Ferrets are gorgeous and rewarding pets that are full of character, but they’re certainly not as popular as cats. This means that your local pet food store may not stock specific ferret food, so if you’ve run out of food for your ferret, you might find yourself eyeing up the cat food aisle instead, wondering whether this could be an acceptable alternative.
To quickly answer the question, no, it is not recommended to feed cat food to ferrets. While this was a normal recommendation in the past, this is no longer something veterinarians recommend. However, if you ever find yourself in an emergency situation, this might be your only resource. Keep reading to find out some alternative food to feed your ferret in an emergency. We will also break down the nutritional needs of the ferret and what to look for in cat food if you ever need to feed it in an emergency situation.
Ferret Nutrition and Metabolism
Ferrets, like cats, are obligate carnivores. So, they need a food source with a high percentage of meat protein to help them develop healthily. Ferrets also need taurine in their diets. In the wild, they would obtain that from eating fresh meat, so choosing a commercial food with taurine added is essential.
The ideal ferret food should contain 32 – 38% protein, 15-20% fat minimum, and minimal carbohydrates.
Feeding your ferret something with more carbohydrates and less protein will risk stunted growth, increased infections and metabolic diseases, and compromised reproductive health, which would not be ideal if you’re planning on using them for breeding.
Ferrets have a fast metabolism, so unlike cats, which can be fed twice a day, a ferret should have their daily rations split into as many as 10 different meals and at least 6 times per day. That’s why ferret food is often pelleted, and many brands recommend that you leave a small amount of pellets available for your ferret to free-feed on as often as they want to.
Studies have found that per kilogram of bodyweight, ferrets need to eat around twice as much food as cats to maintain their body weight. Ferrets aren’t as efficient at extracting nutrients from the proteins in their food as cats, so it’s thought that this could be the reason that they need to eat so much more food.
Cat Food for Ferrets
Now we know what a ferret needs nutritionally, how do cat foods stack up as an occasional emergency meal?
Cat food designed for kittens can often be a good emergency substitute, as it should contain higher levels of protein than adult cat food.
Make sure you select a grain-free cat food. There’s no reason for a ferret (or a cat, for that matter!) to eat grains, but they’re often used as a filler in commercial cat foods. Your ferret’s digestive system won’t tolerate a high percentage of carbohydrates.
The AAFCO recommends that cat food for kittens should contain at least 30% protein and 9% fat, compared to cat food for adults that has at least 26% protein and 9% fat. So, kitten food is much more suitable in terms of protein content, but it still doesn’t contain enough of either. And this is the reason why feeding cat or kitten food to your ferret is not recommended. In simple words, it is not an appropriate formula for this species.
But life happens, and if you are in an emergency situation and this is your only option, you might want to add an omega-3 ferret food supplement to increase the amount of fatty acids to a more suitable level.
What’s Best: Wet or Dry Cat Food?
If you do find yourself needing to feed cat food to your ferret, make sure it’s the highest protein and lowest carbohydrate formula you can find. Wet cat food typically contains fewer carbohydrates, but because of its high moisture content, it has less protein and fat per gram of food. Your ferret would need to eat a large quantity in order to meet their daily requirements.
Commercially available ferret food is also usually pelleted, so it might be easier for your ferret to accept dry food. But a much better option might be freeze-dried cat food, which has a more appropriate formula.
What Sort of Dry Cat Food Should I Choose?
If you do need to feed your ferret cat food, a dry kibble designed for kittens is the best option. Select one with high-protein content, with no grain or corn. A good option would be to try ORIJEN’s Free Run Chicken & Turkey, & Wild Caught Salmon & Herring Grain-Free Dry Kitten Food because it contains at least 40% protein and 20% fat.
Another option would be Instinct Original Real Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Kitten Dry Cat Food, with a minimum of 42.5% protein and 22.5% fat.
The only problem is that both of these formulas contain fish, and some ferrets refuse fishy flavors, as their main preference is meat.
If you know that that is the case with your ferret, you might want to try a single-ingredient freeze-dried formula like the Vital Essentials Freeze-Dried Raw Duck Mini Nibs Entree Cat Food with a minimum of 47% protein and 21% fat.
Again, we can’t stress enough the fact that these are to be used only as emergency resources, as commercially available ferret food would be your ideal choice.
What About Cat Treats?
You might be wondering if it would be okay to feed your ferret cat treats. The answer is yes, but only on rare occasions. Remember that treats formulated for cats are going to be designed to meet the nutritional needs of that species, not ferrets!
Cat treats don’t often contain enough protein for a ferret to find them truly interesting. So, they might have a little chew and then discard the rest. Again, you’ll need to read the packaging to see if the treat has high-protein content and low carbohydrates and is grain-free.
That said, alternative cat treats such as Stella & Chewy’s Chicken Hearts or Lamb Liver Freeze-Dried Raw Treats would make good alternatives to offer to your ferret.
A better choice would be to offer them a quail egg as a treat or to use a ferret-specific treat, which they’re guaranteed to love!
Ferrets Are Fussy
Ferrets can be fussy, and young ferrets are known to imprint whatever food they eat. That means if you’ve only been feeding your ferret one food for their whole life, you may find it difficult to persuade them to accept an alternative!
It’s a good idea to try and feed a young ferret a wide variety of flavors and textures, so if you do need to switch to a different feed in the future, they’ll find this easier to accept.
Don’t Make a Habit of It
It’s always best to choose a species-appropriate diet. That means ferret food for ferrets and cat food for cats! Just because two species are both carnivorous and we keep them as pets, that doesn’t mean we can get away with feeding them the same food and expect them to stay healthy.
Anatomically speaking, the ferret’s digestive system is different than that of a cat. So, it stands to reason that the foods we feed them are going to be different.
While it’s okay to feed your ferret kitten food in an emergency, we definitely wouldn’t recommend doing it on a permanent basis. Yes, it might work out cheaper, but in the long run, you’ll be compromising the health of your ferret by not providing a diet that’s specifically tailored for their needs.
The best thing to do is to find a high-quality pelleted ferret food and supplement this with raw meat, if you choose to do so.
Stock Up Online or Request a Special Order
Ferret food is definitely not going to be stocked in your local grocery store, so you’ll need to find a pet store or go online. Planning ahead when it comes to feeding your ferret is the best way of making sure you’ve always got ferret-specific food in stock!
- Related read: Do Cats And Ferrets Get Along? What You Need To Know!
Wrapping It Up
We now know that ferrets can eat cat food in emergency situations, but it needs to be a kitten food with high-protein content and low carbohydrates. If you can find food that’s designed specifically for ferrets, that’s always going to be the best option for your furry ferret friend.
But in an emergency, dry kitten kibble will keep your ferret’s hunger at bay while you restock your pantry.
Wondering what else you can feed your ferret? Check out these posts for more info:
- Can Ferrets Eat Peanut Butter? Is It Safe For Ferrets To Eat?
- Can Ferrets Eat Bananas? Are They Safe To Eat?
- Can Ferrets Eat Chocolate? Is It Safe To Eat?
Featured Image Credit: Crepessuzette, Pixabay
