>From:    "marie i. schatz" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Web site and Presentation
 
>My ferret presentation went pretty well I think - at least I got "the word
>out".... Now that I'm home I have remembered two things so far I didn't hit
>on - fleas and heartworms.
 
Sounds like you did good.  Eh, so you forgot heartworm and flea control.  A
presentation that included everything would take...
 
>I covered Order, Genus, Species, i.e. DOMESTIC animal and where they fit in
 
I had all sorts of trouble with the Linnaen stuff at first.  A little
mnemonic help: King Phillip Came Over For Good Sauce.
 
King = Kingdom = Fauna
Phillip = Phylum = Chordata, sub-phylum Vertebrata
Came = Class = Mammalia
Over = Order = Carnivora
For = Family = Weasel, sub-family Mustelidae
Good Sauce = Genus Species = Putorius Furo (binomial nomenclature)
 
Anyway, it worked for this biologically challenged ferret owner, and if I
can remember it, anyone can.
 
>ALSO - called the Michigan Dept of Agriculture and got the numbers for
>ferret rabies testing:  1994:  7 (not legal then)  1995:  91   1996:  114
>No positives.  I see a very sad trend here.
 
And a tough one to buck. In your presentation, you might also warn potential
ferret buyers that if Slinky bites someone, and that someone complains, then
Slinky is a goner. In most areas, the only two things that *might* save your
ferret's skin is if he's chipped AND has an impeccable, documented record of
yearly inoculations of Imrab-3 by a licensed DVM. To further complicate the
matter, the first inoculation only confers ~90% chance of protection, with
the efficacy going up with each yearly booster (thanks, JJ). By the second
booster (third shot) you're up around 100%, so PH might listen to you, but
by now the ferret is 2 1/4 years old. There are a few pockets of tolerance,
but don't count on clemency from local health officials outside of them. As
a general rule, if someone gripes that your ferret nipped then your ferret
is dead.
 
Oh well, enough finger-waggin'.
 
As people are wont to say ... <<sigh>>.
 
swamp
 
"Who, me officer?  What's a ferut?  These guys??  No, they're Polish cats."
[Posted in FML issue 1824]