Troy Lynn wrote:
>When I'm hungry I eat.  I can't imagine now ever being hungry and not
>able to eat when I want to.  There was a period in my life when this did
>happen and it wasn't pleasant.... it was very painful for a time and I
>now have to deal with a medical condition that relates to this time.
 
I am sorry to read that.  YES, hunger can be painful.  I've been there,
too.  Luckily, I never had anything worse than malnutrition from it, but
we had some poor times in my childhood and I partly got through college
with starvation by spending money on my tuition and books instead of
food.  I agree that it can be painful.  Maybe it's a matter of degree,
or maybe some individuals differ, though.  For me it involved very real
pain.  I understand your point that it's hard to know when that may be
the case for another individual, within species or across species.  One
thing that I found out when I asked folks about two things recently
(subtle indicators of happiness, and learned behaviors that get passed
among ferrets -- sort of ferret "culture") is that it turns out that most
folks just do not notice the more subtle aspects of behavior and those
would be the indicators of when pain short of extreme levels is present.
Some folks "get a feeling" which likely means that they have some
awareness of such changes but not enough of one to note the specifics.
So, it could be that signs of early pain simply would be missed by those
who don't watch very carefully and that could backfire in terms of health
and quality of life for the ferrets.  There is also the possible problem
of simply not providing enough in the way of essential nutrients and
winding up with malnutrition.  Most folks know so little about that topic
that self-designed diets or self-designed caloric reduction can become
dangerous for the ferrets.  It's important for folks to know their own
limitations; not everyone can safely manage things which might be easy
for someone else due to not engaging in behaviors which may be second
nature to another person.
 
>The ferrets that I've personally cared for that are obese are those that
>had been in a starvation state when they came to me
 
We've also encountered that.  What seems to work best when possible from
our experience is to "impose" extra fun exercise on those individuals.
 
>And yes, I too am a bit plump.
 
LOL!  Me, too.  For years now I get sick if I try to diet for more than
a couple of weeks.  What works great for me is heavy duty exercise, but
asthma has reduced that over the last few years.  Luckily, I am improving
a great deal with the allergy shots so I am starting again to have
increases in exercise and that is good for me.
 
"One size fits all" has a major way of backfiring, whether it is in
sweeping explanations or sweeping actions which simply can't be done
safely by many; which all boils down to each of us trying to be aware
of the ferrets as much as possible, knowing our limitations as well
as possible since we all have them, acknowledging that what suits one
individual won't suit another, knowing hypotheses from facts, and
discussing possible changes with vets beforehand so that they (the
ferret health experts who know ferret health and know our individuals)
can decide what is or is not safe.
 
Good points, Troy Lynn!
 
>That leaves the two major contenders being genetics and diet.
 
Can't say that I agree that things are as easily dismissed as has been
done, also you forgot other alternative hypotheses such as the possible
viral trigger for certain specific problems which has been advanced by
some research vets.
 
Kim wrote:
>I have learned that many people on the FML are quick to jump on a
>bandwagon without knowing where the wagon was going or where it was
>coming from.
 
That is such a MAGNIFICENT sentence!
[Posted in FML issue 3967]