Fasting times sometimes vary depending on the condition of the ferret. For example, if the ferret can not pass thing readily from the stomach a longer fasting time is needed to avoid regurgitation with the risk of aspiration pneumonia BUT if the ferret has insulinoma or certain other pancreatic problems then a shorter time is needed to avoid starving the brain of sugars, usually not more than 4 hours, sometimes fewer. If both are present then the shorter fast is done, the ferret is sometimes made groggy (if inclined to pull out IVs) and I IV is placed and then the fast is extended while the blood sugar levels are kept safe by the IV. Sometimes they occur coincidentally, but also a large stuck object in the stomach can cause liver inflammation and sometimes pancreatic inflammation -- something we learned a lot about because of a ferret we had with multiple deformities, including of the stomach and small intestine, who was given to us by the breeder to avoid destruction. He could not pass things well, even normal things due to his problems and meds to help with stomach contractions could not be used because the condition also left his stomach and small intestine too friable, so he needed four difficult stomach surgeries and two surgeries to correct a deformed paw with complicated syndactyly. With a lot of hard work and expense (and often sleeping in shifts as needed) Steve and I got him 6 good years of life, though, the same amount we were able to get another one with a larger numbers of serious deformations and handicaps. Clarification on what you read: it is not that a fast messes up blood glucose tests, but that any fast and length of it are among the things which need to be known to correct evaluate the data. In some borderline ferrets a fasting glucose test is still needed. One thing to take info account: if you heard the fasting time from a hospital employee rather than the vet directly then the wrong time may be being given to you since some hospitals automatically give out the standard dog and cat timing. Should that be what happened, call the hospital and leave a message for a call-back at the vet's convenience with your question and permission to leave the info on your answering machine if that is okay with you. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5651]