A pleasant surprise:
Okay, I am sure this will be news to all ;-) : Ferrets spill things.  MY
GOSH!  Now, we have lost a number of garments to spilled colas and have
quite a range of carpet stains from that, too (as well from the year when
we were helping a ferret get her last quality time despite lymphoma in
her spinal cord).  So, imagine my surprise when a cola was spilled today
and it did NOT stain.  It came up completely with water and no fuss at
all.  Steve happened to be working on two cans (Diet Cherry Coke and
Pepsi One) so I had to do some checking to find out *possibly* which one
it was.  Here is the news: Pepsi is using water soluble coloring for
their diet colas!  If you have ferrets and if they spill your soda pop
this is really something useful to know.  The Coke people didn't know if
they have any with water soluble coloring so they will be having a
specialist write to me.
 
If you have an Agway nearby here is something which might help us all if
a person looks into it.  Today we picked up a bag of the Woody Pet litter
to try mixed in with Hunt Club litter which is the best thing we have
ever found for controlling odor and stopping/reducing mold growth (which
can set in within hours here in some seasons).  The store owner/manager
told us that the mineral additive which works so well and so safely can
also be purchased by itself (as a bagged rabbit supply) to sprinkle onto
any litter, but I didn't have the details about that mineral in my head
so I do not know if it really is the same thing.  We had to get back fast
due to a phone conference and didn't have time to check and wrack brains,
i.e. we didn't buy a bag yet.  I'd like to give some info on the mineral
and if any of you happen to have an Agway nearby or are already planning
a trip to one soon could you take this info along and see if it really is
the same thing?  If so, a person could just sprinkle it onto the litter
of choice and see if that works as well as having a mix of the cardboard
Hunt Club with another litter so it may be real win for all here.  (One
of ours will not use Hunt Club alone.)
 
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/clinopti/clinopti.htm
Which begins:
> THE MINERAL CLINOPTILOLITE
> Chemistry: (Na, K, Ca)2 - 3Al3(Al, Si)2Si13O36-12H2O, Hydrated Sodium
>             Potassium Calcium Aluminum Silicate
> Class: Silicates
> Subclass: Tectosilicates
> Group: Zeolites
> Zeolite Family: Heulandite
> Uses: As a chemical filter, chemical absorber, water purifier and as
> mineral specimens...
and
> Clinoptilolite is used in many applications such as a chemical sieve,
> a gas absorber, a feed additive, a food additive, an odor control agent
> and as a water filter for municipal and residential drinking water and
> aquariums.  Clinoptilolite is well suited for these applications due to
> its large amount of pore space, high resistance to extreme temperatures
> and chemically neutral basic structure...
 
The FML has been so good recently.  It's more like the mix of old: more
people talking (which is a real treat that means that we all get to learn
more), and more upbeat stuff to balance the rest.  I like, too, that so
many people are really listening and understand that when folks ask for
less of a given thing they are not asking to have none of it -- just to
have it balanced with other topics, not repeated too often, and for folks
to use shortcuts like giving URLs.
 
--Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 4854]