Hello everyone!
 
This bit of ignorance is so silly, it made me laugh.  I thought I'd pass
it on.
 
I live next door to my landlord who also happens to be my employer.  He has
three children (one's a teenager) and no pets due to allergies.
 
From Sept. to the beginning of March, the children were regulars to my apt.
on Fridays.  Since March, the kids have only been over to play with my
ferrets five times.  Shortly after the kids quit coming over, two of them
developed skin ailments.  One has infected exema and the other has a
bacteria.  Initially, the General Practitoner diagnosed both children as
having scabies, which was incorrect according to the Dermatologist the kids
saw just last month.  Anyway, the first direction the finger was pointed to
was my ferrets.  My employer insisted I allow him full access to my ferrets
medical records.  Showing the ferrets rabies shots, etc., was not
satisfactory enough.  He and his mother felt there was a pretty good chance
my ferrets were the cause of his childrens illness (I even spent close to
$200.00 on exams, including fecal testing, to prove to this guy my ferrets
are healthy).
 
My landlord/employer is still under the impression that my ferrets are
similar to rodents in that they will pass along parasites, etc. to his
children.  My understanding is that it is more likely his children can
pass along illnesses to my ferrets.
 
There have been a handful of times my ferrets took ill and none but one were
contageous.  One ferret had "green candle" (green stool caused by the green
candle she swiped from the breakfast nook and ate); another had a food
allergy (which we originally thought was Cushings); there was a possible
outbreak of ECE or some other bacterium; and now I am on a wait and see
regarding my one ferret and her "grossly enlarged spleen" (all blood levels
"were not elevated", the kidneys "appeared a normal size"...now we wait for
the lab results of the asrick).  According to the eldest child, her father
feels that the cause of the enlarge spleen is contageous and could be passed
on to his children.
 
Yes, all silly.  But in his defense, I must state he has never had a pet.
Those few pet-less people whom I have met have unwarrented fears regarding
any pet, especially those other than cats or dogs.
 
Just thought I'd share.
 
[AH]
[Posted in FML issue 2337]