Hey everyone, I’m new to the forums here and just wanted to share my success I have had with this food. The food is made by “BlueBuffalo” and is there “Wilderness diet” brand. Yes, this is a cat food and before I get yelled at let me just say that in all my years of ferret ownership I have always been against feeding my ferret’s cat food of any sort. Just hear me out though please. I love ferrets and this food really has done amazing things for mine. About 2 years ago now I rescued Bandit. He was emaciated, losing fur, had horrible skin rashes, and scaring from abuse and living in his own filth. I took him to my vet and we got him on antibiotics, Bandit stabilized. A year went by; I tried every ferret food under the sun, a whole host of supplements, and many diff meds from my vet. Bandit’s fur would not grow back and the rashes would not go away! He had put on a good amount of weight though. Finally in all my research I came across BlueBuffalo wilderness diet. This food has worked wonders on Bandit and with my two other furbabies Lulu and Trixie. In as little as 6mo on this food bandit had all of his fur back (except for the places where scaring occurred) and in 3mo all of his skin rashes where gone. All of my ferrets have extremely soft coats, shed less, and my ferret Lulu who I use to have to use hair ball supplements with no matter how much I would brush her no longer has problems with them. I know everyone in the ferret world has their opinion on food and I’m not trying to shove mine down anyone’s throat. I love ferrets and I love seeing them healthy and happy. I think Bandits story is proof in itself of the quality of this food. Honestly it’s the next best thing you can do to a RAW diet w/ out the fear of parasites and diseases in your ferrets. Wilderness diet comes in Duck and Chicken; I do a 50/50 mix of both. It has no corn, soy, or grain products of any sort in it. It uses potato which is 100 times better for your ferret. People always say that the more protein you give your ferret the better. I’m an exercise/ human bio/ animal science major and ferrets are no diff then humans when it comes to the physical processes used with protein. If you start to give your ferret 50% protein or more a day in their diet your will A) start to notice runny bowel movements and B) To much protein in any animals diet can lead to SEVER KIDNY PROBLEMS!!! Why do you think adrenal problems are so prevalent in ferrets… it’s these crap foods and people giving their ferrets way too much protein. Also, really read your labels please! Raisins can give ferrets kidney failure and a whole host of other problems; a lot of companies put raisin juice in there foods. They claim that the juice does not affect them but, studies have been done that prove that’s 100% false! Anyhow, that’s my two cents J hate it, love it, think what you would like. I love this food and have converted all of my ferret loving friends to it after seeing Bandits amazing recovery. Comments and questions are welcome!

Thanks for reading my wall of txt lol,

Rob

Oh lord, raw diets don't cause parasites and diseases.....carnivores were designed to eat raw meat, >.> Any healthy carnivore eating raw meat won't develop diseases or parasites. It is the weak ones that Mother Nature has doomed to die anyway that will develop parasites and diseases, and that's because it's survival of the fittest, and they were meant to succumb. And too much protein in any animal's diet CANNOT lead to severe kidney problems - you are entirely misinformed. I've put a lot of research into it, and it's totally and completely flat-out wrong, started by jealous pet food companies trying to sell their low-rate products. Carnivores were designed to eat high amounts of animal protein, and if pets are succumbing to kidney problems, to which DRY food is the contributor(and also the contributor to fatty liver disease amongst many others), that's the fault of the pet owner, and the pet food they're feeding their pet. Dry foods do not, and can not, based on the strict manufacturing requirements, source all of their protein from meat alone - supplementary sources must be taken like pea or potato protein, which carnivores were also never designed to eat, which is again, why no carnivore should be fed dry food, as they were designed to run off of energy strictly from animal protein, and not supplementary sources. Feeding high protein canned food that sources its protein from animal sources, or raw food will not lead to severe kidney problems, especially when you do the transition slowly. Runny bowel movements are a sign of not transitioning food slowly enough, they're a sign of kidney disease, and they're a sign of just plain badly-manufactured food.

Perhaps I should rephrase... too much protein in a carnivore's diet can lead to kidney problems..... if all the protein isn't animal-based, and if the supplementary protein is something the carnivore wouldn't find in the stomach contents of their prey. Despite what perfect little Blue Buffalo has led you to believe, potato protein is NOT the best form of supplementary protein out there. I'm more inclined to believe pea protein is a better supplementary source as that's what cats and probably what ferrets would be much more likely to find in the stomach contents of their prey than potato; let's not forget that the ferret's natural diet is the Prairie Dog, but they will go after rabbits and smaller rodents when the Prairie Dog isn't available. Both the rabbit and Prairie Dog's diets are majorly plant-based, which means the ferret eating their stomach contents would be more likely to find peas, than they would potatoes, because, um, oh yes, potatoes are toxic to any creature that I know of that tries to eat them raw. And rabbits, and Prairie Dogs, which don't eat potatoes anyway, don't happen to have access to heating elements.

Also, we humans are omnivores, ferrets and cats are carnivores. It is impossible for our bodies to metabolize protein in the same way; which is why healthy carnivores can eat the meat of diseased prey, and live through the next day, perfectly healthy. They were gifted with claws and fangs, and run the slowest, and thus the most ill of their prey down. We humans weren't designed with claws and fangs, we were however, designed with the know-how to construct bows and arrows, and because of them(or more recently, guns or cross-bows), take down the strongest of the herd. Eating the meat from diseased and otherwise ill animals have left humans with a hoard of complications - when carnivores eat that type of meat perfectly fine. So no, we do not digest protein the same as one another - as carnivores obtain protein strictly from meat sources, and we obtain protein from meat, as well as plant sources.

Adrenal problems would be the cause of dry food, and ill-placed supplementary ingredients. Kidney disease and failure is so common in carnivores fed a dry diet, because simply trying to digest it stresses their kidneys. Carnivores were designed to obtain moisture from their prey, along with sources of water only WHEN they happened to be available, which, depending on the area, can be several days, weeks, months, or even years. Ferrets nor cats are very thirst-driven, which, isn't their fault, they're still trying to operate based on how they were biologically designed to, no matter how much we may torture their poor digestive tracts. Dry foods lack completely in the moisture department, so their kidneys are sucking on dry food which contain totally not NEARLY enough moisture, and if it spends a long enough time doing that...leads to kidney failure.

Try as you might to succeed to fool yourself, and others, that dry food, and Blue Buffalo are the best things in the world..but in my humble opinion, your setting your ferrets up for a life of misery that starts anywhere from within a few weeks, a few months, or a few years from now, and they will succumb to stressed adrenal glands and kidneys that, try as they might, could not obtain the necessary requirements it needs to work for very long.

Also, I can't buy that you're an animal science major...you type like you're still a few years away from college. And if you are indeed an animal science major, and they taught you that humans and carnivores digest protein the same way, then I'm totally dropping animal science as a potential career in college. Despite what it sounds, I'm glad Blue Buffalo has worked for your ferrets, much like Wysong has worked for my cats, but you're still misinformed in the protein and kidney disease department.

I even tried to google-search proof that I was wrong, and that carnivores and humans do digest protein the same...and I found NO websites, even no "edu"-founded websites, that said that. In fact, virtually every single website that came up stated how humans actually aren't designed to eat meat, at all. And one site even listed the differences between humans and carnivores such as our saliva is alkaline, and the carnivore's saliva is acidic, and our urine is alkaline, and the carnivore's urine is acidic, and how our livers do not produce the "uricase enzyme", to eliminate uric acid which is what our bodies turn meat into, yet carnivores' livers do contain that enzyme, and apparently secrete 10 - 15x uric acid while our livers are still struggling with trying to get rid of it. No, this site wasn't the product of research or anything, but it's a good example of what all the other websites I looked at said. You might want to consider dropping out of that college if they're teaching you we digest protein the same as carnivores.

what are your credentials FlickeringHope? I am an animal anatomy/ vet major and currently working with my veterinarian where I live. You really need to check where you are coming from before you give horrible advice. Firstly, POTATO is not nor never will be a PROTEIN it has only 3grams of protein, and when processed into foods goes down to .91ppm it is not used in foods as a source of protein! I never said it was a protein, potato is a starchy simple carbohydrate. Please do not flam someone w/ out knowing what you are talking about. Clearly with a sentence like this “supplementary sources must be taken like pea or potato protein” you have not done any research. I love how the dawn of the internet and Google has made every 12 year old kid think they are experts on everything. Also, How is it you say animals do not get parasites from raw diets? the way our food manufacturing system is if you feed your poor ferret raw foods he is surly going to get sick and die. You should start eating some raw food and we will see how long it takes you to get something (because yes humans where MADE TO EAT MEAT as we are omnivores!!!!). I can’t tell you how many ferrets I see with tapeworm or some other form of intestinal or eye parasite due to owners feeding them raw foods. Ferrets are no longer wild animals and a raw diet (unless EXTREEMLY monitored) is not good for them at all!!! Aside from the black footed ferret, domesticated ferrets we have as pets do not have the same hardiness as there once wild obligate carnivorous ancestors. Again you are wrong or else just don't understand what I’m trying to say… ferrets/mammals at the molecular level ALL utilize/transcribe proteins the exact same way via ribosome’s and similar chemical/mechanical processes; it is a well documented fact! I have no clue what you Googled or how you Googled it lol but, may I suggest attending an animal science class at OSU or MSU for 6-8 years rather then Google. There is a reason we have higher education in this country. Lastly to much protein in any and I stress ANY mammals diet puts strain on the kidneys (again, I don’t know what the heck you Googled). I doubt you even know the anatomy of a kidney let alone what it does. Ohhhhh wait, you probably Googled it just now and are an expert, my bad. Any way, I’m not going to go into details on why it strains the kidneys, but it has to do with these little things called nephrons. Long story short, to much protein causes them to overwork which leads to adrenal disease/ failure.
　
You said, “ferrets and cats are carnivores. It is impossible for our bodies to metabolize protein in the same way; which is why healthy carnivores can eat the meat of diseased prey, and live through the next day, perfectly healthy.” Again FERRETS ARE COMPLETELY DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND HAVE BEEN FOR 300+ YEARS. Over the years they have lost A LOT of there hardiness. If you let one of the ferrets we keep as pets free in the wild it would NOT SURVIVE and would die to DISEASE! Do you know how protein is even metabolized? it is the same in ALLLLLLLL mammals, obviously protein helps to build muscle. Excess protein in ANY and I stress ANY mammals diet is turned directly into adipose tissue (that’s Fat cells). There is no other process protein can go threw in a mammals body. Just like the way all mammals perform glycolosis and the krebs cycle THE EXACT SAME!!! You see nature is a funny thing, when it finds something that works well it tends to stick to that process. I hate to be mean here, but honestly if I may ask how old are you and do you ever listen to yourself when you spout off information? Also, please I want to know your credentials and where you learned your info. Because we all know EVERYTHING on the internet is TRUE!!!

Try reading between the lines, my god... I said "ferrets are no diff then humans when it comes to the physical processes used with protein." this is NOT digestion you moron. Now you’re just pissing me off... processes refers to the molecular/chemical level, which is the level the kidneys are affected at. I am done responding to you and your obvious lack of knowledge/ ability do decipher what is being conveyed in a sentence. You really need to attend some classes on this matter. I never once said the process of Digestion of protein was the same haha. Though, the same enzymes are used for the most part. I will not respond to you after this reply. To put an end to this once and for all Ferrets should have never been domesticated in the first place; and left to there natural place in nature. This thread was merely to help people sir. We have domesticated the ferret and now it is our responsibility to do what is in our power to have them lead healthy happy lives. I only rescue ferrets so that I can try my best to correct the wrong that was done years ago. Making an animal that was once wiled dependent on humans for survival is wrong. Regardless of your false information, the simple fact remains that this food has helped Bandit tremendously. No amount of research on Google you do can disprove that. Also, if you are so against kibble and foods of that nature. I find it funny you flame the crap out of me, then proceed to say in one of your posts you also use dry foods. Nothing worse then a misinformed internet hypocrite. Yes, you re right about uricase and such, but that is not at all what I was talkign about. If you must know, within the last 300+ years of ferrets being domesticated due to improper feeding and practices with them; they do not produce nearly the amount of uricase they did in the wild.
Have a nice day.

I use dry food AND canned food every day, and when I feed dry food, I pour water over it to moisten the kibble. So I really wouldn't say I'm a hypocrite, since most people just pour in dry food as is. And when we're not living with my fiance's parents, will be breeding mice and other little critters to feed the cats live food. There's many animals that should have never been domesticated; ferrets are only one of very few.

Hey guys, no need to argue, keep things civil. Avoid direct insults or this thread will have to be closed.

Sorry Sasami, but I'm afraid I said nothing insulting towards the O.P, he's done the insults, :/

You said the food uses potato, so I simply said why potato was a horrid choice. I misread the "protein" portion, but I've seen many of the "higher-rated" pet food companies using potato protein. Companies use carbohydrates because they think carnivores work like we do - storing carbohydrates to use as energy later, which carnivores do not do. And I still can't take any of your knowledge at face value since veterinarians know absolutely nothing about pet nutrition. 'Nough said. Nutrition is best left to the nutritionists - veterinarians are schooled in the medicinal, NOT the nutritional.

Parasites naturally pick out the weak, and use them as hosts until they die, then they move to the next. That's the world we live in. Carnivores have to be transitioned slowly to a raw diet, because of the havoc we've wreaked on their digestive system from feeding them horrible, biologically-incorrect foods. In taking the time, and patience, to transition them to a raw meat diet, their body restores itself, but a lot of people take the easy route and add in supplemental enzymes to help the transition along, because we've just done THAT much damage.

The only thing domestication does to the digestive tract of any creature is mess around with its natural abilities to digest what it was designed to digest. It's nothing that can't be repaired with a lot of time and effort. So if you've seen ferrets with parasites from eating raw meat, I'm willing to bet they accumulated parasites because the owner(s) did not take their time to transition them properly. Now, if you're also concerned about the bacteria, bacteria is naturally-occurring. All carnivores, and even humans, have naturally-occurring E-coli and Salmonella in our digestive tracts. Parasites become an issue when the food we eat is infiltrated with too many E-coli and Salmonella bacteria, and it essentially over-runs the naturally-occurring E-coli and Salmonella in our digestive tract. Same applies to carnivores, infiltrating our digestive tract with too many of those bacteria creates the perfect environment that parasites LOVE to take advantage of.

Because of the horrible, biologically-inappropriate foods we feed our pet carnivores out of convenience, they start losing the enzymes that are needed in digesting raw meat, which is why it's even more important to take the transition slowly, so they start gaining back those enzymes.

Still...I can't take anything you say seriously, veterinarians shouldn't be schooling anyone, or claiming that they know anything about nutrition....because they don't. Veterinarians advocate Science Diet and Purina for the simple reason they're funding their clinics, I can't say I don't understand the desire to get as much funding as you can, but to promote the food without doing the research into it...or doing the researching into why it's bad, and promoting it anyways is just.....wrong.

But that's besides the point. I'm leaving this thread because it's aggravating that your veterinarian is making you believe he/she knows about animal nutrition, and that in return, you're trying to spread it, when you should *really* be taking nutrition classes instead, if you're that interested in animal nutrition. Your veterinarian is steering you in completely the wrong direction, and I feel sorry for you.

Thank you so much for posting this Rbquin244! I recently adopted 2 ferrets and was told by the owner that they were in horrible condition when they adopted them. They were able to bring their health up quite a bit and the boy responded very well to it! but the girl has still been having some troubles. Her stool is very loose and her fur is thin and bald in spots, and she is scratching her skin too much. She also feels rather thin to where her ribs are very easily felt on touch. I will give this a try and see what i can do for her! Hopefully it helps her! Thank you so much for posting this! I will let you know in a couple of months the result I we get with this food.

I found this information from skinnyreport that I shared with a friend of mine.

Commercial dry ferret food is another option and they will do just fine with it. It’s important to check the label to ensure that it contains at least 35% protein from meat sources, and 15% fat. They should also be relatively low in fiber, 3% or less. In a pinch, they can be fed cat food for short periods. But because of the protein and fat levels, and other ingredients, cat food is not ideally balanced for ferrets. If you do need to feed your pet ferret dry commercial food, it’s an excellent idea to supplement this occasionally with fresh, raw meat. A diet composed of natural raw ingredients is best for all animals, ferrets included.

I hope it is helpful with your problem.