To Victoria concerning Antigone -
 
        Victoria, I am sorry about your loss.  I, who am the toughest judge of
human character that I know, especially when it relates to caring for animals,
have no doubt in my mind that you did everything possible for Antigone.
Sometimes putting an end to suffering is more humane than prolonging a
situation, regardless of cost.
 
 
   To Amy Cara concerning decreasing fat intake:
 
        Amy - most ingredients in milk replacer are given by dry weight, I
believe,  but Jan has the label, so she has the final word here.
 
        Amy, fat is not the ingredient that should be reduced as animals get
older.  A certain amountof fat is required to make dry foods palatable.  (around
9% I believe for cats - I'm not sure what it is for ferrets).  Most of the
rations are fairly standard with regard to fat.
 
        Protein is the culprit.  Studies have shown over and over, that in cats
and rats, two species which get similar renal lesions to ferrets, as they age,
excessive levels of protein exacerbate renal disease, while mild protein
restriction prolongs the life of the kidney.  Mind you, no one has ever done
this study in ferrets - my info is based on looking at many, many kidneys of
these species and noting the marked similarities in disease progression.  I do
practice what I preach - my ferrets older thn 5 years get maintenance cat food
rather than the higher protein kitten varieties.
 
 
        To Dave concerning rat poison -
 
        Any rat poison is too much.  There are many types of poisons on the
market, which cause all types of reactions from impairing blood clotting, to
causing marked degeneration in the brain.  Most of the ones on the market are
neurotoxic - these are the ones that come in the little blue-green pellets. They
cause marked cerebral edema and seizures in acute poisoning, and incoordination
and paralysis in a more chronic intoxication.  It would help to know the
ingredient of the rat poison, though...
 
Bruce Williams, DVM
[log in to unmask]
 
[I thought the most common ones were Warfarin, which is a blood clotting
impairer.  For the fans of naturopathy, Warfarin is derived from rotting
clover... ;-) (Or, was that another clotting impairer?  My memory is
going...)]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0753]