I heard about a set of studies tonight which sounds intriguing and I
figured this would make others here smile in relation to the importance
of well designed animal studies.
 
A conclusion had been reached that when wild animals were somewhat
undernourished but not starving they tested as more intelligent than
better nourished individuals from other locations and that was under
discussion at a university with people really wondering just how the
diet could manage that when a grad student piped up and said something
along the line of "Why do you think it has to be the diet?  Wouldn't
undernourished but healthy animals be spending more time seeking food,
so wouldn't they be exercising their intellects more?"  Bingo.  A further
study showed that to be what was happening.
 
Got to get outside the box sometimes in one's thinking because when seen
from a more complete perspective it might turn out to be a litter box.
When something is based upon data rather than belief challenge your
conclusions, and so do over and over again from different viewpoints.
You never know when an "Aha!" moment will happen, or when valid data will
increase (such as the impact of putting more thought into foraging), and
those things can help our ferrets and us when we weigh them well.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
replacing
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5177]