I have been corresponding with a very nice lady from the FML who has been
kind enough to share her "thoughts" on the ADV issue with me.  She said
she didn't post her questions to the list because she felt "stupid".  (I
wish people wouldn't feel that way...I know that ADV is an "unknown".  If
you post your questions to the list, everyone will get answers).  With
her permission, I'm copying one of her e-mails to me:
 
She writes:
"I think it is difficult to convince people that an issue is important
when the signs of it are not obvious.  It's not like adrenal or insulinoma,
where it typically has a direct impact on the ferret.  It's signs seem to
be hidden.  Plus, it doesn't seem like there's a lot that can be done for
the ferret at this point except for treating the symptoms.  Without the
knowledge of how the disease is spread, how it affects ferrets, etc, you
may as well be talking about the end of the earth.  Does that make any
sense?
 
I mean, look at me.  I'm a prime example of it.  Out of the recent
postings, I understood that (a) I should be scared; (b) this could (but
often doesn't) kill my ferret; (c) this could be a major epidemic; and
(d) there's no answers right now.  I didn't understand why I should be so
concerned about something that probably won't kill my ferret.  I still
don't really understand the full consequences of it.  I find it difficult
to be concerned about something when I don't understand its effects.
then, there's the fact that there's nothing that can be done about it yet.
It's like screaming the sky is falling without having any data to really
back it up.  I'm not sure if any of this makes sense.
 
I guess what I'm saying is that I think that it's very easy for people to
dismiss something like this.  For me, I'm more concerned about Zinc not
being vaccinated against distemper.  Ferrets do die of that.  And quick.
(She had an anaphylactic reaction to the shot and is undergoing yearly
titer tests.)
 
You have a lot of work ahead of you -- an uphill battle, you might say.
But when the going starts getting rough and people come to their senses,
it will be you they will come to.  It's like the saying goes: you can take
the horse to water, but you can't force it to drink.>>
 
Yes, this made a lot of sense to me.  It helped me to understand why more
people are not jumping up and down about ADV...why everyone doesn't see
this issue the way that I do, and Julie does, and Mary does, and Danee
does, and Yvonne does, and so many others with ferrets with ADV.
 
We've known all along that it is going to be an uphill battle, but I'm not
sure we really realized just *how* uphill it was going to be.  I feel like
we take one stride forward (and we have...no doubt of that), and then slide
back three or four.  I have to admit that some days I'm very discouraged...
and this is one of them, although it had nothing to do with her e-mail,
which I actually received a couple of weeks ago.  The way I've been feeling
today just made me think it would be a good time to write about it.  I did
answer her the best that I could...but I'm planning to send this to Dr.
Williams when he gets back, and (semi) caught up, to see if he will answer
it for everyone.  I know he can do a much better job than I can.
 
Judy
http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom/index.html
[Posted in FML issue 3208]