Isn’t the ferret just a smaller cat?
Ferrets compared to dog and cat regarding…
Body features
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Carnivore
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+ / -
|
+
|
++
|
|
Total length of small intestine
|
4,75 m
|
1,32 m
|
0,52 m
|
|
Total length of colon
|
0,92 m
|
0,32 m
|
0,06 m
|
|
Time from intake of food to excrements
|
9 - 13 hours
|
7 - 9 hours
|
3 - 4 hours
|
Nutritional requirements
| Minimum requirement of proteins (adult, middle age) |
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||
| Additional requirement of essential amino acids (e.g. taurine) |
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Carboyhdrates and fatty acids
| Acceptance of carbohydrates |
 |
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| Required essential fatty acids (e.g. omega fatty acids) |
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Special nutritional requests of ferrets (compared to cats)
- extremely high need for protein (higher than cats)
- extremely high need for essential amino acids (higher than cats)
- specific need for Taurine (higher than cats)
- specific need for essential fatty acids (higher than cats)
- increased need for vitamins (higher than cats)
- specific carbohydrate metabolism (more specific than cats)
- nearly no Lactase activity (lower than cats)
- low Amylase activity (lower than cats)
- nearly no utilisation of roughage (lower than cats)#
- sensitive towards too high salt contents (more sensitive than cats)
- nearly no utilisation for different kinds of sugar (lower than cats)
