To Kathy and B.J.:
 
>Just recently, I have noticed that when my ferret, B.J., goes to the
>bathroom, periodically a portion of her stool is a whitish color.  It does not
>happen all of the time and comes and goes.  Is this normal to just have
>strange bowel movements?  Or do you think it could be caused by something she
>might have eaten? (or gotten in to)
 
        Kathy, probably what you are noticing is mucus in the stools, which
generally reflects a period of fasting in ferrets.  The colon normally produces
mucus to help passage of feces; if there is no feces for a period of time then
the mucus build up and appear as a white cast over the next batch of feces.
 
        Usually it doesn't signal a problem.
 
        One of my ferrets passed white feces the other night - but it seems he
was eating caulk from the shower.  :-(
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 576-2453/2454                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
 
[Posted in FML issue 0822]