>From:    "JEFF JOHNSTON, EPIDEMIOLOGY" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: *Why* is plant protein bad?
What I'd heard from folks like Dr.  Willard (Performance Foods - Totally
Ferret designer) and others (like vets) was that there is a difference in
the makeup of the protiens.  Animal protiens are already setup for use by
carnivore while plant protiens are not.  Complexity level differs but I do
not remember the specifics.  The food has to be broken up and then
reassembled.  Animal protien breaks up into components that the ferret can
use but vegetable protiens break up differently and are not as useful.  To
get the same amount of use out of vegetable protien then more has be pass
through the system.  You implied that all protiens are approximately the
same but I don't think that turns out to be the case.
 
>From:    Lynn Mcintosh <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Medical - please help!
How large was the dead kits head?  We lost a jill to infection caused when a
still born kit was so large that the jill was torn open giving birth.  A
combination of Dr.  Kawasaki and Dr.  Wardell couldn't save our jill - but
she went from healthy to dying literally overnight.  We didn't have any
signs of swollen glands.  A less serious infection though could possibly
have been caused by a similar tearing.  But as I'm not a vet I'm just making
semi-random guesses.
 
As far as the neural tube disorder - I am checking with folks on this coast
but have not learned anything to pass on.  Nobody seems to know much.  But
if it is viral or bacterial could the same infectious agent have been passed
to the mother and cause the swelling?  Again just a shot in the dark.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://userwww.qnet.com/~killian/zen_home.htm
[Posted in FML issue 1499]