To Anon poster asking about bottlebrush tails after getting the sedation
before the euthanasia shot--we will probably never really KNOW why their
tails bristle up.
 
This is for two reasons:
 
1. They are ferrets, and thus cannot tell us whether it is due to fear, or
   pain or something else (they cannot speak English).
 
2. They are euthanized shortly after this shot and are unavailable for
   comment.
 
I can hazard an informed guess.  When I was in college I took Human Anatomy
and Physiology.  The first lab was disecting a freshly killed rat.  It was
euthanized by being given an overdose of ether.  The rats were put into a
glass tank with ether on paper towels, and kept there until their hearts
stopped.  Just before falling asleep, they became very restless.
Apparently there is an excitement stage just before a sedative kicks in.
The nervous system revves up just before going under.  Since an excited
ferret frequently bottlebrushes its tail, it may be just a symptom of the
excitement stage.
 
I'm guessing that it's probably this, rather than pain or fear.  My ferrets
have usually been pretty honest about communicating pain or fear, and I
didn't get the sense that they were feeling either of those.
 
Melodyt and the nifty nine
[Posted in FML issue 3306]