Special Nutrition for Ferret Anatomy
How does ferret anatomy affect the kind of food you feed your ferret? To stay alive all animals need proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. The structural units of fats are called fatty acids and those of proteins are called amino acids. Ferrets are unique in that they need a fatty acid called arachidonic acid and two amino acids called arginine and taurine to stay healthy. We learn more about how digestion takes place in ferrets and their special nutritional requirements below.
The food substances ferrets need to stay healthy are not found in very high levels in any known plant foods. What does this mean for your ferret? Due to ferret anatomy and physical make-up your pet must eat meat to avoid becoming ill. If you feed your ferret a vegetarian diet it will become sick and may even die, eventually.
Ferret Anatomy
- The Digestive tract
The digestive tract of a ferret is very short and simple. In most animals the large intestine and cecum contain special kinds of bacteria that help with the digestion of complex carbohydrates such as those found in vegetables and grains. A ferret has a large intestine that is very short and no cecum. This is just a part of normal ferret anatomy.
Due to this specialized ferret anatomy, these animals can comfortably digest simple carbohydrates (like sugars and starches) but are not able to break down complex carbohydrates such as beans, broccoli and bran.
What does this mean in practical terms for the health of your ferret? When a ferret eats he swallows the food, it passes through his digestive tract and comes out the other end. The entire process only takes three hours due to the special ferret anatomy we described earlier
Due to this quick pass through the digestive system, food isn't digested to optimum levels. Some food comes out the same way it went in. This is because the enzymes in the stomach haven't had a chance to break down the food molecules properly. This is particularly so for complex carbohydrates like vegetables. Ferret anatomy just isn't designed to handle foods like this.
To see how ferret anatomy works in real time do a simple experiment. To see hoe your ferret's intestine breaks down different foods you can feed him some dark colored pellets first thing in the morning. Then remove these pellets and replace them with light colored pellets. By evening there should be two different colored poops or poops of two different colors.
What should you be feeding your ferret to keep him healthy? Choose a quality Ferret Food
or cat foods like Iams or Science Diet. Stay away from cheap, poorly balanced brands. Ferret and cat food contain nutrients that suit ferret anatomy well and will be easily digested.
If you feed a nutritionally balanced diet you are likely to spend less money because your ferret will eat far less. Ferret anatomy is not designed for dog food since this may contain lots of complex carbohydrates like maize or wheat.
You can also provide nutritional supplements like Ferretone and Linatone which you will find at most pet stores. Understanding ferret anatomy means you know why he needs the diet he does. This way you can keep your pet healthy and ready for a famous ferret frenzy!
