Diet and Diet-Related Dissorders

Ferrets have a short intestinal transit time (3 hours), and therefore only one meal change or one fasting period can make a dramatic change in the bacterial flora's environment. This is the reason that owners must be informed not to change brands or flavors of food, and also never to allow the ferret to run out of food. Ferrets need food available at all times and should never be on a feeding schedule such as a dog or cat may require. If a ferret is overweight, increasing the activity level is the optimum solution.

Ferrets are carnivores! They are prone to bladder crystals and stones if they are not on a meat-based diet, as grains create an alkaline pH in their urine, allowing crystal formation. Appropriate foods therefore are premium cat food or kitten foods, or actual ferret diets. There are no appropriate ferret foods available at present from a grocery store.

To further complicate the ferret dietary problem, ferrets generally will rebel against any food they were not exposed to as young animals. This goes beyond "finicky"! We often see extreme weight loss and life-threatening diarrhea and dehydration from something as simple as owners changing foods because they read that Purina Kitten Chow was a poor ferret diet (which is true). Owners often try to help their pet by getting Iams or Science Diet, the animal does not view the foreign substance as food, and in refusing to eat it, allows bacterial flora imbalance due to fasting to occur. Over the course of 48 hours, the animal is critically ill.

The solution? Despite your knowledge that a ferret may be creating bladder stones with each passing moment, you must refrain from making any rapid food change and depending on the ferret's history, it may have never encountered anything other than grocery store cat food. If you have an adult ferret and do not have a history, here are a few tips to success:

Check for a Marshall Farms tattoo in the right car. These ferrets are weaned onto Marshall Farms ferret diet, which is available at pet stores. Not just any brand of ferret food will do, as they do not seem to taste exactly alike. In addition, often when a ferret has begun on ferret food and then tastes other grocery store delicacies, they will never go back. This is because ferret food is frequently a fish-based food that was originally designed for mink, and ferrets tend not to like fish as well as chicken or turkey. Some of the new ferret foods (such as Totally Ferret) are chicken- based and are very palatable, but Marshall's are still fish-based.
Offer an assortment of the most frequently fed ferret diets - Purina Kitten Chow, Tender Vittles, Iams Kitten, Iams Adult Cat, and Marshall Farms ferret food. Observe closely and let the ferret tell you which it views as food. If it decides none are food, start with Hill's A/D, turkey baby food, forced if necessary to prevent hypoglycemia and hepatic lipidosis while you continue your search for this ferret's food. If you must start from something totally inappropriate, (I once had a foster ferret that had eaten only nacho cheese chips for years!) then try an Iams product, Totally Ferret, and/or Hill's Prescription A/D- these seem to be the most ferret- approved diets in our practice.
Make changes over several WEEKS (or even months) by mixing the ferret's preferred diet with the human's choice/choices. Yes, that means mixing Iams with nacho cheese chips if necessary! Do not blend the nuggets together, but instead make 1/2 the bowl one type and the other ½ the other food, or use two bowls. Be sure to change the non-preferred food daily so it is fresh and appealing. Some ferrets simply cannot be changed, so be patient and do not raise expectations too high. My own ferret took an entire year to show any interest in quality food!
Warn owners NOT to add Ferretone or tasty vitamins to the new food to make it appealing. This frequently leads to Vitamin A toxicity, and the food with vitamins will not be viewed as the same as the food without vitamins anyway.
Some ferrets are not finicky. Generally, this implies that they were introduced to a wide variety of foods in the first 6 months of life. Still remember that bacterial flora balance is crucial to a ferret's health, and make the change over 2-3 weeks, adding a teaspoon more of the new diet daily.