Oh, Ilena had asked the position of the ferrets who hang their turds high.
Our's is the LOWEST in the bunch and very happy with being there, too.
Have had to wonder after Ilena's question if he was just trying to NOT
cover the scent of anyone more powerful.  BTW, our vet mentioned, in
a discussion on Jumper's positions and behavior, running into a wolf
reference that mentioned that the death of the lowest is more disruptive
to the pack than the death of the highest.  Interesting.
 
I've never done ferret CPR but DID once have to do AR (artificial
respiration).  Obviously this was a last ditch effort with a ferret who was
unconscious and had completely stopped breathing.  Fritter was a kit at the
time and had eaten a piece of sponge which then was vomited and aspirated
as I ran to her (obvious when you think about it why you don't dislodge
something stuck in the esophagus at home but only do Heimlichs on those who
can't breath or speak since things can then go to the trachia or lungs and
pose worse dangers).  I used very, very tiny careful cheek puffs to both
her nose and mouth.  The piece got pushed to her lungs and remained there
throughout the rest of her almost 7 year life.  If memory serves I placed
fingers very lightly on her thorax to monitor what was inflating.  This was
a good long while ago.  Obviously, I was very worried about bursting her
lungs or her stomach but she would have been dead immediately without it
so in this case it was worth it.
 
Dick's warnings on mineral oil were on the mark, and it can also cause
painful cramping.  Ela's and Sharin's mentions that food oils (fats in
general) slow digestion are right, plus remember that in Fox's _Biology and
Diseases of the Ferret_ there are descriptions of medical problems which
can be caused by too much polyunsaturated oil or marine fish oil so stick
with monosaturates or saturates for your treats.  (BTW, it has been
suggested that the slowing of digestion may be a partial mechanism for high
fat take increasing colon cancer risk since it might increase exposure time
to some of the nastier things present.)
 
FOR THE DIET WEBPAGE:  Call 1-888-FERRETW (Ferret Ware) and ask Hildy to
sell you one of the few remaining copies of James Fox's book _Biology and
Diseases of the Ferret, 2nd Edition_  (1998).  There is an ENTIRE CHAPTER
on the questions you ask plus info on nutrition related diseases and
disorders of the ferret.
[Posted in FML issue 2597]