Steve was in Cuppertino this week (wearing ferret t-shirts) for some
work, and do you want to hear something WEIRD?  It seems that the common
misconception there is that California is leading the nation toward
outlawing ferrets, area by area. ;-p  They really did the "We're
Californians and everyone follows us because we're the trend leaders"
nose-in-the-air routine -- very early 1960s-ish.  Steve said that
perspective was interesting and might explain just WHY so many states which
HAD outlawed ferrets legalized them within the last decade.  (Response,
"Huh???!!!!!!???")  The source of their brilliant data seems to have been
local media since they all said they'd run into that viewpoint there,
especially in papers.  Sadly, he didn't ask WHICH papers but he was trying
to keep a straight face since they assumed that what is happening in the
nation is the OPPOSITE of what is actually happening and that their state's
personal social style setting was the reason.  He'll be back there at some
point so I'll ask him for information on the newspapers if he remembers to
find which one(s) were involved.  He greatly liked the people (despite
this) and their work even if he was just as amazed at having to provide
this current-events revelation as they were at finding that their paper
does the _1994_ thing.  Ah, accuracy in the press... (Bet reporters like
that give the reliable ones such tension headaches.)
 
Folks, the coronavirus for ECE was only recently identified; there is NOT a
diagnostic test, yet.  Yes, a vet can figure ECE from the symptoms or types
of damage plus elimination of other possibilities, but can not diagnose it
from tests at this point.
 
It seems to once again be time for a reminder: MANY of the concerns which
have recently arisen here are discussed in places like
http://www.ferretcentral.org
and it's full of links to yet more information (vet level if the AFIP link
is used).  By reading this information people can learn a large chunk of
the basics and that will give then a better foundation from which to ask
more detailed questions, rather than learning even the basics for serious
difficulties (like medical problems) only from replies to letters.  It's
got the guidance you folks want and seek and will give you the foundation
to better assess the replies you receive.
 
Karen wrote:
>NO WAY!!!  WHAT a wonderful story!!!!!!!!!!
 
I loved it, too, but you know that ferrets doing things like that have
been reported here before, don't you?  It's exceedingly special but it's
certainly not isolated.  They DO find care or sometimes provide it for
each other and for their people.
 
Deb wrote:
>Maybe it's not the money as it is the suffering or misdiagnosing
>which does >bother me so.
 
If you'd been around even a dozen years ago, Deb, you'd see how much BETTER
things are today.  Yes, a LOT more needs to be done to get vets who haven't
learned about ferrets to do so, but time and again they have proven
themselves for the most part to WANT to learn when they know about
resources like http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html ,
Hillyer and Quesenberry's _Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents..._ (Saunders),
Fox's _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, second edition_ (Williams and
Wilkins), and others such as Karen Purcell's book which should come out
soon.  We got Fox's book from 1-800FERRETW, and Kathy and Liz's from the
publisher, but 1-888-FERRET1 lists some on its order form, too.  Giving up
hasn't saved any ferrets' lives but getting information out there has done
so, time and time again, and will continue to do so.  Hey, I recall when
pretty well ANYTHING done on a ferret was considered experimental and we
all had to print out copies for all the vets in our areas.  Look at how
that has changed!  There has been an absolutely remarkable amount of
knowledge gained in a short amount of time.  Want to continue that trend?
Then give to the charities which fund medical advances in ferret veterinary
care.  The AFA has one, the AMC's exotics branch makes inroads, numerous
other veterinary schools and some clinics work very hard on that score,
and the Morris Animal Foundation (for info 1-303-790-2345, for donation
1-800-243-2345) also channels monies into improving ferret veterinary
research advancements to make our furrys' lives better.  If people had
thrown in the towel back when things were infinitely worse we wouldn't have
the USDA approved rabies vaccine and CD vaccine, wouldn't have the
Compendium on our side, wouldn't have treatments for insulinoma, or for
adrenal neoplasias, wouldn't know how to safely do the surgeries for those,
would still think that perhaps ferret mast cell tumors are as nasty as they
are in a few other critters, etc., etc., etc.  If people don't TRY (just as
ferrets try and try and try again) then we just might as well never wake up
in the morning.  Ferrets teach us to appreciate the small things in life,
but they also teach us to TRY.  So, try, already!
[Posted in FML issue 2804]