Have also read of pets getting giardia and other problems from aquarium
water and from puddles.
 
I know there's at least one British ferret med text, too, but don't have
such titles.  Perhaps someone else will post those.
 
The following webpages include sections written by vets on a range of
ferret health topics:
1. http://www.ferretcentral.org
2. http://www.afip.org/ferrets
3. http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
4. http://www1.btwebworld.com/beechhouse/ferrets.htm
 
I know that there is one by Charlie Weiss but I haven't had a chance to go
there, yet, and I can't get a socket on my server as I am writing this, so
either I'll remember to try again before or after ( :-) ) this is sent.
I think it should be under something like ferretdoctor.com or some
configuration thereof.  Expect that you can link to it from some of the
others, too.
 
Here are the veterinary texts we have by vets which deal specifically
with ferrets:
1999, _Essentials of Ferrets, a Guide for Practitioners_, Karen Purcell,
AAHA, (1-800-252-2242)
1998, _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret_, James G. Fox, Williams and
Wilkins, (1-800-447-8438)
1997, _Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents, Elizabeth Hillyer and Katherine
Quesenberry, Saunders, (Curtis Center, Independence Sq. W.,
Philadelphia, PA 19106)
 
In Britain and Japan your vets will find the webpage texts that you find
useful, may wan to find some of the books, and may well be interested in
buying the video which Charlie Weiss has that show diagnostic and surgical
techniques, procedures, appearances, etc.  for common ferret medical
problems.
 
Meercats: Relatives?  Depends on the relative distance.  They are related
as cats are related to dogs, or as we are related to baboons.  Keep picking
cucumbers or Father gets sore!  (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus, Species)  They are both in order Carnivora just like cats, dogs,
bears, raccoons, etc.  They are NOT in the same Family and don't seem to
have the same closer relatives within the order.  They developed in
different areas filling similar niches so have similar forms.  Ferrets are
mustelids, but meerkats are viverids.  (And let's not trust my spelling
today, okay?)
 
There seems to be a lack of understanding of what necropsy is.  Hadn't
expected that.  It's like an autopsy is for people.  A qualified medical
practitioner (for a ferret this would be a vet) studies the cadaver to see
anything which may be diagnostic, or anything suspicious enough to also
send on to the veterinary pathologist for microscopic and other study.
THIS IS AN INTENSIVE AND PRECISE EXAMINATION BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WITH
THE GOAL OF FINDING CAUSES OF ILLNESS AND DEATH -- as such it can help stop
a potential epidemic before it starts, or halt one along the way by helping
find the cause and hence the most potentially effective treatments, or help
save other ferrets in the same household.  It is ***NOT*** the same as
sending a cadaver to a person who is NOT a veterinary professional to look
at teeth.  I never realized that people didn't know what a necropsy is;
sorry about not realizing that.  Oh, and Anne's right, I think; I think
there are special rules for sending remains.  There were back when we had
stuff exchanged and I know our vets take special precautions.  (In relation
to research: the results are only as good as the background (education --
self and formal -- and experience), preparation, equipment, procedures,
techniques, math, experiment design, etc.  Those who haven't read what
exists, haven't studied the topic, haven't got the level of equipment
needed, etc.  for their chosen project simply CAN'T do reputable research,
but they can do garbage which throws people off-track for an extended
period if it gets too much attention.  Think cold fusion... Oh, and we have
also given skeletal remains for a comparative study because the deceased
individual had been on the edge of survivability throughout life so was
very useful.  As with the veterinary donations we were CAREFUL about the
qualifications and affiliations beforehand.) Hope you know now what a
necropsy is and isn't.  Sorry you didn't understand before.
[Posted in FML issue 2940]