This post breaks my virginity to the ORG version of the mailing list. I
am strangely satisfied. ;-)

Well done, Bill! Your dedication to the FML is simply outstanding!
However, I have to say that you are one strange masochist! For every
post that ticks off one or more FML factions, you must read ten or
more. And yet, you never say anything bad, mad, or negative. If I
didn't know you enjoyed the occasional brew, I would accuse you of
being the "Amish of the Internet." But, I have finally decided the
reason is brain damage from falling asleep all those nights working
on the FML and banging your head against the keyboard! Seriously
Bill, well done!!

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER:

I will be attending the Ferret Symposium in Holland at the end of
October. Dr. Susan Brown will also be there and I am more excited 
about hearing her speak than traveling! I strongly encourage all of
our European ferret friends to attend this outstanding symposium
(even though I am speaking as well -- don't hold it against them).
Get everything you need to know about the symposium at
[http://www.frettensymposium.nl/]. For those of you who have not had
the chance to know Dr. Brown, or to hear her talk, she is phenomenal!
Dr. Hanneke Moorman-Roest, who has perhaps the absolute best exam room
for ferrets that I have ever seen (dedicated JUST for ferrets), will
likewise be speaking. Dr. Nico Schoemaker, on the leading edge of
knowledge about ferret adrenal problems, will give a presentation.
There are so many brains at the table between Drs. Brown,
Moorman-Roest, and Schoemaker, that I only hope some will rub off on
me. I'll probably go crazy and just toss stuff at the audience....

After the symposium and a short bout of "window shopping" in Amsterdam,
I will be heading off for some more museum work in France, Germany, and
(hopefully) Scotland. I'll have all those plans finalized at the end of
the week. If anyone in France, Germany, or Scotland would like me to
stop and say hello, I am open to the opportunity to meet your ferrets.
Please email me privately.

JANUARY:

I have been invited to speak at the North American Veterinary
Conference in mid-January. I guess its the largest vet conference in
North America and I'll present four 50-minute sessions, however, the
reason I am mentioning it is because I'll be able to stop and talk at
least once on my way out and my way back. I have to be in Orlando on
January 12 and I will leave on the 18th. This is a first-asked, first
accepted invitation to groups of 5 or more, with only a single stop
going to Florida, and a single one returning. Don't worry too much if
you are not on a direct path between Columbia MO and Orlando FL; if
the distance is reasonable, I'll make the turn.

LATER IN 2007:

I will be doing some ferret research of outstanding value to the ferret
community and I am so excited I can hardly breathe. Between the years
of research on hundreds of polecat skeletons in museums and the intense
inspection of hundreds of pet ferret skeletons, I am near completion of
a major treatise on the osteology and odontology of the pet ferret. In
order to prove without a doubt that kibble is absolutely responsible to
harming ferret teeth, that pet ferrets have little chance of going
feral, that periodontal disease in ferrets is a result of the switch
from a natural diet, that carbohydrates are responsible for a host of
diseases, and many other ferret issues, I have needed to go to New
Zealand for some time. It looks like I will finally be able to go. I
cannot discuss this any more at this time, but will inform all FML
readers more at a later date.

PUBLICATIONS:

I will have two chapters in Dr. Lewington's 2nd edition, which will be
published shortly. There is strong interest in publishing the dental
disease work I have been creeping everyone out about, and I should have
a couple of papers for peer review by January. After the New Zealand
trip, I am looking at between 20-30 publications during the next few
years.

THANKS

I have worked extremely hard to get to the point of publication, but I
have a lot of FMLers to thank for their support and help. Many of you
have donated pet ferrets to this research, or funds to continue the
research, and in February I will have a special gift for you and only
you. IF you have ever donated a ferret to me, or funds to continue the
research, please email me with a snail mail return address. Also,
PLEASE tell me how you would like to be titled or mentioned in the
acknowledgements; you will all be mentioned each time a publication
comes around, as you richly deserve.

There has been so little known about ferrets, the issues I have been
working on sometimes require a year or more of specialized study just
to understand the problem, and I am a slow and careful worker, so I am
sure some of you might have thought the work would never end. I know I
have. I am finished with 90% of the dental work, 75% of the skeletal
work, and maybe 60-70% of the work on the other issues. I am still in
the caboose on a very long train, but the engine has exited the tunnel.

ME

Thanks to all that have stood by me during my recent throat problems. I
have passed my last inspection with flying colors and I assume it will
continue. People in Toronto, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Chicago have all
seen and heard me speak since then, and while my throat is still a wee
bit weak, I can still talk a CNN newscaster under the table with plenty
of vocabulary to spare. Last weekend in Chicago, I talked to the GCFA
all day, helped Kim Schilling with an Animals for Awareness event on
Sunday (and did a lot of talking), talked with a vet all day Monday,
and STILL talked to myself driving home Tuesday. I think I can stop
worrying about the pipes. You can too! Still, thanks for all the cards,
kind words, and emotional support.

Bob C [log in to unmask]

[Posted in FML 5398]