>... Actually Fervac-D is the only USDA approved distemper vaccine for
>ferrets.  At the clinic I've been working at for a while, we charge
>around $25.00 for the vaccine give or take a few dollars.  Here is a
>link for you to read a little bit about it.
>http://www.ferret-universe.com/health/distemper.html#fervac.
 
The new Merial Recombitek vaccine is USDA approved (very recent) for
ferrets but they haven't done their marketing work or geared up for
production, yet.  If they had issued even a RANGE for when they plan to
release it we would have waited on our guy's CD vaccines since the Merial
vaccine is so very much less likely to cause dangerous allergic reactions.
Two reacted this time (serious but not life threatening this time -- have
had three go through worse in past -- though it sure kept the vets, techs,
and us busy and very worried) so it wasn't a good night.  Two of our crew
react to both Fervac and Galaxy so those two may never have another CD vax
of any type.
 
>Sukie, are you sure it is FedEx you are talking about?  Perhaps it was
>another service that made these mistakes?
 
Yes, Fed Ex.  We have also THREE (3!) times called with complaints to
find out the exact same thing: that a driver FAKED a general "leave it at
garage" slip and turned that in to get away with not doing the condo
stairs.  (Do NOT know if the supervisor failed to remove the original fake
from records for a while or if there were multiple copies made.)  Have had
neighbors find out the same thing, especially if they aren't on ground
floors.  Heck, if UPS or the Post Office or another has a heavy one they
just arrange for US to tote it up; we're willing.  They either call ahead
or they ring the doorbell and we get it and carry it.  Have NOT had
anything over maybe 25# to 30# through Fed Ex, though, that I can recall.
Fed Ex seems to vary a LOT depending on locale.  Around here it has been
awful, so we almost never use it; they could improve and it would take us a
half year to year to know it because they have burned us too many times too
badly with ruined items and that very dangerous leaving of compounded meds
(weighing less than one pound) in the sun in front of the garage where a
child or loose animal might be endangered.  It may be that we've got just a
lousy apple or a couple of lousy apples who share their poor behavior as
deliverers, but until Fed Ex cleans out the bad ones here (Somerset Hills
area in NJ) those few will continue to make all seem bad and will reduce
use of the service which reduces work and employment for all, since the
competition has been reliable here.  I know that there are places where
Fed Ex is great -- heck, Joe says that is true for around 90% of the
places they ship -- but here they stink.  If they improved and we saw
that improvement for neighbors we would stop specifically requesting no
deliveries by Fed Ex when we order from anywhere.
 
>(Note: I don't work for FedEx, don't know anyone who does, and have no
>affiliation with the company other than as a customer.  The above is
 
Wish you did.  If they got shaken up from the inside maybe they'd get
rid of the bad drivers (bad supervisor?) locally and the faked general
permission slips that plague us all here.  It doesn't take many bad
employees -- if they are the ones always encountered -- to lose business.
Yes, like Bill, we also have incredible :-( RPS service stories; his idea
that the worst old RPS folks may be botching it, too, makes sense.
 
Oh, Linda told me that she thinks it was calcium and phosphorus ratios
that were messed up many years ago when the place that was THEN used to
make the PV food killed so many accidently.  Thanks, Linda!
 
Also, Bill G. removed a thank you to him for all his time putting out the
FML, so i am sneaking this in.  He's way too modest. ["sneaking?"  BIG]
 
>Oh, and though it's anecdotal, for what it is worth: The two oldest
>ferrets I have known (both lived to be 13 with out any major medical
>problems) were MF babies.  I've also seen an 11 year old and a 10 year
>old from MF.
 
Had a friend just lose an MF albino at age 10 and 1/2.  Really old ferrets
are rare, and usually come from a range of places, including MF, though I
know that one private breeder is quietly following a line which seems to
have promise so hope that bears out.  Heard of a confirmed long-lived line
elsewhere that the people stopped breeding, as well one years ago where the
breeder lied.  (Have also run into a lot of people who have had their legs
pulled by jokesters...)
[Posted in FML issue 3509]