I was talking to my vet about simmilar things when I had my cat in...she
hadn't gone before we left the house and certianly wasn't going to go
there!  Her full bladder was kinda, but not majorly, interfering with the
exam.  I mentioned doing just that, pressing on the abdomen/bladder to try
and get her to go...and my vet told me this.
 
My vet had done exactly the same thing that this vet tech did...cat under,
etc.  The cat's bladder *ruptured* !
 
I would imagine that doing the same to our ferrets *could* also result in
the same kind (or even other kinds of internal) damage.  *Don't* press to
get them to go.  All it takes is once, and according to the vet, it doesn't
take much.  (This is the vet who removed a piece of skull with a bone tumor
from Tempest without prior experience and without doing a whit of damage to
him, so she's not a heavy-handed or stupid vet either!)
 
So, *do* wake them up and let them run around for 15 minutes and if they
don't go, take clean up
 
Mine usually go around the vets office anyway!
 
Sue
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[Posted in FML issue 2769]