Just wanted to mention that where I work,- Dr.Edwards has done a right sided
adrenal removal and vena cava ligation on a ferret that we would have
normally just "closed back up" after seeing the tumor totally wrapped around
the blood vessel the way it was.....But Dr.Williams said "there is no such
thing as a non-removalable adrenal gland because the vena-cava can handle
being ligated." ("enough other little vessels to make up for the big one
being ligated".) So we did our first ligation about a month ago and just
wanted to comment that she is doing very well (and once again as always you
were right Bruce :) and will be doing another one in a couple weeks on a
ferret that we did sew back up after seeing how invasive her right tumor
was.  Will let you know how she makes out.
 
To Tony Mastropolo: Flea control in ferrets is very important (as you know)
I have seen many kittens and a few ferrets come into the hospital very
anemic due to those little vampires sucking so much blood out of them.  You
do have to be careful of what kind of control you use.  You can bathe them
every few weeks for those ferrets whom have every little exposure to fleas
and that alone might be enough.  But for those people who have other animals
in the house that are potential flea "carriers" the chances for having a
flea problem with their ferrets are much greater.  The thing is none of the
things you mentioned are "approved" by the manufacturer for use in
ferrets.., which basically means that they haven't tested the stuff on
ferrets so they can't say if its safe so not for them, in other words, we
can "test" these things on OUR ferrets to find out if they are safe or not.
 
Well to decide what I wanted to use in my ferrets I took what I learned at
work into consideration, (with the use of powders,sprays,dips,etc..  with
cats and dogs).  What I saw was quite a few cats and dogs that became toxic
from flea sprays, powders,dips mainly because either the directions were not
followed correctly or that particular animal had a bigger sensitivity to the
things in them so I don't feel these are the best choices for my ferrets.
Proban and Prospot are insecticides that go directly into the blood stream
(and liver) ah... no thanks.
 
I'm not familar with frontline, its just starting to make its way here, but
from what I heard so far,well I will still stick to what I feel is safer.
 
Program is the first thing out on the market that I feel is safer than all
the rest.  The ingredients were tested on dogs and cats at 90 times the
normal doses for their weight ranges every day for 30 days (normal dose
should be once a month) with no ill effects.  The hard part is figuring out
an effective dose for ferrets (dividing up a dogs pill or a cats liquid
program dose).
 
The one that I can speak personally about is Advantage Flea control my own
personal feelings are that this is the safest (non toxic) and most effective
control I have personally used with my ferrets.  I use "small cat and kitten
size" (up to 9lbs) which has 0.4ml of advantage in each tube.  One tube is
divided into 3 doses (or 0.13ml per ferret) one dose per ferret once a
month.  This will cover a ferret up to and around 3lbs.
 
I like advantage because of its effectiveness and safeness, it dose not go
into the blood stream and is non-toxic to mammals.  (only to fleas and
cockroaches) so much safe that the FDA did't have to aprove it, just the EPA
had to.  (EPA aproves topical things, were FDA aproves "internal" things).
I had no fleas on any of my critters last year.  The other nice thing is
when fleas jump on the animals that are on advantage, the flea dies BEFORE
the animal is even bitten by them.  Great for critters that may be allergic
to flea bites.
 
Personally I will stick with something that I know works and is safe for my
ferrets before I ever "test" anything else out on them
 
Well, just my .02 worth...   Mary
[Posted in FML issue 1920]