One of the parts of the Triple F video that upset me the most was the
young ferrets who were hanging through the cage wire dying. Maybe they
were not advanced enough in neurological development to feel pain as
pain, though. I sure hope so. Keep reading to see why i write that.
Of course, we all know that the very young ones don't have some other
sensory development completed, but this work on humans not being able
to distinguish pain from simple touch till very close to time of birth
gives rise to the question of when ferret kits can feel pain vs simple
touch since they are born at an earlier stage of gestation:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/cp-wig090711.php
I wonder if this means that some other mammal newborns do not feel pain
during delivery or in their first few days or perhaps longer (obviously
potentially much longer for marsupials), since humans are born further
along in development than many other species. Given how many can die
young in some species that would be a kindness.
The abstract is not up yet in PubMed.
This work was done because premature infants often feel either less or
more pain later in life than human infants born at about 37 weeks, but
it raises questions in regard to species other than humans. too.
Anyway, for those who were as bothered by the video tape as I was this
might indicate that perhaps some of those ferrets had a small mercy.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/http://ferrethealth.org/archive/http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.htmlhttp://www.miamiferret.org/http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/http://www.ferretcongress.org/http://www.trifl.org/index.shtmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
[Posted in FML 7178]
