Because of the discussions in two fora and privately on T cell based
medical approaches, how little in known on those, and what needs to be
known, I have gotten some mails about a product which recently caused
problems for a ferret of a list member who had missed the warnings:
Pau d' Arco.  So, maybe this will help some people.
 
BTW, A person has to pick and choose when to try to boost an immune
system; sometimes it is exactly the wrong thing to do and suppression
is more useful in curing or treating.  Think of the many disorders for
which steroids or chemotherapeutic drugs are used well in ferrets.
 
Be careful with Pau d'Arco in ferrets.  It tends to decrease their
blood glucose and imitate or worsen the effects of insulinoma.
 
Dr. Karen Purcell has mentioned encountering other nasty side effects
found in ferrets, too, but I don't know what they are.  She used to use
it, but then she wound up with problems resulting.  A number of vets who
used to use it have mentioned no longer doing so for the same reason --
usually the blood sugar problem.
 
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG964
 
> From: "Karen Purcell, DVM"
> Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 01:47:30 +0000
>
> Well, I also researched this supplement, and found alot of nasty side
> effects, so I don't recommend it for anything anymore.  I really need
> to update the book :-)
>
>-Dr. Karen
 
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG358
 
> From: "Karen Purcell, DVM"
> Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 22:43:26 +0000
>
> I'm going to add some comments to this that 4 years in practice have
> provided - I know longer use Pau d'arco, due to some research that
> indicated way more side effects were possible that I have previously
> known.. ...
 
So, if seeking to help a ferret make sure that the approach even makes
sense for that case and check to make sure that the approach is safe
enough instead of being one which can cause other problems.
 
Find as much as possible of good, hard, non-subjective info and then let
your vet decide!
[Posted in FML issue 4858]