Whew, finally getting chance to read part of the FML 14 hours after it
arrived. Not sure when I'll finish it, though. Today is BUSY!

(Replied earlier re some private mail gotten from FML members because
people should know that very few people who feed ANY choice of diet
bully others about having different choices, and most are wonderful and
gracious people. Don't ever be misled by a rare few into thinking
others act that way!)

Re: raisins and grapes: a few years ago there were two vets who wrote
an article for Ferrets Magazine on cases of acute (sudden) kidney
failure they had encountered in ferrets who had had too many raisins.
How much is too much and does the juice pose the same risk as the
solids? Is there a genetic vulnerability involved which might make
certain individual animals more vulnerable? No one knows. What is known
is that ferrets, cats and dogs have all gone into acute kidney failure
from raisins or grapes.

I LOVE Donna's freezing and labeling tip!

Sally, it is very hard to balance the medical needs of heart disease
and insulinoma. No matter how much experience a person has it is
difficult. That is because the medication needs conflict and each is a
potentially fatal condition. So, thanks for trying so hard for Shadow
and be kind to yourself, now.

Lori, with JL (Juvenile Lymphoma) you can very, very often find that
the thymus is enlarged in a image of the chest. Hyperplasia can lead to
a later malignancy (but does not always). That hard spot on the spleen
is worrisome, though. Luckily, ferrets do well without spleens, but we
sure to have it biopsied! First see what that chect image looks like.
I hope that you can avoid JL; it's a terrible illness.

Leslie, is the blood glucose an in-house one done by the vets? Were
a CBC and a Chemistry Panel done? Imaging? Excessive thirst and
sluggishness can indicate diabetes, kidney disease, and a few other
things, even a transient infection. Don't beat yourself up, dear lady!

Yes, Danee is GREAT! (Her food posts have been the best of the lot,
too!)

FINDING VETS (if you don't get the info you need)
http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/vets.htm
http://www.ferretcongress.org (crit refs but there is a lot more there)
http://www.supportourshelters.org (shelters and the vets they use)
http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
http://www.ferretuniverse.com/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/houseferrets13uk/Vets.html (UK vets)
http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm (British Columbia vets)
http://www.ferretnews.org/clinic.html (California-specific)
http://www.ferretsanonymous.com/medical.html (California)
http://www.vetcontact.com/en/vet.php?k=91 (Specialists anywhere)
You can also ask regional clubs, look in magazines, and do Google
searches.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 6064]