Ah, those things in which both sides are right!  Some areas now do have a
number of ferret-knowledgeable vets, but there still are many places where
that is not the case.  The situation is vastly improved from where it had
been, but there are locations in which no one knows squat, while others
have several now.
 
Fortunately, as has been pointed out, there are seminars and conferences.
In addition, there are webpages like Bruce's at the AFIP and Charlie's
at Ferretdoctor which are geared to teaching vets and ferret-people, and
Charlie has that marvelous videotape which instructs while being affordable
compared to alternative methods of learning, there are three vet texts
out there (Hillyer and Quesenberry, Fox, and Purcell -- going in order of
date published for most recent editions) and there is a new Hillyer and
Quesenberry one being worked upon.
 
More vet schools seem to be teaching about ferrets; that is an impression
from things vets have said to us so I hope that it is true.
 
Are there areas in which misinformation and regional slants abound?  Of
course.  We can all just hope that situation continues to improve as more
is learned from alternative sources by vets within those places.
 
Mark asks about Chemo.  I know that Bandit (who lived about 5 years more
afterward to age 8) and was in the family of Katie Fritz (not Kathy) did
not have a terrible time with the Jeglum protocol even though we had a
ferret who simply couldn't tolerate it.  Some of the response is apparently
variable depending on the individual ferret.  If we had one who was in the
prime of life I am sure we'd try it to see if that individual was likely to
be one of the lucky ones (though we'd stop if it got too bad), but we don't
go further than Prednisone and other med needed for the elderly ones or
for those with other serious medical problems because that seems kinder at
this stage of the game.  It's entirely possible that take may change as
even more protocols are developed; I gather there are multiple ones now
but don't know details, so could be wrong about the option level.  We HAVE
gotten as much as 14 months more with just Predisone, and 8 months for
another old one with lymhosarcoma with just Pred before life got bad, but
also have gotten fewer, depending on individual.
[Posted in FML issue 3301]