Dawn, I suspect you didn't mean your post yesterday to come off quite the
way it could be read.
Dawn Johnson wrote:
>[People who harass others have] taken away ... life saving info that
>will be hard to get else where [sic] without having to pay for it!
I suspect that perhaps you were referring to such items as knowing the
biological reasons why diagnoses so often can't be reached from the
description of color or scent of loose stools, and other such information.
Dawn, it is essential that you and others understand that Bruce Williams'
intent has NEVER been to displace vet care or vet advice. NOTHING can
replace the hands-on help of a knowledgeable vet. Veterinarians such as
Bruce know this truth better than anyone else.
Please, don't forget, folks, that you can access Bruce William's past posts
through the FML back issues. Look just below today's index for more info.
Here is a VERY important point: MOST of the health questions that wind up
being asked have their answers within existing resources that are readily
available.
You may find such answers by:
1. Finding a knowledgeable vet. Many shelters and clubs and some on-line
resources can assist you. Some of the websites below will help you find
them.
2. Finding a vet who loves to learn when your area does not have a
knowledgeable one, and helping that vet learn by printing out information
from:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.ferretdoctor.com
http://ferretcentral.org Scroll down opening page for Health Care
contacts and also go to
http://ferretcentral.org/faq/index.html#med_index
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc and use the search box if need to
http://www.ferret.org
These can in turn lead you to more specific resources when those are
needed.
Also, don't forget veterinary texts. There are at least five options
out there. The three we have (with ALL being useful) are:
1. _Essentials of Ferrets_ by Karen Purcell available from AAHA Press
1-800-252-2242 (This is the most accessible of the texts for
non-biologists, and I suspect a version could be modified into a
shorter book (sort of a _Vet Help for Ferret Folks_ for bookstore
and petstore shelves at some point)
2. _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, second edition_ , James Fox,
Williams and Wilkins Publishing (the most thorough but the least
accessible, out of print)
3. _Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents_, Liz Hillyer and Kathy Quesenberry,
Saunders Publishing (Between the other two on some points.)
I know that Bruce Williams has contributed to such texts as well as to
journals.
In addition, Charlie Weiss's video is strongly recommended for serious vets
and clubs. You can learn about it by using the ferretdoctor webpage above.
3. Read at least some of these resources yourself.
4. Seek out other resources such as the new Ferret Health List. See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list to get a feeling for it.
Finally, I am not a breeder, but I know that there are breeders here who
can direct you to resources for diets during pregnancy and nursing, and
that some of the above webpages may help. Like Bill I did not find the
cautions about breeding in the FML to be too strongly worded at all; it
is not an activity which should be entered into casually and I think
people simply wanted to say that.
[Posted in FML issue 3336]
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