DUCK SOUPS: There are literally hundreds of duck soup concoctions available on the internet, recommended by friends or pushed by shelter people. Each one is touted as "life saving," "responsible for my ferrets survival," and "necessary for life." I am quite sure the people making these claims believe them, but the cold hard facts are often quite different (if that phrase alone will not increase my popularity, wait until you hear what I have to say next!). Many of these brews are devised in the "if it is good for humans, it will be good for ferrets" camp, while others belong to the "if they need it, let's add it" group. Both groups are absolutely convinced their potions meet whatever supplemental requirement they see as missing, although rarely are ferret nutritional needs assessed prior to administering the supplements, and even less commonly done are chemistry panels to determine a ferret's actual need and length of supplemental therapy. The problem is, there is a singular lack of demonstrable evidence that these potions are even the slightest bit effective! Sure, sure, sure, there are plenty of stories saying they work and save lives, but NO PROOF other than heart-rending anecdotes is ever offered. Here is the problem with anecdotal evidence. Suppose it is a statistical certainty 30% of ferrets with a particular disease die within a year if left untreated. Shelter XYZ and Person 123 feed a duck soup potion to their ferrets that have the disease and have found 70% survive more than a year! Does that mean the duck soup brew is effective? Not at all -- those ferrets in the 70% group would have survived anyway! What if 80% survive? Was the extra 10% because of the duck soup? Perhaps, but it could have just as easily have been a statistical anomaly based on a small population size, other medicine or treatment, excellent nursing care, misdiagnosis, less virulent form of the disease, different points on the disease curve, blind luck, or any number of other factors left uncontrolled in this unsanctioned medical experimentation. On the other hand, if we know 30% of the ferrets will die if untreated, and statistically XYZ and 123 are losing 30% of their population to the disease, THAT means the duck soup potion they are administering offers no more help than if the ferrets were left untreated. See the problem? It LOOKS like the duck soup is an effective treatment because 70% of the ferrets are surviving, but a closer look at the data shows you might as well be doing nothing. Yet, many duck soup proponents see what is a statistically normal survival rate and attribute the success to their magic potion! I have seen this many times on the FML during the last few years. The cold, hard fact is that there is NO evidence ANY duck soup does anything other than fill the ferret's belly. If asked, users will ALL cite melodramatic, heart-rending anecdotes about surviving ferrets, but we never learn how many ferrets consume the concoction, if consuming the stuff actually lowers the death rate or increases recovery, or if there are potential side effects due to the administration of untested supplements. All we actually know is that the duck soup "pusher" THINKS the tonic will cure a ferret with a belief that can exceed religious faith. In fact, the opposite can be very true. One last comment on duck soup and I'll bury the issue. When I rant about duck soup potions, it is not directed at Lucki Duck Soup, or those of similar formulations, but instead those filled with ferret-untested additives and supplements. I have no real objection to the original Lucki Duck soup, which was basically Sustacal and water soaked kibble, blended into a slurry, or similar benign formulations. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 4406]