From:
nzweezul
Date: 2002-04-24 20:09:00 UTC
Subject: Re: poops
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Marla Wadsworth" <mwadswor@c...>
wrote:
but is there a set amount of how much a ferret should poop during the
day...some of my smaller ferrets poops ...also if they slide their
butt a little after pooping
Have you ever had children? Or little brothers and sisters? If you
had, you'd know how poops can vary. Well we all poop different
amounts, colours and textures. Depends on the diet, the amount of
water or other liquids drunk and on our own individual metabolism and
anatomy. This applies to all creatures. What is normal for one is not
normal for another which is why, as well as knowing what
is "generally" accepted as normal for a species, it is wise to know
what is normal for a particular individual.
"Normal" encompasses a much wider range of texture, colour, amount,
smell, and other variables than most people imagine - "normal" is
very definitely NOT the same as "average". This is, unfortunately, a
commonly misunderstood concept. Makes studies in medical epidemiology
and statistics VERY difficult to use for practical purposes.
Just because something is not within the "average" range does NOT
mean that is is abnormal. Far from it. A woman 5ft tall is not of
average height, but she is of perfectly normal height.Ferrets, like
humans, have individual variation and the amount of faeces produced
will have wide variations. Most will be "normal", but relatively few
will be "average".
As far as sliding their bums goes - as long as it's only for a moment
after defaecating, I think that they're using toilet paper ... in
fact I have newspaper around my litter boxes for that reason. I find
my ferrets always wipe their chins and whiskers on towelling whenever
they have had cream or oil as a treat. So I leave a small towel by
their treats bowl for them to use as a napkin! Ever so polite and
clean!
Just an aside - I find it surprising (but rather sweet) how
Americans apologise when they write about urine and faeces of their
pets ... as if they expect others to find the subject disgusting,
even on a website like this.