That a ferret’s heart weighs less than 1 ounce.
That a normal heart rate for ferrets is between 200 and 300 beats per minute. Human heart rate is 60-80 beats per minute.
That the average male ferret has 2 ounces of blood in his body and the average female has 1.5 ounces.
Now you know.
Have a Chittering Good Day,
Jo
I watched The Doctors yesterday, February 27, 2013; the show was titled Guilty Pleasures Jeopardizing your Health.
I am sure most of us try to eat healthy and avoid the sugar trap. I found that many of the foods we think are healthy really aren’t. The most disturbing fact was that most of us consume 150 pounds of sugar a year. The recommended about is 34 pounds. That equals out to 6 tablespoons of sugar daily for women and men get to consume 9 tablespoons.
Most of us blow those amounts out of the water with our first can of soda or with our daily coffee intake. One can of soda has 10 tablespoons of sugar.
These facts got me thinking about our pets and how much sugar do we give them unknowingly? We know that sugar plays a role in obesity, diabetes, and it has also been suspected as part of heart disease.
Most of us know to read labels on the foods we eat and some of us have started reading the labels on our pet’s food as well. The problem is that our food is required to have a nutrition facts panel that must have specific things such as serving size, the amount servings per contain/package, and the amounts per serving and what the recommended daily value.
One of these facts is the amount of sugars. Example did you know that a serving of Cheez-It® has 0 grams of sugar.
But most pet food labels have what is called the Guaranteed Analysis.
| Typical Guaranteed Analysis for a Good Ferret Diet | |
| Crude protein | 38.0% |
| Crude fat | 18.0% |
| Fiber | 3.5% |
| Ash | 6.5% |
| Moisture | 10.0% |
It is normal to see the following ingredients in ferret food.
Chicken by-products, herring meal, corn, cod fish, animal liver, dried beet pulp, brewer's dried yeast, cane molasses, salt, sodium propionate, DL-methionine, L-lysine, taurine, vitamin A, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin, biotin, choline chloride, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, BHA, vitamin B12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (a source of vitamin K), D calcium pantothenate, manganese oxide, inositol, ascorbic acid, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, zinc oxide, cobalt carbonate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite.
You can see there is no mention of the amount of sugar on the Guarantee Analysis. For ferrets that develop Insulinoma these ingredients can play a devastating role.
One of the ingredients Brewer’s Yeast is used to lower blood sugar which is something we don’t want to do in a ferret with insulinoma as his/her blood sugar is already low due to having too much insulin in his/her blood stream.
The other ingredient is cane molasses, which is a byproduct of white sugar, and the gram amount is 55-70 per 100 grams of molasses.
Just by having these two ingredients, we are causing a blood sugar drop only to have it spike again in our ferrets.
It would be interesting to know if these two ingredients could be causing the Insulinoma to show up in so many ferrets over the age of three.
Learning what goes into our pet’s food needs to become as high of a priority as knowing what is in our own food. By learning this we can better help our pets live longer and have happier lives.
What is your opinion? Of this list of ingredients do you know what they do or where they come from?
Have a Chittering Good Day,
Jo
Did you know that in 2011 there were only 75 board certified veterinarian dentists in the United States?
Did you know that most people believe that hard food and chew toys will keep a pet’s teeth and mouth free of cavities and other dental problems?
Did you know that ferret teeth grow from the tip up?
Did you know that the pulp inside a ferret’s tooth does not grow all the way down in the tooth?
Did you know that baby ferrets called kits have 30 teeth by the time they are 3 months old and should have lost their baby teeth by the time they are 9 months old?
Did you know that adult ferrets have 34 teeth?
Have a Chittering Good Day,
Jo
I was nominated for this award
Here are the rules for the award:
1. Provide a link and thank the blogger who nominated you for this award.
2. Answer the 10 questions.
3. Nominate 10-12 blogs that you find a joy to read.
4. Provide links to these nominated blogs and kindly let the recipients know that they have been nominated. I should add if you email the link you should also tell the recipients what the link is about as not to have it deleted.
5. Include the award logo within your blog post
So Thanks Kevin and here are our answers to the following questions:
Here are the 10 questions.
1. Facebook or Twitter? Both
2. Your favorite pattern? If you are asking sewing then it is the Warm up Jacket I’ve created for fur challenged ferrets
3. Do you prefer getting or giving presents? Both
4. Your favorite number? 13
5. Your favorite day of the week? FSS
6. Your favorite flower? lilac
7. What is your passion? Ferrets
8. What is your favorite color? Black very soothing
9. Your favorite animal? Growing up Horses now Ferrets
10. Your favorite non-alcoholic drinks? Coffee
Nominations:
Last year was the first year we participated in this challenge hosted by Go Pet Friendly and Will My Dog Hate Me and participating in this challenge this year will help us focus on where Enlightened Ferret is headed this year.
I couldn’t find if they were doing the challenge this year so I’ve used the questions from last year’s challenge and updated my answers for this year. Here is the link to last year’s post. Pet Blog Challenge 2012
1. When did you begin your blog?
June of 2009
2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?
To help others understand ferrets and help new or prospective owners understand what having a ferret entailed.
3. Is your current purpose the same? Yes, it is still the main focus along with other aspects of being a ferret owner in a populace of mostly dog and cat owners.
If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?
Until last year, I hadn’t really set any goals for Enlightened Ferret. But thanks to doing, this challenge last year I feel that I have met most of my goals for Enlightened Ferret and it has opened the door for other opportunities to help promote Enlightened Ferret.
4. Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?
Blogging on a set schedule is hard and sometimes life does get in the way of doing so. But having a few guest posts helps relieve the stress of blogging every time.
If the former, how often — and what techniques do you use to stick to it?
I am trying to use an editorial calendar more so that I have specific posts written for Mondays and Fridays to help eliminate the stress of worrying what to write about. Wednesdays are still reserved for Wordless posts. Last year I tried to have Featured ferrets on Tuesdays and Thursdays but found those to be over whelming and depressing as many of those same ferrets are still looking for forever homes.
5. Are you generating income from your blog?
I have earned some revenue from Enlightened Ferret this last year but not a steady income.
If not currently, do you hope to in the future — and how?
I still have mixed emotions on this. While I do want to have an income from Enlightened Ferret that will allow me to do the things I want to. I don’t want to have ads that are unrelated to Enlightened Ferret’s mission.
6. What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular (bragging is good!)?
I enjoy doing the research for each post I do and hearing from people that have found Enlightened Ferret either by accident or followed a link back from twitter, Facebook, or Linked In.
7. What do you like least?
Self promotion. I am normally very shy and it is really hard to come out of my shell and let other see the passion I have for ferrets.
8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2013?
I would love to see Enlightened Ferret gain 400 new followers by the end of 2013 and drawing the attention of companies that cater more to the dog and cat owners and showing them another avenue they might look at for revenue. I also plan on replying to more of the comments than I have been.
I also hope to move Enlightened Ferret from Blogger to its own webpage in 2013.
Hope you will all participate in this challenge this year and see how you do in the coming year.
Have a Chittering Good Day,
Jo
While it is true most healthy ferrets don’t become overweight, it should be realized that it is possible for a ferret to gain more weight than is healthy. One has to take into consideration the amount of exercise to food ratio a ferret may get.
Ferrets should have food available throughout the day as they have a high metabolism but they should also have plenty of exercise for them to maintain a nice weight.
While I try to give my boys plenty of time out of the cage, Manny has a bad habit of eating all the food he can and will stash food in his hidey-hole for later. This habit has given him a rather large butt and has required me to start feeding the boys in separate areas.
Manny is on a diet of smaller portions than Marcuz who doesn’t feel the need to inhale his food so he is a lot smaller than Manny. To some Marcuz may look underweight but he isn’t as a healthy ferret can weigh anywhere from 2-5 pounds. Manny may be tipping the scales at the 5-pound mark.
The other difference is where both boys come from. Manny is a Marshall ferret. Marshall has been breeding ferrets for over 30 years. Marcuz is from Path Valley breeder in PA. I’ve had mainly Path Valley ferrets and they have all been under the 3-pound mark. Manny is my first Marshall ferret and so his larger size is new to me.
Therefore, the answer to the question is yes a healthy ferret can become overweight just like a human can.
Have a Chittering Good Day,
Jo
Over the weekend I was talking on twitter about feeding Marcuz his duck soup forgetting that most of my twitter followers are dog, cat, and other pet owners and don’t know much if anything about ferrets.
Duck soup named after a ferret named Lucky Duck whose owner and vet came up with a food he could eat when he was very ill and now the name is given to many concoctions that help a sick or injured ferret get back on their tiny paws when they don’t feel like eating.
Marcuz is getting both his regular kibble and his duck soup as he just doesn’t have the energy to eat enough of his hard food to keep his weight up.
Next to Marcuz Manny looks like extremely fat. Which he isn’t but he is a big boy to say the least.
Most duck soups are just that a soupy consistency that can be lapped up easily and are just as easily digested.
There are many recipes for Duck soup but I just make mine as needed from the boys kibble.
My recipe is:
1/2 cup of Marshall’s Ferret Food
1/2 to 1 cup of Water depending on the consistency I want
3 T of Ferretone
1 T of Ferretvite
1-2 T of Chicken baby food (omitted because Marcuz doesn’t like chicken)
I mix this all together and heat it for 4 minutes in the microwave then stir it until the kibble becomes a soft mush. The more water the more soup like it becomes.
I store this in the refrigerator and scoop out the amount I need for a serving. This makes enough to fill a small margarine tub.
Last night I added some bacon drippings to the mush and Marcuz ate it up a lot faster and he also ate more of it. I give him the soup twice a day so that he thinks he is getting a treat before getting his meds.
I let Manny have some just so he doesn’t feel left out.
Marcuz is playing more as well and he pinned Manny during a wrestling match. I think Manny let him win though.
Have a Chittering Good Day,
Jo
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be my end of the month post so I went back and read what I had written about for the month. In doing so I realized that some of the information was important and I wanted to be sure it was understood.
From that came the idea of a Month in Review post only instead of my just repeating what I’ve told you I made up a test to do two things.
1. To see if I have been clear in my writing
2. To see who does read my blog.
|
A. Rodent
B. Canine C. Mustelidea |
|
A. Badger otter, mink, and weasel
B. Mice, rats, voles, and moles C. Cats, cougar, lions |
|
A. Wiring buildings
B. Pest Control C. Both A & B |
|
A. 1000 years
B. Over 3000 years C. Never we scoop them up out of the wild |
|
A. Cat food
B. Dog food C. Raw or Made for Ferret food D. High quality kitten food E. C & D |
|
A. Low fat content
B. They shouldn't have any fat C. High Fat content |
|
A. Child Proofing
B. Pet Proofing C. You don't have to ferret proof D. Ferret proofing is an ongoing thing E. A & B F. A, B, & D |
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Yes
No |
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| * Required Powered by myContactForm.com |
This should have been up earlier but due to technical difficulties beyond our control it is late.
The winner of the comment contest here on Enlightened Ferret is Mr.. Pip a new follower. Please email us at enlightenedferret@hotmail.com so we can get mailing address for you Surprise gift pack and congrats in winning.
( Thank you great celeb Puppy a Guinea Pig for gracing our blog with your presence.)
Pumpkinpuddy asked us these five questions:
1. Do you get along with your sisfurs and/or brofurs
James:I guess I get along with my fur siblings. I know I can make Trixie the bloodhound back away from me when I want. I try to ignore Manny.
Manny: I like to play with anyone that will play with me.
2. What’s best about the city you live in?
James: We don’t really live in a city we live in the boonies where there are lots of trees and tall grass. Hooman likes to go outside at night and look at the twinkling lights in the sky.
3. What is your favorite color?
James: Don’t really have a favorite color.
Manny: I like red and green.
4. Who is your favorite human not in your family and why?
Wez don’t know any hoomans outside of our family yet.
5. What are your bestest games to play?
James: Dead ferret sleep, playing in a plastic bag, and digging in a box of starch peanuts.
Manny: Catch the mouse, seeing how high I can leap, and zooming around James.
Now for our 5 questions.
1. Do you sleep with the light on or off ?
2.What was the biggest mess you have made?(not potty kind)
3. What is your favorite hooman word?
4. What part of your body do you groom first?
5. What is your favorite activity?
These go to:
Puppy a Guinea Pig
Your Daily Cute
Mr.. Pip
Two Little Cavilers
Lilly’s Lounge
Jo
James and Manny