Q: "Would you please tell me the correct doasage of ephedra for my
    ferrets?  I prefer herbal medicines [over veterinary medicines]"
 
A: What are you smoking? Crack?
 
Ephedra has been linked to 81 recent human deaths due to heart attacks
and strokes (and other problems), and you want to feed it to an easily
excited animal with a high metabolic rate and heartbeat?  How about just
injecting them with adrenalin and watch them turn into little Taz-like
tornados?  Maybe afterwards you can give them a Tylanol for their
headache.
 
I appreciate some people's fears about modern medicine, but drugs are
drugs regardless if you inject them purified in pill form, or in various
doses in unpurified form in some sort of plant material.  The media of
dosage (leaf, pill, whatever) has NOTHING to do with the biochemistry of
the chemical agent that causes the desired effect.  Aspirin is aspirin
because of its molecular structure, NOT because it was made by Beyer or
found in the bark of a willow tree.  There are a number of obtuse and
misdirected people who can't understand the basic concept that a drug is
defined by the exact structure of its parts, NOT from its source of
origin.  There ARE some compounds that are too expensive to be replicated
by labs, and some that haven't been adequately studied to understand
their exact composition, but that in no way changes the fact that (grain)
achohol is EXACTLY the same compound regardless if it is distilled in a
lab by scientists, or fermented in beer by yeast.  The use of the word
"herbal" is a synonym for "drug," but for the uneducated, it sounds
benign.  That is extremely dangerous.
 
The deeper point is herbal medicines, if effective, are based on
compounds that are generally known and used in mainstream medicine.
One major difference is that modern medicines are regulated to dosage and
purity, but herbal compounds are not.  A more important difference is
modern medicines are tested to determine correct (equals safe and
effective) dosage, and possible side-effects are determined and reported.
Such side-effects were NOT well known regarding ephedra, and 81 people
have paid the ultimate price of the lack of understanding.  They are
DEAD!
 
No one can stop you from using untested drugs with unknown safe dosages
on ferrets, but in my OPINION, it is a form of unregulated animal testing
that skirts the fringes of animal abuse.  You may be able to recognize an
over-dose, but do you understand the result of long-term exposure?  Is
the dose effective, or are they just pissing it out?  You are playing
craps with a ferret's life.
 
Put it this way.  IF I was on top of a ladder, dropping books from
10 feet onto a floor covered with ferrets, would there be an ethical
requirement for people to speak out?  I could argue I never intended to
harm a ferret, or than any squished ferret was a tragic mistake, but the
truth is, IF I was dropping books, ANY damage would be blood on MY hands.
So, isn't there a similar ethical and moral requirement for ME to shout
out dangers if someone is suggesting actions, in this case feeding
untested pharmacutical plants to ferrets, that can cause injury or death?
There is no ethical difference!
 
PLEASE, do NOT use untested herbal medicines, or tested modern medicines,
without the direct supervision of a veterinarian.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 3930]