In the last fifty years or more... as the ferret has gained popularity as a pet... owners have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the food choices for them. Nothing is available, it seems, that meets all of their nutritional requirements. So it is not surprising to find a rapidly growing segment of ferret owners who have decided to take the nutritional health and status of their beloved pets into their own hands.

Just as you find natural health enthusiasts in the human realm, you will meet the same type of people in the pet sector. And I only have one word to say to them, "More power to you." (Okay that is more than one word.)

But, these individuals try as much as they can, to provide their ferrets with the meats, the organs and the bones needed for their pets' health. They do not feed their ferret kibble using the very simple logic that kibble was not a part of any ferret diet some 2,500 years ago. I will try to explain, as concisely as possible, what they believe the benefits of a natural alternative diet for their ferrets are.

Some people refer to this alternative diet as an "evolutionary" diet. It ensures, according to its proponents, that the ferret is receiving the nutrient essential to his continued good health. They like to explain that the ferret needs nine essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are those the ferret's system cannot produce itself, so it must get from its diet. There is just no other way. These substances are normally found in foods that the ferret's wild relatives eat quite frequently. They include rabbits, mice, rats, birds, frogs, lizards, and even squirrels.

Calcium is another aspect of the diet that your ferret may be lacking. You may be surprised to learn that many manufactured canned cat foods -- and even ferret foods -- do not have any type of quality bone meal included. This means ferrets may be lacking in calcium. A healthy ferret diet does not necessarily mean that a ferret needs to have food available to him 24/7. A ferret who eats the proper diet may not want to eat again for another 10 hours. The untamed variety of ferret, or polecat, only ate once, sometimes twice a day.

Additionally, health conscious individuals say that the natural variety of foods that are a part of this evolutionary diet -- from bones to meat to skin -- helps to "flush out" the intestinal tract of the animal. This means that your ferret will have less hairballs and other unnecessary obstructions. It also may take care of some nutritional needs that the ferret has, that science has yet to detect.

Not only that, these people say, just look at design of both your ferret's jaw and his teeth. This leaves him with a limited chewing capacity. His teeth, they say, definitely evolved to cut meat and bone. Not to smash kibbles for up to ten hours a day. The other pretty amazing aspect of this diet is that it does not lead to dental cavities or other tooth problems. It is thought that the different textures of the prey foods help to massage the ferret's gums and therefore clean the teeth in the process (Isn't Mother Nature wonderful?)