Kevin Bonner posted
>How would it affect the shelters (an ultimately the ferrets) if vets
>decided they wanted cash up front or no treatment?  'What's that?  Rescued
>29 ferrets?  Okay - exams are $25.00 each not including meds, etc.  Cash
>up front please, we no longer extend credit".  Can ANY shelter afford that
>outlay of cash?
 
Have to put in our 2 cents here, as a lucky shelter.  Ninety-five percent
of the time we can pay our vet bills as they occur.  This of course means
that the vets are more willing to work with us when we are unable to pay
up-front.  It's tough to know whether this is due more to luck or good
management - we have been pretty lucky with most of our shelter ferrets not
needing more than the basic vet visit.  We make a big effort to find homes
for the ferrets and don't have really strict adoption requirements, and of
course the club helps support the shelter.  We also (except once) haven't
taken in more than three or four ferrets at once.
 
Sunshine posted
>We are giving Ivermite, 5-10 drops twice a week for 5 weeks.  Some of the
>posts I saw said twice a day for a week.
 
The treatment we use is Ivomec oral solution, just a couple of drops and
then a follow up treatment in two-three weeks.  We were doing the Ivomec
injections at our vet's office, but that got expensive.  When we do this,
we change all the bedding in their cages and in the play area.  We also
treat all the ferrets living in one cage, even if some of them don't seem
to have ear mites.  This has been a recurring problem for us, but maybe
this time we've got it licked.
 
Meghan posted:
>A couple of weeks ago she appeared to go into false heat.  She had
>swelling around the vulva.  She was neutered 2 years ago.
 
We would suspect an adrenal problem.  Depending on how rich you're feeling,
you could do an ultrasound and/or the Tennessee blood panel, or you could
just go ahead and have the vet open her up.
 
Kurt & Sara Petersen
FURRY (Ferrets Underfoot RUnning Round You)
http://members.igateway.net/~furry
 
Help raise money for the shelter!  Click on
http://www.iGive.com/html/ssi.cfm?cid=5129
[Posted in FML issue 2929]