Susie Lee said:
>Any responsible "duck soup" creator and administerer will...check
>out their ingredients...with their veterinarian and/or animal care
>professional first.
 
Excellent!  You do more than most people in this regard and I commend
you.  Outside of wishing you defined "animal care professional" (which
could be anyone), I have a single comment, not addressed to you, but the
general FML.  Most vets, like most human doctors, know diddily-squat
about nutrition.  The good ones have learned about nutrition on their own
or as part of an advanced study program, some rely on what others have
reported or the few classes taken as a vet student, but many seem to
believe the word-for-word claims of pet food salesmen or brochures.  Few
ferret vets have even opened Fox's book on ferrets (2nd edition) to read
what is perhaps the most easily obtained article on ferret nutrition,
but even then, those nutrient requirements were determined by defining
"complete nutrition" as being able to get a jill through pregnancy and
kit weaning.  It actually does not address long-term nutritional issues,
nor does it address issues of nutrition during illness or any other state
that might cause a ferret to reside in a nursing cage.  I know for a fact
that malnourished female ferrets can successfully reproduce; maternal
effect theory, the influence of the nutritional environment on the size
of the mother and resulting offspring, predicts malnourished mothers will
birth smaller offspring in smaller numbers, and both offspring and mother
will have shorter lives.  Even moderate malnutrition at a population
level doesn't stop somewhat successful reproduction.  Remember, the term
"complete nutrition" was given to cat dietary formulations that resulted
in untold numbers of cats losing their vision and developing heart
problems!  Most of these cats, doomed to an early death and a life of
misery because of diet, were able to reproduce.
 
Susie Lee said:
>This should be done with each consideration of change in ingredients.
>If an effect on an animal is not known by the animal care professional,
>then that unknown-effect ingredient is not used nor administered.
 
BRAVO! (with the same caveat as above)
 
Susie Lee said:
>As to lengthening the lives of ferrets...we DO have records and
>documentation...which shows quite a few having lived up to between
>11 years and 13 years and two months of age in comfort....
 
I am not trying to be argumentative, but while these records are
commendable and far in excess of what most ferret owners or shelters
attempt to maintain and you should be congratulated for them, they do not
prove duck soup is effective because of the number of variables left
uncontrolled.  Here is an example of what I mean: You have a tank filled
with a dozen gasses.  You toss in a lighted match, and the gasses in the
tank ignite and burn.  Does any one of these known factors provide proof
to what is happening when the vapors ignite and burn?  Can you prove
oxygen was reacting with any one gas?  Can you even say pure oxygen is
one of the gasses and wasn't present as part of another reactive
molecule?  You can't because you don't have enough information.  Neither
can you say keeping the records as described proves the duck soup is
effective.
 
When you are trying to determine if a duck soup is effective, you have
to control for such variables that also have a impact on longevity, such
as nursing care, how many times the ferret sees a vet (and how effective
those visits are), the types, length, and strength of disease, the
genetics of the ferret, caging conditions, and dozens more!  Most
diseases progress along a predictable path, a so-called disease curve,
and where a ferret is on that curve impacts the effectiveness of
nutritional supplements.  What you CAN tell from such data is the overall
effectiveness of the care given to the ferrets, which in this case
appears outstanding.  You consult vets regarding supplements and feeding,
you keep outstanding records, and it is patently obvious you apply the
same type of nursing care to your ferrets has you learned to apply to
humans.  With all that said, it doesn't prove the duck soup formulation
you are serving has ANY degree of effectiveness.  It is a single
uncontrolled variable in what appears to be an outstanding quality and
quantity of nursing care.
 
Susie Lee said:
>...Give your soup to your frrets as They need it, on the advice of your
>vet(s) who are familiar with their condition.
 
That is exactly what people should do -- thank you for emphasizing it for
me.  When I die and come back as a ferret, I want you to nurse me back to
health. ;-)
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4408]