My veterinarian said my lab was allowed to eat all the green beans he wanted, and Valor sure did love his green beans.
Valor was fond of apples, carrots, and pumpkin too.
This was okay for my dog, because while dogs are classified as carnivores, they pretty much omnivores these days.
Ferrets, on the other hand, are obligate carnivores.
Ferrets have short small intestines and cannot digest fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Ferrets should only eat meat and fat, and they need to avoid grains, fruit, and vegetables.
So what do you feed a ferret? There are options, depending on what you're willing to do.
The natural diet Some people feed their ferrets the most natural diet they can.
Ferrets are descended from European polecats, and European polecats eat mice and other small rodents, rabbits, voles, and frogs.
They'll also eat snakes and fish.
So, ferrets on a natural diet usually eat mice and chicken.
The cooked diet Take the food above, mice, chicken, and whatever else you can stomach to cook, and cook it.
Why do this? Bacteria such as salmonella make our fuzzy babies just as sick as they make us.
Now, if you want to cook your ferrets' food, I suggest this method.
Boil or pressure cook the meat in a fair amount of water.
Make sure you get appropriate temperatures to kill off the bacteria.
Remove all the bones from your boiling concoction.
Grab a stick blender.
(You can do this by transferring the food into a blender, but you're better off buying a stick blender.
I say this after making a lot of food this way and having boiling meat land on my face.
) Blend the meat and water.
Pour the meat and water mixture into ice cube trays and freeze.
When it comes time to feed your ferrets, pull out an appropriate number of cubes and microwave them.
(This is one version of "duck soup" which is used to feed sick and elderly weasels.
) The kibble diet This is the easiest diet, and probably the most expensive too.
Go to the pet store or order food online.
Make sure you buy ferret food.
I feed my guys Totally Ferret, which you need to buy online these days.
Make sure the food you choose has a high protein and fat content and little grains and vegetables.
All kibble has some grain in it, but get as little as you can.
What do I feed my ferrets? My ferrets get kibble.
The sick and elderly get "duck soup," which is an interesting name because I make it with chicken and not duck.
Kibble is convenient, and my guys seem to like it just as much as they like cooked chicken and duck soup.
I supplement their kibble with treats.
They are particularly fond of "Vivify," which is made by Performance Foods, Inc.
They also like it when I sprinkle "Complete Care" powder on their food.