http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/
story/0001%2F20031227%2F142405422.htm&sc=1110&related=off
 
including:
 
>The Food and Drug Administration has said it will probably write new
>regulations that could require companies that slaughter ``downer''
>livestock - animals that are sick or injured - to dispose of the brain
and
>spinal cord before mixing animal feed and pet food, expanding on the
>1997 ban.
 
There may also be logical short-term silent carriers (infective for a
while but possibly not infected) reasons to change the feed regulations
for poultry and maybe for fish which go into the food stream.  At this
point cattle offal can be fed to chickens which in turn can have their
offal fed to cattle.  This is a TME (which ferrets get) study result:
http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s076fx.pdf
 
There is not much in way of inquiry into prion diseases in non-mammals
so far, it appears.
 
---
 
We are busy working up new med doses for Ashling and will be trying
adding an additional med to try to reduce one med since the damage from
her carcinoma is suddenly causing worsening of her hypoglycemia at the
same time as increases in ascites and it's now at a point where one of
the meds under use could compound the other problem.  So, wish her well.
Whether this will work depends on how her body responds to the med
changes.  We're also going from 3 supplemental feedings per day to 5
even though she eats crunchies, too, to be more sure of reducing any
chance of times without food, so we're sleeping in more exaggerated
shifts now for her.
 
Maybe this poor sweetheart won't make it to her 7th birthday.  It's a
shame.  If ever there was a darling who deserved a very long life -- a
lot longer than she is getting -- she'd be in the running for winning
that nomination.
[Posted in FML issue 4376]