From:
Mike Janke
Date: 2001-03-28 17:57:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Males drinking urine
This topic has come up on the Ferret Mailing List more times than I
can count. I don't think anyone has ever come up with a real solid
answer to the question. Some have suggested that maybe the ferret is
thirsty, but it doesn't seem likely that so many people are leaving
their ferret's water bottle or dish go dry. I had one ferret myself
that lapped up his own urine and I can vouch for the fact that he
always had clean, fresh water available.
I guess I didn't help much, but I can answer one of your questions...
Yes, this is not that uncommon. It also doesn't SEEM to be harmful.
In fact, a few years back I remember seeing a news report about the
latest health fad (for humans)... drinking ones own urine. It even
showed two women chugging down a glass of it. So it can't be that
bad for you, though I don't believe I want to find out.
Mike
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "linda soule" <llsoule@m...> wrote:
> Does anyone know why ferrets drink their own urine? I have 3 male
ferrets who do this. One is adrenal, one has an enlarged spleen, but
#3 is just fine. Is this a common thing? Are they deficent in a
mineral or vitamin? What should I do next.