrets eat +any meat? If not can u tell me what king of meat they can eat?

Answer
Hi Robert:

Ferrets are what is called an "obligate carnivore", meaning they have a digestive system designed to digest ONLY meat. They do not have a cecum, which is necessary to digest plant material. For that reason, they should be fed a diet of meat - or, more commonly in the United States (for convenience) a kibble diet made of meat and meat byproducts.

Ferrets should have food available to them at all times and be able to 'free feed', unlike some other pets who are fed at certain times of the day. For this reason, kibbled food works best for ferrets unless you are home to remove any meat that isn't eaten within two hours after it is given to your ferret, for safety sake. Meat that has been allowed to reach room temperature should be discarded and not re-used.  For this reason, most people feed kibbled ferret foods - our kids eat small amounts frequently.

Ferrets can eat any kind of meat.  Ferrets "imprint" on their food at a very young age and it is difficult to introduce new foods to them. They MUST be introduced into *any* new food very gradually.  

If you wish to introduce your ferret to a new food, start by adding just a little taste of the new food to his food dish. Then, each day add just a bit more of the new food and a bit less of the old food.  Within a month or so, you can *probably* make the change.  But, DO watch carefully - some ferrets just refuse to change.  Always watch to be sure your ferret is eating.  If you are just introducing a snack, you will probably have to offer it multiple times before it is accepted. If possible, try to get a small piece of it into the ferret's mouth (if it is soft and the ferret can't choke on it);a little 'encouragement' is okay as long as he isn't fighting you...once he gets a taste of it, he is more likely to accept it, but sometimes it's hard to get them to taste it.

If, for ANY reason, your ferret stops eating for even 12 hours, he can become very weak and even a previously healthy ferret can quickly become critically ill within 24 hours of not eating and/or drinking.  

Occasionally a food manufacturer will change their formula and if that's the only food the ferret has been eating, suddenly the ferret won't recognize it as food and will stop eating. Then you have a BIG problem.  For this reason, most ferret parents choose to feed their ferrets at least two brands of kibble mixed together as their daily food. I use three different foods, but mix about a weeks worth at a time in a separate container. Be sure to keep the bags sealed well once they are opened to keep them fresh. If you buy in advance, put the bags into plastic air-tight containers and freeze them to preserve freshness for up to one year.

Speaking of foods for our ferrets, every ferret parent should have either their favorite 'soup' recipe (there are many online) frozen and ready for use in an emergency OR use Hill's A/D (get it at your vet's office; it is a prescription meat food that is easily digested). Warm the soup, or the A/D with a little water to make it the consistency of gravy, and this will keep the ferret from getting ill from not eating until you can figure out something for him to eat. I always keep several cans of A/D on hand because it's easy to store, ready to use anytime for any reason (ferret not eating, diarrhea, upset tummy, post surgery, flu, etc). IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't feed A/D as a permanent diet because it's too high in fat, but it's a great temporary diet because it is easily digested meat.

The absolute best diet you can feed your ferret is it normal 'prey' - mice. I know folks who feed mice, but not many. It's just not a pretty sight to see our babies kill the cute little guys!  The next best thing is a "B.A.R.F." diet - "bones and raw flesh", the next best is cooked meat of any kind - Ferrets require a very MINIMUM of 36% protein in their diets and that needs to be from a MEAT SOURCE. Hard boiled eggs (cooled & cut up) are also good for ferrets, then ferret-specific premium diets such as Totally Ferret, Innova Evo, and very last are cat foods (Deli-Cat, Purina Cat Food and junk foods such as breakfast cereal. Ferrets LOVE the 'junk foods' just as children love candy bars, but as ferret parents, we must not let them eat the junk. Junk foods WILL rot a ferrets teeth surprisingly fast.  Here is a great website where you can actually compare the ingredients in various foods so you know if you are feeding your ferret the highest quality food for your dollar. Some foods are only available regionally, so try to find the best one that is available near you:

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html


Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers