>Heather went to Animal House on 4th St (and 62nd Ave N) in St Pete to
>get some ferret supplies.  I had previously sworn off this dreadful
>store after we rescued Arthur from it over a year ago.  However, it
>was the closest pet store for her to go to on her lunch break.
>
>In talking to one of the girls there about Arthur, the worker mentioned
>that MF ships lots of kits to them already sick.
 
Well, I haven't seen or heard of such problems here (but Steve and I only
spot check stores now and then -- not having time to do anything further)
and you already said that this store is so awful that you wont' go into
it.  Have you considered that the store may be seeking a scapegoat for
its own bad practises?
 
Also, don't forget that many pet stores use distributors and those can be
further cause for health considerations.
 
It think that this is the sort of statement that needs further
investigation no matter who winds up looking bad, but that steps should
not be left out.
 
Finding vets:  Look in the Critical References Section of the
International Ferret Congress site
http://www.ferretcongress.org .  Each of those lists is different so
check the bunch.
 
If you go to http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org you will find 16 articles on
hematoma.
 
Here are some by vets:
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG3178
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG13786
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG2072
 
Was the ferret injured in that location?  We had one who used to get
behind me to allow me to step on her in hopes of getting treats from my
feeling guilty.  One day she tripped me so badly that I went down and in
falling had a heel land on her neck.  She was lucky so you can guess the
result.  Luckily she was not badly injured but the blood vessels there
never were the same so she could never be scruffed again.  (I didn't make
out quite as well since I was trying to not hurt her and not worrying
about possibly hurting myself -- i.e.: normal ferret person behavior.)
We began giving her times out instead of treats when she tried it again
afterward to train her away from that behavior.
[Posted in FML issue 4100]