Hi All,
 
I just want to know one thing, why oh why when things happen around here
are they NEVER normal??  AARRGGHH!!  Sorry had to get that out.
 
I just returned from Petsmart and they did find mites.  Actually even tho
they took a ton of gook out of Bobo's ears they found only 1 mite.  So why
is this not normal?  Because it was not your average, round, garden variety
mite.  These are long, skinny things with 8 little round things on them
called Demodex Mites.  The really odd thing is that they are not normally
found in ferrets but are sometimes found in dogs.  Not necessarily the dogs
ears either but it can be anywhere on their body instead.  This vet had
NEVER seen them in a ferret before and they treat lots of ferrets there.
 
So now I am really wondering where in the heck these darn things came from.
I have three choices available to me.  1.  My dogs got it somehow (yet NONE
of my animals in my life have ever had mites of any kind before and their
ears are sparkling clean right now) 2.  The lady that Bobo went to for a
week trial period had a dog and it could have been infested 3.  David's
little dog Moneybags or his brothers dog Mask could have spread them to my
dogs and they spread them to the ferts.
 
I will never know as I have tried to use my brain more this time.  I
realized it would be much cheaper to just treat the dogs for it whether they
have it or not rather than have the testing done to determine they do have
them and have to treat them anyway!  All vets I have talked to so far say
that it would not harm them in any way to do this.  Since it has already
cost $54 just to get this diagnosed and enough medicine for the 12 ferrets
to have two applications each, I just can't afford to spend a dime more than
I have too.  Both of my dogs have to get their teeth cleaned this Tuesday
and that alone is costing me approx.  $150.  Plus they had their vaccination
boosters two weeks ago and that was around $60 or so.  I also paid today to
have Bobo given his Rabies ($7) which was due and I still need to have
Rockadoodle done too ($7).
 
The ONLY good news was that the Ivermectin I had already bought from the
other vet will work great on this as well.  Thank heavens for that at least!
I have decided to medicate each fert 3 times rather than 2 as the vet said
sometimes they need 3 doses to complete the job.  Since I can't afford more
ear cytologies I figure I will just go ahead and dose them each 3 times and
then it will be done.  At least this medicine is quite inexpensive!
 
The lady who looked at Bobo last nite is going to bring her husband to meet
him sometime this week and then they will decide for sure whether they will
adopt him or not.  I do have one question for you guys that might help me.
Also the DOCS if they are a listening.  Would it be safe to give Bobo his
1st dose today, then wait a week and give the second dose, and then have the
people adopt him then?  He would be brought back to me at the end of the 3rd
week for his 3rd dose.  They have a brand new 7 week old kit at home and I
want to be real sure she does not get these creepy crawlies<GG>.  Or should
I just wait the entire 3 weeks before letting them take him if they decide
to adopt him?  Oh yeah, sorry, one more.  I was told by many to dose every 2
weeks then someone said to dose them every week.  Which of these is right or
are both fine?  BTW how long does premixed Ivermectin last for?  I'm really
hoping the answer is many months.
 
Well I have certainly written far too much to you all in this issue.  That's
what happens when you don't get your FML fix for many days in a row<G>!!
LOL!!  TNT!!
 
PS - THANKS to those of you that suggested I keep some Ivermectin on hand at
all times to treat all new rescues with right when I get them.  I plan to do
that from this moment on.  I ain't no dummy and I learn real quick after the
first disaster!  Before this I always cleaned their ears immediately before
any exposure took place but you sure as heck cannot see these things with
just your eyes.  Bye-o!!
 
      Kelleen & the INSANE Animal House
[Posted in FML issue 1552]