Is there a functional large intestine in the ferret?

Summary The intestine of the ferret (Putorius furo) is unusual in that there is no external anatomical division between ileum and colon. Up to 8–10 cm from the anus the electrical activity was organized into migrating myoelectric complexes typical of the small intestine. At this point the pattern of electrical activity changed abruptly to that characteristic of the colon, namely short and long spike burst activity. Histological examination showed that at this point the muscular layers were interupted by a band of connective tissue sufficient to permit the functional autonomy of the last part of the intestine.Acknowledgments. The authors are grateful to V. Rayner for helpful discussion and criticism. They acknowledge financial support received from INRA (Department of Veterinary Research).