Yesterday I wrote: >I was actually trying to find a very specific thing for someone: >if anyone has done studies that specifically measure things like >glucose and insulin levels in blood and urine in ferrets in response >to dietary intake challenges, and that data appears to be lacking in >what I can find, yet such data would be essential to the foundation >of multiple hypotheses and arguments (sometimes intrinsically >self-contradictory arguments on some popular websites as my find >noticed) in relation to some pancreatic and intestinal health >statements being widely made. The answer -- having contacted some veterinary researchers who work on improving diagnosis and care of ferrets with insulinoma -- is that these measurements have NOT been done on ferrets to see how much blood glucose and insulin levels or glucose in urine (preferably looking at all three) change in response to challenges from eating animal protein, plant protein, sugar, or complex carbohydrates. The data just does not exist for ferrets. The work has not been done even though this is essential foundation information. What exists are suppositions from other mammals. So, basically, the news is how LITTLE is actually known on this score for ferrets! Remember, that with dogs -- far better known companion animals -- a recent surprise was found in that in multiple ways they have the genetics to far better digest carbohydrates and fats than wolves have: http://www.sciencemeetsfood.org/?p=869 QUOTES The researchers identified 36 genomic regions that differentiated dogs and wolves. Ten of these play roles in starch digestion and fat metabolism, such as amylase and maltase, two key starch breakdown enzymes. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11837.html Erik Axelsson was also interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition yesterday, you can listen to the full story here: <http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=3&prgDate=01-24-2013> END QUOTES <http://www.livescience.com/26513-starchy-human-diet-domesticated-dogs.html> <http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/347706/description/Starchy_diet_may_have_transformed_wolves_to_dogs> <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11837.html> Oh, and on this topic: if bringing up the cecum/caecum (and therefore the appendix) in such discussions it would be good for people to recall that some suppositions about digestion -- while they can AT TIMES affect degree -- are lodged in the state of knowledge that existed back in the 19th and early 20th centuries and has altered, so really should stop being repeated as if they were absolutes. Since this link below was written: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-the-function-of-t it also was found that organ acts to serve as a shelter for needed bacteria in the intestinal microbiome to protect part of their population during bad diarrhea, but just as people without one still digest a varied diet well due to having the right genetics and the right intestinal microbes so can other species. A lot has been learned in 100 years plus. Again: here is what to take home: ******the news is how LITTLE is actually known on this score for ferrets!****** What hypothesizing means is that the hypothesis might be right or might not. With so little known about ferrets on this score, even such basics as not having those challenge studies done, it is essential the recall that what things are discussed for ferrets and diet are just hypotheses, and that even for dogs what HAD been thought to be known because of wolves and other wild cousins turns out to actually not be at all the complete picture. So, it is useful to know the ancestral diet, but also useful to keep an open mind in case a surprise comes up for you. Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game. Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) A nation is as free as the least within it. [Posted in FML 7688]