I have read with interest recent posts referring to medical or semi-medical
uses of colloidal silver.  For example, Charlene Lowe states:
 
>I have read that colloidal silver is currently being used and has been
>used for many years by airlines to purify the drinking water onboard and
>by hospitals as an antiseptic during and after surgery...  Silver has been
>used for centuries to preserve food...Colloidal silver is put in newborns
>eyes to prevent infection (long ago silver dollars were placed on the
>eyes).  I have read in many articles that there are hardly any (if any)
>known microbes (bacterial, viral, fungi) that are not destroyed within 6
>minutes of contact with silver and no resistance is developed.  I have
>used with much success c.s on my cats hind leg where he develops "plaque"
>a chronic dermatitis which consists of boils and scabs.
 
It is important to understand that even if substantiable none of these
assertions is a sound basis for administering CS internally as a substitute
for an antibiotic or other prescribed medication.  I looked at a container
of Lysol tonight that similarly claims to kill bacteria, viruses, molds and
mildews instantly -- but that does not mean it would be a good idea to mix
it with Duck Soup and force-feed it to my ferret, particularly to treat an
internal viral infection that may have compromised its hepatic function.
 
CS, according to the 1994 Groliers encyclopedia, does have "bactericidal
properties, not fully understood, that may result from its oxygen-absorbing
ability."  The encyclopedia article says it is used as "an antiseptic,
germicide, astringent, and caustic and for water sterilization" and adds that
"The metal is not poisonous in small amounts, externally or internally, but
most silver salts are."
 
I do not know whether colloidal silver compounds are salts or not. But I
would like to point out that "not poisonous in SMALL AMOUNTS" is little
comfort if we do not know what IS an appropriate "small amount" for ferrets.
 
To Gary:
 
I will try to find out over the next few days, if possible, the additional
details you requested concerning the case of the ferret suffering from
toxicity.  I do know the diagnosis was made by a DVM - but I don't have the
specifics on how much CS, in what form.
 
Somewhat disturbing to me was the passage of your last post where you
observed that statements of "concern" can be a misinformation tactic, as in
"what the Cal. F&G has been saying about the domestic ferret."  It seems to
me that concerns raised in this forum deserve to be judged on their own
merits -- not pre-judged or pre-discredited by hinting that anyone who
voices a "concern" about the effects of a drug being promoted as a sort of
panacea is trying to spread disinformation about it.  Neither the tactics of
Cal. F&G nor the doubtless egregious history of US government efforts to
suppress marijuana has the remotest relevance to the issue of whether, and
under what conditions, and in what dosages, Colloidal Silver may be safe to
administer to ferrets or effective in treating illness.
[Posted in FML issue 1375]