With all the discussion on meat for ferrets, I thought I would mention a
report I saw on "Dateline" the other night.
 
The report was on mad cow disease and if it had already been seen in the US.
I will say that I really don't remember the specifics of the discussion, but
do remember the overall points.  I was suprised when the vet they were
interviewing, he was advocating more testing and studies on the disease,
said that in the 1980's he found a disease very similar, if not the same, as
mad cow disease.  He isolated a chemical structure of some kind in it that
was the same as in mad cow.  The thing of it was, it was from minks that had
been feed beef.  To double check that it had come from beef, he took the
infected mink, fed them back to cows, who then got sick.
 
This was in the US.  But, if the disease can even possible spread to
minks, then I would be hesitant to feed ferrets beef.  Especially if I
lived in the UK.
 
Maybe someone else has a more learned opinion on this.
 
Margaret and the Zick Zoo
[Posted in FML issue 1528]