I would like to take a sec to respond to Bill Killian.  He stated that
instead of breeding Coco (that's the blind one), I should have used the
hormone injection.  Well, personally, I will not use that injection as it
has carcinogens.  I have found from observation and from other breeders that
genetic cataracts (not all are genetic) usually skip a generation.  So in
that case, if Coco's cataracts were hereditary, her kits would be okay, but
could pass it on to their own kits.  That is why I did what I did, and
planned on neutering anything from that litter.  I have a jill I recently
discovered who does pass on cataracts to her kits (she has none) and she is
scheduled to be spayed and all kits in the litter have been neutered in
order to stop this from continuing.  All breeders run into this type of
problem sooner or later, but good ones discontinue breeding poor lines.
 
As to Easel Weasel, I saw her from day 1, and can assure you she was born
that way. I have seen what overzealous moms can do, and this wasn't like
that. I have been spending a lot of time with that breeder in order to
educate him more, and help him institute better breeding practices.
 
To the person who wondered about having canines removed (sorry, forgot who
it was), I have a hob who had to have his bottom canines removed. Here's the
story (in condensed version): A lady thought she would like to breed
ferrets. Kept them in the back yard, no roof or cover, and put tons of food
and water out there and checked them once a week or so. She contacted me to
see if I would take a litter of 5 she had due to the fact she didn't have
enough time to tame them down. I agreed and received 5 ten week old hellions
(sp?). They were very undernourished (don't know what she was feeding) and
scared of everything. During the first week 3 of them died of malnutrition
(I got them too late to help). The two remaining ones were still very ill,
and I hand fed them for over a month before they were eating on their own.
The jill was placed in a very loving home of friends of mine (still doing
fine, but very tiny) and the hob, who I had named Talyn-bach, stole a large
piece of my heart. One of his many physical problems was his lower canines
protruded and were growing up into his nose. To prevent further infection
and/or holes in his nose, my boss/vet decided to remove them. The tricky
part is getting them out without breaking the jaw and Dr. Brodie did a
fantastic job. He was eating hard kibble within 2 days. He has since become
my vascectomized hob (another great job by my doc) and has no trouble "doing
it" with only his top canines in place.He also has always had partial
paralysis in the rear end that keeps him from climbing the couch or the
stairs for the most part, but he is the most lovingest boy, and will always
be here with me.
 
To follow up, I have since gotten all of this lady's ferrets and all but one
is now very sweet. (Jaws is being worked with:))
 
To Andy Slocombe:
I have heard that using human dandruff shampoo on the tail (letting it soak
about 5 min.) works very well as long as it's not adrenal.  Any vets can
correct me if this is incorrect.
 
My thoughts and prayers are with all those with sick fuzzies and with Paw
Paw, Tracy, Cooter, Talyn-bach, Easel Weasel, etc, etc, etc,
 
PS:Thanks for the response Dr. Dutton. I started Squirt on Prozyme this
morning and will keep you updated on any response. She seems much weaker
today and I'm am very worried about her. Please, everyone, say a prayer for
her, she's so sweet and gives the bestest kisses!!
[Posted in FML issue 1657]