While awaiting the return of the next series of Ad Libitum posts from
one of my reviewers (he had a death in the family), I'll take a moment
to answer a few questions the ad libitum series has generated.
 
Q: "I've heard you talk about how to make ferrets very large, and now you
   talk about cutting down on their food...won't that make them smaller?"
 
A: You have to tell yourself it is not the size of the mountain, but the
   steepness of the slopes.  I wish I knew what that meant.
 
It is a contradiction, and, I am now ashamed to say, I wish I had never
discussed how to make ferrets larger.  I was goaded into the discussion
by the spector of what I considered to be dangerous breeding practices,
both the back-breeding to polecats for color and size, as well as
inbreeding for size.  In the first instance, back-breeding to polecats
reduces those traits of domestication most important to ferret owners,
namely human acceptance and a gentle nature.  In the later instance, I am
worried about the ferret equivalent of hip dysplasia, or worse, caused by
breeding for size.  So, I explained a feeding program that would maximize
growth--essentially "injecting" the "fuel" for growth into a kit's
developmental "engine." Ferret growth curves are "S" shaped, with a very
steep rise, so increasing the quality and quantity of food between the
start of that rise until it starts to plateau can influence the shape
of the curve, thus the size of the adult ferret.  If this is done for
several generations, a phenomenon called "maternal effect" (larger
mothers birth larger babies) maximizes the genetic potiential for growth.
In other words, you end up with ferrets as large as their genetics will
allow (assuming normal hormonal systems).
 
My problem with my spilling the beans, as it were, is that it was NEVER
intended to be a life-long diet, only one designed for kits at a specific
point in their life.  Extend it over a life time and you have ferrets
suffering from overnutrition, which may be shown as obesity, artritic
problems, shortened lifespans, and a host of other problems as described
in the Ad Libitum series of posts.
 
The Ad Libitum series of posts is really only designed to illustrate
that overnutrition can be just as harmful to a ferret's health as
undernutrition.  Many Americans are convinced that overfeeding makes
healthy animals, even proclaiming their love of plump little ferrets.
Now, I am not talking about the normal seasonal fat deposits common to
ferrets, but REAL ferret obesity--something so common it is considered
normal.  There are some people that have used my "growing kit"
formulations long after the ferret is grown to make their animals HUGE,
but I'm terrified that it has only shortened their lives.  I have played
an inadvertant part in that, which is why it is so important for me to
explain the effects of an Ad Libitum diet.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 3975]