>Once again (I find myself saying this all of the time) - why is it not
>ECE - ferret coronavirus, the agent of ECE is by far the most common cause
>of outbreaks of diarrhea in households - not one ferret, but multiple.
>There aren't a lot of diseases that cause that presentation.
>Bruce Williams, dVM
 
There are many, very, wonderful ferret knowledgeable vets out there, but
too often I have found vets who do not know how to diagnose something such
as ECE or Adrenal or misdiagnose.  I have not found one vet in my area that
is ferret knowledgeable.  For shots, they are okay, but for checkups, etc.,
I have found that they really have no clue.  I had to recently take my
ferret 4 hours away to a very good *ferrety* vet to get her adrenal surgery
done.  I checked with every vet clinic in town (which are quite a few) and
can you believe it...not one of them did the surgery!  That concerns me -
we have a lot of ferrets in this community.  I asked one of the vets what
he does when someone brings their fuzzy into him for adrenal.  He replied
that he doesn't do anything for them...his answer was that "most ferrets
do fine without it".  Yikes!!!  He also knows nothing about ECE...I had to
bring in information off the net for him.  When I asked another vet about
what they do at their clinic they replied that they have never done an
adrenal surgery.  It's sad because we do have a lot of ferrets here in our
community....I wonder what the owners do.
 
It is really too bad that as popular as ferrets are, that more vets do not
learn more in that area.  Don't get me wrong...I understand that many vets
are very busy and there are so many to be commended out there, but I also
believe that now that ferrets are more popular than ever...why not take
the time to learn more about them in their practice.  That would be like
comparing to a new found surgery that could help cure some virus in
animals...you bet that the vets would want to know everything about it and
start practicing it....why is it any different then, that ferrets aren't
becoming the "norm" in some practices?
 
Without the FML, I would have never known what certain symptoms were of my
fuzzies ailments.  And it became a lifesaving resource and continues to be
for many others who are learning as well.
 
I will jump off my soapbox now.  I hope this doesn't start any flames...I
wasn't intending to "bash" vets by no means.  It is just a concern about
so many communities that have a high ferret count, but no vets to properly
treat them.  I'm in one of those communities.
 
Wishes to all for a warm *fuzzy* day!
Tracy J.
Tango, Chico, Roo, Pepe', Spunky & Leah
[Posted in FML issue 3294]