>From: PSybil7 <[log in to unmask]>
>I put advantage on my ferrets and one of them had a reaction to it. [...]
>Is there something I can out on him to ease the itching?
 
At least one person has had good luck with Benadryl; the pills/liquid will
be much more effective than the skin cream.  Call your vet and ask his/her
opinion of that idea, and find out the right dosage.
 
>From: Melissa Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
>I too posted my first message asking for help, and received only one
>response.  It was not helpful as many of the ones I've seen here.
 
I'm sorry you didn't get the response you were hoping for.  I'd guess that
there are a couple of factors which influence how many responses you get,
and how helpful they are.  I don't recall your question, so none of these
are meant to apply to your situation in particular.  I'm not flaming, I
promise; I'm trying to explain what might have happened, and tell people not
to be too discouraged.
 
First, although there are a lot of people on the list, many of whom know
quite a bit about ferrets, nobody knows everything.  Some questions get few
replies simply because nobody knows the answer.
 
Likewise, in some situations there's nothing anyone can say without knowing
a lot more about your particular situation and your ferret.  Rather than
write a long, involved note explaining all the different possibilities
depending on what other symptoms or circumstances might be present, people
just skip it, or tell you to go to a vet.  Not very helpful, perhaps, but
sometimes it's the only thing to say.
 
Sometimes a question doesn't generate much interest because we've just
covered it, or it comes up way too often.  Hopefully, most of these are in
the FAQ; if not, I'd like to know so I can add them -- at least, the ones
that have answers.
 
Every now and again, it's just bad luck.  The people who often answer
questions, or the ones who happen to be able to help you, were busy that day
and didn't read the FML very closely.  That's one of the risks with an
informal, all-volunteer system.  You can try asking again in a couple of
days, if it's not an emergency.  Realistically, the once-a-day FML isn't a
very good source of information for urgent questions anyway; try rec.pets or
alt.pets.ferrets (or rec.pets.ferrets, if we can get that created).
 
Finally, I don't know about anyone else, but I often deliberately avoid
answering a question, because I think a bunch of other people will and I
don't want to fill up the FML with a lot of redundant responses.  If I guess
wrong and nobody else answers, sometimes I go back to answer old questions,
but more often I forget or get too busy.  In that case, it goes back to just
bad luck.
 
If you have a question, it's worth asking here (as long as it isn't covered
in the FAQ :) .  If you get a number of helpful responses, so much the
better.  If you don't, well, it didn't cost much to try.
 
--
- Pam Greene
Ferret Central <http://www.optics.rochester.edu:8080/users/pgreene/>
            or ftp://ftp.optics.rochester.edu/pub/pgreene/
            or send INDEX FERRET in email to <[log in to unmask]>
 
[Moderator's note: Yes, the once-a-day format has its downsides too.  I'm
still toying with the idea of a non-digested FML.  Anyhow, for what it's
worth, if a post comes in asking for advice and it looks like an emergency,
I usually get back to the poster myself immediately (and post it on the FML
too, of course.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2187]