>From:    Mike <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Do Ferrets get asthma?
>
>The reason I ask is one of our ferrets sometime breaths funny. When
>he was breathing funny it was during times or itching or scratching
>or eating. Today he seemed to be breathing funny while laying in a
>hammock.
>
>I use to be a Respiratory Therapist (career change a few years back),
>so I got out my stethoscopes and listened and I could detect a little
>bit of a wheeze.

Dear Mike,

This is Edward Lipinski talking at you.

Just yesterday I finished reading an essay on the Coronavirus particle.
What I learned may be of some value to you and your wheezing ferret.

You probably already know this, but if you don't, what I have to say
may save your ferret's life. Let's hope it's not come to this.

The coronavirus particle is really tiny. It invades the much larger
body cells which are about 2 microns in size and the particle itself is
much smaller, perhaps about 0.5 microns (One micron = 1/25,400 inch)

This little bugger and host of his buddies, when they take up residence
in the gut of the ferret, cause a disease termed ECE and/or SARS and
may kill a ferret.

However, this particle, oft referred to as SARS-CoV, does also a kinda
dumb thing. And that dumb thing is taking up residence in the ferret's
respiratory system, the lungs and all. Maybe some 3 to 7 days later it
makes its way into the ferret's intestines and there creates havoc.

So the fact that it shows up first in the respiratory system may be
a momentous indicator of what's to come, if you do nothing about it.
However, the ferret's immune system may be able to keep the numbers
of virus particles at low enough levels such that your ferret may
display symptoms of what looks like a cold.

Perhaps your getting medical help soon could be a good thing to do.

Verbum Sat sapienti. (Latin: A word to the wise is sufficient)
Edward Lipinski

[Posted in FML 6215]