Hi all,
Let me start by saying that I am on of the shelters Danee was referring to
in her post.  I think her idea is wonderful.  More and more shelters are
becoming ADV postive, and the costs will be phenominal if they have a large
number of ferrets.  I myself have 46.  I did a random testing of 10 with
the Elisa saliva test.  One came back as a week positive, so I quickly did
the other 36.  As you know at 10 dollars a test, that cost me $460.00.  I
had 6 more +, so I am done as a shelter.  Unfortunately, I'm not set up to
separate, and in my case, I have someone actively shedding.  To respond a
bit to Kat's post about shelters needing to test, I totally agree.  I did
not test every ferret that came in.  ADV was not big in my area and neither
is there a ferret community to speak of.  I knew enough about most of the
backgrounds of the guys I took in.  Fortunately, I'm fairly new as a
shelter, but have been "rescuing" ferrets for about 4 years.  I have not
adopted anyone out.  Most were older and in immediate need of medical care,
mostly srugeries, which add up very quickly also.  Because most of the guys
I've taken in already had a bad life, or medical problems, they were here
to stay.  I'm their sanctuary.  What time they have left will be the best
they ever had.  It's all can do for them.  So, as you can see, I made a
few mistakes, but I can honestly say, some of it was naivete' about this
disease.  Even though I've been on the ADV list from the start, I did not
realize a lot about this disease (like it can be carried for very long
periods of time) and still feel like I do not now anything.  As for
testing, the 2 I have that are showing any symptoms at all, tested negative
2 times within one week.  All the other positves are very healthy (thank
God).  One of these ferrets has been with me since he's a kit, now over a
year.  The other was in a bad home for over a year with an old cagemate
with insulinoma and adrenal.  She was negative also.  These syptoms give us
reason to believe that one of these guys is the shedder.  Now, had they
both just come to me with these symptoms, and I were suspicious.  I test,
they're negative, I test a week later, they're negative.  I must be ok????
I'm having further testing done with Dr. Stevenson to see if this is the
case.  I also spoke with another ADV+ shelter person at the AFA show on
Saturday.  She had 2 come in that she quarrantined and tested, they were
negative.  She tested again later, and I think one came up +.  They were
not exposed to her positive ferrets.  She is able to keep hers separated.
 
To wrap up this way too long post.  Even if you do test, it's not
completely foolproof.  This disease is VERY strange and so much is still
unknown.  I suggest testing with both the saiva AND the CEP (blood) test
from United, to be extra sure.  Although, as already said, most shelters
cannot afford this.  Also, we'd like to send bloodwork out regularly for
resaerch purposes, so more can be learned.  At a minimum of $20 per
package to overnight it, this too is very costly.  I surely do not have
the answers.  All I can say is, please test and be very careful.
 
Sincerely, Nicole
[Posted in FML issue 3369]