Eating, digesting, pooping — it seems natural, easy, and one would think, foolproof. It happens several times a day, although to ferret owners, it sometimes seems like so much more often.
It’s actually a very complex process, with interplay between many organs and systems, and so many places where trouble can occur. If you look at the number of diseases that may affect ferrets, you’ll see that an inordinate number occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Many ferrets, especially older ones, have problems.
The best way to understand the marvel that is digestion is to follow a bit of food all the way through the GI tract, from stem to stern (so to speak). This way, we can look at the many variables that affect digestion and how and why various diseases affect the digestive process of our ferrets.
For the full article, pick up the 2011 issue of Ferrets USA or click here to buy the issue.