Hey all!
 
I personally have never understood how people can think ferrets are rodents
and have to work to hide my annoyance when somebody refers to them as such
(even though I have nothing against rodents!).
 
Tuesday I had an appointment with an allergist, as I've been allergic to
multiple things my entire life and over the last several years have
developed asthma as well.  Just got sick of it and decided that I'd like to
try allergy shots, as they seem to be working for my husband.  I know I'm
allergic to my ferrets (I get itchy red welts where they lick or scratch
me, and I have to make sure I've taken my meds and my inhaler before
cleaning their room, etc.), and I remembered reading on this list (I think)
that while they don't make a ferret allergy shot, if you bring in some
ferret fur some labs can make one for you.  So I arrive at the doctor's
office with a big ol' baggie of ferret fur courtesy of Gus, who literally
blew his entire coat over a 2 day period a couple of weeks ago (I just
plucked him and put it right into the baggie, much to his annoyance).
Well, I didn't even get to get my baggie out.  I started to ask the doctor
about it, and was really surprised when she told me that the lab CAN do it,
but they almost never need to because even though they're not related, the
ferret allergen is similar enough to the RAT allergen that almost everybody
cross-reacts to it (so you can take shots for rat allergy and it almost
always cures the ferret allergy).  Sure enough, I reacted big-time to the
rat allergy test.  Of course, I reacted to EVERY allergen they tried except
2.  Some weird kinds of molds that probably only grow in Alaska or
something.  I reacted to I think 65 different things, and my arms were lit
up like Christmas trees, I tell you.  And I won't even mention the
itching...... but I digress....
 
Anyway, I thought that while it was interesting that rats and ferrets
have similar allergens, it certainly doesn't give our
"ferrets-are-nothing-like-rodents" stance much help!  Oh well!
 
Jamie Furr and the Furr-rats (get it?  get it?)
[Posted in FML issue 3449]