These should help:
Go to:
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG13036
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG12859
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG6520
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG3973
 
You'll find further useful posts there.
 
We had one with mouth sores from kidney failure (secondary to a Complete
A/V Heart Node Block that was able to be managed for 7 months) recently
and the vet had a suggestion that shocked us with how well it worked to
give comfort and help heal the resulting mouth sores: Listerine.  I am
not joking.  We used cotton swabs to apply it and it worked wonderfully!
 
Rachel, adrenal disease can cause skin sores which can come and go.
There are some fine vet and experienced ferret-people posts on that in
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org.  I suspect that some FML folks who have been
through that will likely mention their experiences with such sores here
on the FML to help you.
 
Kat, I think that he was thinking of the most extreme cases where people
use AC INSTEAD of seeking vet care or weigh the AC's ideas OVER the vet's
experienced and schooled examinations and testing.  I know it sounds
unbelievable to someone like you who does seek vet care but such things
do tragically happen at times; there sadly are those who abuse their
animals by withholding veterinary care.  Luckily they seem to be in the
minority.
 
>I provided studies to the contrary that stated they are not necessary
>and an article from the JAVMA that said their is no scientific evidence
>to back up annual vaccinations.
 
In ferrets the needed data to make such a statement is lacking a this
point in time.  The statement may be true for some vaccination types
and/or may be false for some vaccination types.  There is not yet the
data in ferrets specifically to know.  This is another topic for which
the site I give above has some GREAT posts by vets and others who know
their stuff.
 
Not all vaccines behave the same way in different types of animals.  For
example, there is a wide range of rabies vaccinations out there, but way
back when -- gosh, a decent chunk of time prior to 1990 now -- when
rabies vaccines were tested some types just did not work at all in
ferrets and was eliminated from the line-up at testing, one type worked
but had a huge rate of serious health consequences in ferrets and was
removed from the line-up in testing, one type worked but protection
lasted no longer than 6 months so it was removed from the testing
line-up.  IMRAB 3 worked and had protection for at least a year.  How
much more than a year remains unknown at this time as is true for the
CDV vaccines in ferrets AT THIS TIME.
 
Domestication: great post.  One note for those who may not know (Bob
knows.): there are also existing genetic features that were rarely seen
but which might wind up emphasized by selective breeding, such as the
many ferrets now seen in North America with phenotypes (the presentation
of the ferret) that relate to neural crest genetic disorders.  While it
is a very ancient collection of disorders and seen throughout mammalia
and in some herps it wasn't commonly seen in ferrets till folks began
selecting for it and preferentially breeding for it (a mistake, actually,
that has not been kind to too many ferrets).  Neural crest disorder
involve so types of mutations of early fetal cells which later
differentiate into a variety of cell types so that there is variable
expression and can be a range of things seen such as deafness with
specific head markings, etc.  I found an article Wolfy found which
indicates that aortic arch genetic disorder (another subset of early
fetal cell defects) may be subset of the neural crest disorders to be
interesting.
[Posted in FML issue 4099]