Before I jump into the contents of this food, I urge you to educate yourself on Marshall animal mill. If you weren't already aware, the bulk of ferrets in the United States (and even some other countries!) originate from Marshall animal mill. They breed two lines of ferrets. The first line is dedicated to laboratory research. These ferrets (and other animals) are sold to laboratories all over the globe for animal testing. The second line is sold to pet stores like Petco, and many others. These ferrets are mass produced, inbred, and are not carefully selected for breeding. This means Marshall ferrets are prone to many genetic diseases and illnesses. They're brought up in filthy conditions and then mutilated, branded, and spayed / neutered shortly after their eyes open. Following this, they're ripped from their moms and shipped off to pet store land, crammed into a small cage full of other ferrets, spreading disease to each other while still crying for their mothers. I'm sure you're not too keen on this food, many aren't. Sadly, this food is recommended by countless conventional veterinarians, pet store employees, and other ferret information resources. This is because Marshalls dominates the ferret market. Without a doubt, this food is being fed in a higher volume than even Wysong (we talked about them here!) because of how often it's recommended to ferret owners. Guaranteed analysis: 38% Protein 18% Fat 3.5% Fiber 10% Moisture Making this food a total of 24.28% starches / carbohydrate. Upon inspection of the Marshall website, I was stunned on how many blatant lies I found while skimming the page on their formulas. The first being in their top ingredients breakdown. Read along here.) Chicken by-products, by-product meal (yes, that's a photo of by-product) Ah, the lovely and so nutritious chicken by-product. Fact is, by-products contain very little protein, and can be sourced from 4D meat (dead, diseased, dying, or destroyed animals. Roadkill included) after all the good stuff is removed for human consumption. The potential for tainted and low quality items is so very high with this ingredient, many pet food brands opt to not include it at all. We don't even know what exactly is in the by-product. It does say "organs only" but the food contains chicken by-product meal as well. It's been noted that organ by-product, "may contain chemical residues and other elements of decomposition which raise serious health questions." Many companies will justify using by-product because they supposedly mimic what an animal would eat in the wild but it's a complete lie. The meat a ferret would eat in the wild has been untouched by man. Not cleaned, not rendered, not cooked or processed in anyway. This process alters a meat items nutrient composition by a lot. The reason why so many synthetic ingredients are added to the food in an attempt to make up for that loss. Again, this doesn't specify exactly what is used. It could be a complete imbalance of liver, brain, eyeballs etc. To say "Animals of prey usually pick body parts to balance their nutritional intake." is irrelevant. The animal chooses what to eat at that moment. By-product is just a jumbled up mixture of organs and body parts unfit for human consumption. This cannot be compared in the slightest to meat and offal a wild carnivore would eat. Corn meal (a carbohydrate) This was hilarious to me, "a strong complement to protein sources while also promoting digestive health." a completely false statement. Along with being a common allergen, corn is not a healthy addition to a pet food. It's a cheap filler product used to keep kibble from falling apart. If you find this product in your pet food, the brand is cutting corners. 1. High on the glycemic index. The glycemix index shows the likelihood of individual ingredients raising blood sugar levels. We all know that ferrets already struggle with this. Feeding them foods high in carbohydrates will cause issues in a ferret. In comparison to a meat product like pure beef, with a glycemic index of 0, corn meal has an index of a whopping 69. 2. Contaminants in grain ingredients. Corn meal and similar ingredients are at risk of being contaminated with toxic mold (aflatoxins- read more here, here, and here!) 3. Not easily digestible, by any means. This ingredient does not promote digestive health. Especially not in an obligate carnivore that lacks the enzymes required to process this food. Ferrets have absolutely no need for plant ingredients. 4. Low biologic value. This means corn and corn meal is lacking in nutritional benefits. For example, eggs contain a biological value of 100, beef at 78. Corn is 54. It doesn't contain any exceptional benefits for the ferret, and contains little to no amino acids a ferret needs. 5. Corn and corn meal are not needed by the ferret for energy. This is because real meat products contain not only protein, but fat. Fat and protein both provide enough energy for a ferret. Carbohydrates are not needed. It's a fact that real meat items contain significantly more energy than corn and corn meal. Lies, lies, lies! No, it's not an "excellent carbohydrate" "they still need some to prevent serious long term health problems." they get the energy they need from the protein and fat in the diet. Face it Marshalls, you only added this to cut costs and keep your kibble shaped. Don't lie to the customer and claim this ingredient has any benefit for the ferret. Dried beet pulp (a carbohydrate) I didn't think this food could get any worse. Another insanely cheap filler, commonly used for horses. This item has no nutritional value to the ferret and is only used as a stool hardener. Like we discussed in the last food review, this insoluble fiber ingredient can run the risk of "interfering with your pet's ability to digest and assimilate important nutrients like protein and minerals." Brewers dried yeast Dried yeast is a cheap by-product left over from beer production. This is used as an animal protein substitute, to add "yummy flavorings" to the pet food. I don't know about you, but I'm positive my ferrets would dig into some brewers dried yeast over their raw chicken hearts...not. This flavoring makes up for the lack of quality animal protein in the food. To convince your pet to eat the cardboard flavored food. "Rich inclusion of chicken, beef, or pork in your pet's food, would eliminate the need for flavor enhancers." Apparently brewers dried yeast is high in B vitamins. You know what else is? Organs. Real animal organs. Choline Chloride A quick indicator that this food lacks appropriate organ meats. Organs are rich in nearly every nutrient a ferret could possibly need to not only survive, but to thrive. A simple inclusion of liver is enough to exceed AAFCO minimum requirements for choline. BHA This is a big one. Yep, you read that right. Marshalls premium ferret food contains carcinogenic ingredients. BHA is on the list of known carcinogens, it causes cancer. BHA has consistently produced tumors in lab animals receiving it. Sure, it may only make up a small percentage of this food, but cumulative exposure is a major concern. Ferrets are eating this food every day, for many many years. An animal that may weigh only 2lbs. There are many MANY foods out there that do not contain BHA / BHT. Could there be a link to tumor growth in ferrets and this food? We all know the majority of ferrets are raised, and maintained on this food. And we also know many of these ferrets will succumb to diet related tumors in their later years. Insulinoma has become a common disease in ferrets when it really shouldn't be. Just something to think about. Rosemary extract The list of cheap ingredients continues. This is an inexpensive preservative. Rosemary extract has been linked to seizures in cats and dogs. It's not considered a safe ingredient for pets. Obviously I'm very bias and very against Marshalls as a company due to their blatant animal abuse and practices. You could call me their #1 certified hater for sure, and I don't throw that around lightly. Yes, I do hate Marshalls with all my heart and soul. But, the ingredients in this food speaks for itself, I'm only an outlet of information. The company chooses what they want to include in the food. Like the quality of the animals they produce, this food is garbage. According to the website, Marshalls recently made a formula change. They removed fish protein from the food to "reduce odor" due to concerns from customers. Do they not realize a ferrets odor is greatly minimized when fed a proper diet containing raw animal products? Marshalls is totally obsessed with odor control, and has an entire line dedicated to minimizing smell, all for profit to market their animals better as family friendly. My personal experience I have loads of experience with this food, my ferrets were raised on it. Our foster ferrets ate it. The poops these ferrets had on this food were just horrendous, both in scent and size. The foster ferrets were only 2 years old, and already had severe plaque buildup on their teeth, beyond natural repair. I would never recommend this food for any living animal. Please stop supporting Marshall products. Do it for the ferrets.
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