A wonderful vet write-up on rectal prolapse in ferrets and how to treat and prevent it: http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/ferrets/ferret-health/prolapse.aspx That hits close to home right now because Telemna decided to get overly enthusiastic about wiping herself on a carpet recently and inflamed and tugged hers out in a minor way (and now i know that is probably more proctitis than prolapse). Luckily, the cortizone cream and Prep H trick that Dr. Bruce Williams talks about in the separate FHL Archives worked wonderfully and we are now heros to her. I learned a good bit from Dr. Gandolfi's article, including about Lawsonia which I didn't know about. On veterinarians becoming more ferret-savvy: <http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/ferrets/ferret-health/bridging-the-gap.aspx> Related: <http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/ferrets/ferret-health/ecm-board-certification.aspx> http://www.aemv.org/ http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ExoticDVM/ http://www.vin.com/ Ferret laws can sometimes cause problems getting vet care. Luckily, usually (always?) vets are not prevented from treating (which would amount to imposed animal abuse) but these could help (esp. since some commonly used resources are no longer valid -- and there have been problems when people had old Geocities pages with being unable to update them or extinguish them): <http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/ferrets/ferret-housing/ferret-owners-and-animal-law.aspx> <http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/ferrets/ferret-housing/ferret-owners-and-animal-law-moving.aspx> Related (and more are in the article): http://www.animallaw.info/ http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/ http://www.municode.com/Resources/OnlineLibrary.asp On that score, when traveling with ferrets always take along lists of vets in places where you will be. A great place to start is http://ferrethealth.org/vets/ If your ferrets stay home always leave a "permission to treat" letter with your vet and your pet sitter. Many people use vet techs or ferret shelter operators as pet sitters. (And keep your private info like when you will be away private so that you lower the risk of a break-in. Your police safety officer can provide free Neighborhood watch and McGuff materials to help improve safety, too.) Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 6073]
