Well, its been awhile, and I am more or less back.  Many many thanks to all
the thoughtful mail concerning my dad; Like Sukie's Meltdown, he keeps
hanging in there.  Still in ICU with a trach and on a respirator, but is
writing notes now.  I had so much mail concerning my dad, the holidays, and
other various subjects, that my mailbox (through PINE) crashed because it
was overfilled.  As a result, I lost some of the mail, so if your wrote me
and I don't respond in a day or so, assume it was lost.
 
Q: (From the FML): Missing incisor teeth...
 
A: I can't answer DENTAL questions because people PICK on me....
 
Depending on the paper, ferrets can have as few as two incisors, and as many
as eight in the upper or lower jaw.  (The normal amount is six).  They are
used to help hang on to stuff, and are somewhat redundant in domestic
animals.  The teeth could be missing because of individual variation,
accidental breakage, or dental disease, but regardless of the reason, they
are unnecessary and will not be missed.  I would check the mouth and make
sure there are no other problems, then ignore it.
 
Q: (From the FML): Photoperiodism and cancer...
 
A: Photoperiods are the portion of the football game just after the end of
the regulation game where the over-paid winners try to be seen on ESPN.
Yes, it is a cancer...
 
Rudy Bob and I are on different sides of the coin on this issue, and both of
us can cite lots of papers and experts, and use really big words, but there
is one thing we both agree on, and that is, until something is proven to be
the causitive agent, you can only speak of it as a possibility, or if you
have lots of good data, as a probability.  Research is an on-going thing,
and photoperiods have become quite important in research for a number of
reasons, the least of which is their effects on the immune system.  Until
real substantive proof is found, neither side can press the claim.
 
I also agree with Rudy Bob concerning turning possibilities into facts.
There is a real danger here, just as what exists in claiming MF ferrets are
prone to certain diseases.  Maybe, but not proven.  I never (and I went back
into old FMLs to make sure) never claimed photoperiodism was THE reason,
just COULD BE a reason.
 
As it stands, the "proof" can go either way.  It may or may not be a factor.
I think it is either a contributing factor, or in some cases, the causitive
agent.  But these are opinions, not facts.  The same can be said of what
Rudy Bob has said as well.  Cancer is such a complicated and often
multi-dynamic thing that what is unimportnat to one individual is often
quite important to another.  For example, smoking causes cancer, but not
always.  PCBs cause cancers, but not always.  And so on.  One of the reasons
for this is due to individual variation, other environmental influences, and
perhaps, to photoperiodism.
 
Q: (From mail): Is it save to feed my ferrets turkey bones?
 
A: Depends on who the turkey is. Not if it is the Neut...
 
This is one of my pet buggy-boos, and (as most of you know) I strongly
advocate feeding carnivores bones and flesh as a suppliment to kibble.  The
greatest danger (actually mostly nonexistent) is in choking on bone
splinters.  So I thought I would check the last year or so of the FML to see
how many choking incidents were reported and of what type.  The exact number
might be slightly different from an exact count because I counted incidents,
not number of entries.  Many incidents were reported several times, and only
represent a single occurence.  Additionally, these were located with the
search program that comes with Word, so if the match isn't exact, then it
might have been missed.  Also, only first-hand reports were counted; the
"someone said someone saw" types were discarded because of their
unreliability.  This is NOT scientific, and is only reported to make a point.
 
Choking from Bones:           2 reported incidents.
Choking from Kibble:         12 reported incidents.
Choking from Foriegn Bodies:  9 reported incidents.
Choking from Medicine:        3 reported incidents.
Total chokings:              26 incidents.
Percent Bone Choking:         7.7 %
 
While 7.7 % choking is attributable to bones, it is still lower than choking
from simply eating food, from foriegn bodies, or from taking medicine.  Some
might argue that some categories are over- or under-represented (depending
on the point of view), and admittedly, that is probably correct, but I doubt
if bone-choking is under-reported because of the several times it was
debated; it is likely that it was over-reported in comparison to the other
categories.  I, and others, specifically requested bone-choking reports for
ferrets on several occasions.
 
I give my 18 ferrets bone every day, and have only had a single minor
choking incident.  Why?  because they rarely eat the hard tube-like middles,
and concentrate on the iron and protein rich ends.  I also boil the bone
until the outside become soft; about 15-20 minutes.  And lastly, the teeth
and jaws of the little beasts are *designed* to cut, crush, or otherwise
consume bone.  It is not a problem compared to normal day-day activities.
 
Mo' Bob C and the 18 Foulmarts
[Posted in FML issue 1795]