Lesson: Taurine & Cooked Meat

Taurine & Cooked Meat

Taurine, an organic acid which is found in all animal tissues, is not degraded by the freeze-thaw process when it comes to raw meats, however it is degraded when it is cooked or exposed to heat of some kind. 

Cooked Meat

Feeding cooked meat, especially if you have made it homemade is a huge risk to your obligate carnivore since Taurine is essential for your ferrets overall health and is lost during the cooking process. Cooking in general causes a loss in many nutrients. Enzymes are destroyed by cooking.

Digestive enzymes are produced primarily in the pancreas and released into the duodenum to help digest food coming from the stomach. However since Digestive enzymes are destroyed during cooking, the chore is left to the intestines or the pancreas themselves to secrete amylase and other digestive enzymes.  Enzymes are important. They don’t just help to digest the food – they are living proteins that help repair DNA, make hormones, prevent clotting and so on. Eating a diet of cooked and processed foods would put incredible stress on our ferret's bodies. The pancreas in particular, since it has to produce massive quantities of digestive enzymes after consuming a food that is devoid of enzymes.

Long term consumption of a diet consisting of completely cooked meat can lead to alot of over worked organs, which can then lead to very horrible diseases. This does not mean that you cannot feed cooked meat though. It is recommended to be only a treat, not something that is the entire diet. Never feed cooked bones to your ferrets as they can pose a serious risk. Once the bone in meat has gone through the cooking process, it can remove the nutritional value of the meat and the bones become more brittle, increasing the risk of splintering.

Can Ferrets synthesise Taurine?

Obligate carnivores are not able to synthesise all the taurine they need from other amino acids (such as methionine and cysteine) unlike some other carnivores and unlike herbivores or omnivores.  This means that it is essential to their diet and must be fed to the ferret.

What is the role of Taurine?

Taurine is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine. Taurine has many fundamental biological roles, such as conjugation of bile acids, anti-oxidation, osmoregulation, membrane stabilisation, and modulation of calcium singling. It is essential for cardiovascular function, and development and function of skeletal muscle, the retina, and the central nervous system. 

Is Taurine an Amino Acid?

Taurine is unusual among biological molecules in being a sulfonic acid, while the vast majority of biologically occurring acids contain the more weakly acidic carboxyl group. While taurine is sometimes called an amino acid, and indeed is an acid containing an amino group, it is not an amino acid in the usual biochemical meaning of the term, which refers to compounds containing both an amino and a carboxyl group. 

What may happen if Taurine is not in the diet?

A diet that does not have enough taurine can cause the heart to stretch and enlarge (dilated cardiomyopathy). This can lead to congestive heart failure and in worse cases, death. In the eye, a low taurine diet can cause blindness from central retinal degeneration. 
In order for any issue to arise, a Deficiency must drag on for a certain length time. It may take months, it may take years, it all depends on the ferret. 

Can I feed too much Taurine?

Taurine is a water soluble nutrient, so that makes it incredibly rare that a ferret would overdose on Taurine. If a ferret eats something and there is too much taurine in it, the excess is simply excreted VIA urine. 

I will give you another lesson on Water Soluble and Fat Soluble Vitamins another day. 

So where can Taurine be found? 

The main source of Taurine for our ferrets in the Frankenprey menu is Hearts. Taurine can also be found in other types of meat, but hearts are essential to insure they get an appropriate amount of Taurine in their diet. If you cannot find hearts or need another option, brain, and tongue also have a high amount of Taurine. Raw (beef) tongue is also the next best option to hearts as it is very high in Taurine. In fact, Tongue has a higher amount of Taurine than that of Heart and is also quite fatty. Beef tongue is a good option if you can find it or if it is in your budget. 


If you cannot locate a Heart, or Tongue, Supplementing with a Taurine powder can be used short term until you can find alternative sources for Taurine. A health food store should have Taurine powder. It may be handy to have stored away for emergencies.  Supplementing Taurine is 500mg/Day  per ferret.

This thread has some good information on Supplementing with Taurine Powder/Capsules.

holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13404/little-education-on-taurine

Lesson: Bacteria & The Risks Of Raw Feeding

Bacteria & The Risks Of Raw Feeding

Carnivores, are built to handle a large amount of bacteria. They are carnivores so it makes sense that they should be able to handle bacteria.  Carnivores even contain bacteria in their guts (we call this "gut-flora") . Even us humans, contain bacteria in our guts.  Bacteria is everywhere, whether it be good bacteria or bad bacteria. Good bacteria aids digestion and even helps the body in many unique ways. Bad bacteria or even Normal bacteria may cause havoc by becoming overgrown, and begin competing with the good bacteria.

A good example: Air or bubbles in the bowel movements (stool) can mean that there is a gut or flora imbalance and that gas producing bacteria are overgrown and competing with the healthier flora.

For the case of this lesson, I am speaking more on the "negative/bad bacteria" side of things, since that is the main concern that we raw feeders are faced with when it comes to family, vets and so on.

Back onto the topic of ferrets. They can handle a great deal of bacteria when it comes to diet, most are not susceptible to salmonella and efficiently pass it without infection and kibble fed ferrets are even known to shed salmonella in their stools.

A ferrets digestive system is very short (only 3-4 hours) so that leaves no time for the salmonella which needs 12-72 hours, or even e.coli, which needs 3-4 days (72 - 96 hours) to incubate. That makes it highly unlikely that these illnesses would affect the ferret. Its not impossible, just very very very very very very unlikely. If carnivores were not designed for handling a wide range of bacteria, we would be seeing a whole lot more issues not only in animals who are domesticated, but their wild counterparts also.

For more information in regards to Bacteria, I recommend you check out this file from HFF.
It is a long read, so you can read it when ever you would like to. 

As for humans, the risk is there. When ever you are faced with the concerns about bacteria and raw feeding, its more humans that is the concerns, rather than the animal. However as long as you take simple precautions, it would be highly unlikely that you, or those around you would get sick.

To prevent any bacterial contamination, be sure to throughly clean anything that may come into contact with raw foods. Things such as: Shelves, Counter tops, Refrigerators, Freezers, Utensils, Sponges, Towels, etc.

It is especially important to wash all utensils and your hands with soap and hot water after handling one food and before handling another. This helps prevent cross-contamination in which, for example, bacteria in raw meat could be transferred to other foods, such as vegetables. It would be wise to use a different board for cutting different foods such as produce and meat. Wash cutting boards with hot, soapy water after each use; then rinse and air dry or pat dry with fresh paper towels.

Note: Do not use tea-towels or towels for drying as those are perfect for cross contamination and easily spread bacteria from one place to another.

Most raw feeders, feed human grade meat and as we all know already, Human grade meat is less likely to be contaminated with something like salmonella or E.coli than lets say, commercial raw pet food. Not saying it's 100% safe, because it can happen even with human grade, but human grade is a lot safer than pet grade because the handling and inspection of the meat intended for human consumption is a lot more strict. 
A majority of the time, commercial raw pet food, is classed as pet grade meat. Forget the "Organic" this or "Human grade" that, If Its commercial pet food, its most likely containing pet grade pet food somewhere in it.

“To date, raw pet foods have not been associated with salmonellosis in humans. ”

According to Dr. Becker, Pet owners have been feeding raw diets to their dogs and cats for decades, yet to date, not one documented case of raw pet food causing illness in humans has been reported.

Lesson: Fat-Soluble & Water-Soluble Nutrients

Vitamins or nutrients are classified as either Fat-soluble (vitamins A, D, E and K) or Water-soluble (vitamins B and C).

The Fat-soluble vitamins / nutrients are soluble in lipids (fats). Fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A and E, are stored in body tissues. They are stored primarily in the liver and in fatty (adipose) tissues. Extra care must be taken to not consume these vitamins in excess because they stay in the body longer and can more easily lead to toxicity. A well-balanced diet will not lead to toxicity, but vitamin supplementation might. An example of a Fat-soluble nutrient is Vitamin A. Vitamin A can be found in high concentrated amounts in the Liver. This is why we discourage any unnecessary treats or supplementation that contains Liver or Vitamin A due to the high risk of Toxicity. If you have a well-balanced menu and diet planned out for your ferret, then you have no need for supplementation.

Water-soluble vitamins, which include all of the B vitamins, are easily absorbed into the body. If your ferret was to consume more of a water-soluble vitamin than it needs, the excess will be excreted VIA urine, rather than stored within the body. This means the risk of an overdose is relatively low, but you will have to constantly replenish your stock through the diet. A good example for a water-soluble nutrient is Taurine. Taurine can be found in heart, tongue and brain in highly concentrated amounts.

Recommended Reading:
Vitamins and Minerals in Raw: http://holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/truth-about-diet/vitamins-and-minerals-in-raw/
Vitamins: http://holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/1222/vitamins#ixzz3zGVSVOYV
Basic Frankenprey Menu: http://holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/basic-frankenprey-menu/