ARRGGGH! To the "Truth About Ferrets".. what on earth are you thinking?
I've known Kevin for years, have spoken w/him & he's been 100% honest
about this horrible ordeal. Vets & Pathologists are allowed to toss
around different ideas. This is one way they learn. Most vet schools
still do not teach about ferrets. Dogs & cats are first. I went to a
vet conference once, could hardly wait, then found out the closest
topic was " Abscesses in rabbits." How many shelters come forward to
even admit they have distemper? Hardly any. Very, very few. There
were no reports filed because it takes necropsy reports to show
positive distemper in ferrets. All of these ferret vet specialists are
still flummoxed about this outbreak. It should not have happened- Kevin
DID vaccinate all his ferrets 90 days prior to taking in this one
ferret. The fact is, most turn-ins or drop-offs or whatever come w/
little to none medical records. Even then, some vets still vaccinate w/
feline distemper. Do you have any clue what shelter operators go
through? 50% of the issues are the ferrets- the other 50% are the
people who shelters deal w/ on a daily basis. Ferrets that are from
pounds or strays are all shelter nightmares.

I had a terrible scare Dec. 2010 w/distemper. We have 4 branches, I
have all of the old, sick ferrets. I do have a handful that go out in
public- the youngest is 5-6 years old. They are vaccinated. If one of
my old ferrets don't go out in public, I do not vaccinate. Why? Do
you have any clue what a shelter's bills are? We never scrimp on our
ferret's health- we and our vets of 13+ years go by QUALITY OF LIFE.
Also, if their health is compromised, why vaccinate? Dec.2010, I had 2
ferrets brought in.. they came in a brown paper bag. The owner wanted
to keep the healthy one, but the other one- no. I insisted she turn in
both. The girls were very thin- 1.2 lbs. & less.

I try to quarantine as best as possible- these girls went into my
kitchen w/ a huge towel draped over their cage. Within 36 hours, one
girl, Autumn, presented w/ several distemper symptoms: Swollen, crusty
paws, scabs on face, chin, temp of 103.2, diarrhea, & so on. Her
cagemate was thin but normal. I just about crapped myself. She was seen
several times by 2 of our vets- they were stumped...her symptoms were
all over the place. So Karen from Culpepper & myself returned to my
home & vaccinated 34 ferrets w/ the last of our Galaxy vaccines. Autumn
was on antibiotics & pred.off & on. She was better, then a month later
she sounded like she had pneumonia- a bad rattle in her chest. Back to
meds. This past Fri. she had a Basal cell tumor removed from the back
of her front paw w/ a laser. The conclusion our vets have come to is
she has some sort of auto-immune disorder. She now weighs almost 3 lbs.
In the past 8 months, we've seen the oddest tumors/growths/illnesses
you can imagine. I have a definite Hypothyroid ferret- his blood work
came back, & across all boards, he has NO metabolism. Four different
ferret vet specialists cannot come up w/ correct doseage..."Butternuts"
is a 5-6 yr old DMK ferret. His DMK cage mate "Cooter" is a tiny sable
girl who can sit in your palm. Both are late alters & eat the same
foods. We've seen Fibrosarcoma tumors, Sebaceous cell tumors, Squamous
cell tumors... the list goes on.

My suggestion to "Truth About Ferrets" would be: DON'T repeat what you
don't understand. Btw, can you back up anything you've said?

Marlene Blackburn
Director
Richmond Ferret Rescue League
804-276-3905 (my phone #, if anyone has the balls to ask me something)

[Posted in FML 7099]