Christina asked about tatoo's on MF ferrets:
About 3 years ago some MF ferrets began coming through with a tatoo between
the toes as well as on the ears.  I don't know why they are doing that
(I'm sure it's an internal marking system, perhaps new bloodlines?), but
generally speaking as long as they have the two dots in their ears as well,
they are MF.
 
Hayley on balloons:
Hayley, please don't let your ferrets play with balloons.  They are too
easy to eat a piece of and get a blockage.  There are plenty of other,
much safer, toys for them.  If you want to let them play with balloons, a
mylar balloon played with under supervision is a much safer bet.
 
A follow up to my post on US Airways... If you choose to fly your ferret
as excess baggage, you must make a reservation in advance (be sure to take
names, numbers and date and time of calls!), and pay a fee of $50-75 each
way.  You will need a sturdy carrier.  When I flew my ferrets (once, not
sure I would do it again), I hung hammocks in the cages, secured a small
litter pan in the cage, used crock locks to provide food, and froze about
an inch of water in the bottom of another crock lock.  I lined the bottom
of the cage with several layers of newspaper (absorbent and insulating)
added a warm polar fleece sleep sack, and hubby came up with a fairly
ingenious way of padlocking the cages shut with Master padlocks.  We didn't
want to risk losing one because a baggage handler thought they were cute
and wanted to pet them, and it got away.  In permanent marker I wrote the
name and phone number of a person at "home" who would be willing to take
responsibility for the ferrets if somehow they got "bumped" or something
and needed to be picked up while I was on the other side of the country.
Generally airlines won't accept pets on non-direct flights.  If you
decide to leave them and can't find a ferret sitter closer to you, my
shelter--Fuzztek Central--does boarding, but I'm about an hour away.
E-mail me privately for details.
 
On Autopsies:
I stand corrected by Dr. WIlliams who explained that lab work should be
part of a necropsy.  However, I have allowed my vet to open my recently
departed loved one as a learning experience for him on many occasions.
There have been a few that I have said no, but for the most part, if it
will help him learn and train his staff, then it's a great thing.  I guess
I was looking at it on a slightly different angle, that of education
rather than investigation, if that makes sense.  BTW- in my case I use an
extremely competent, ferret specialist that many others on this list will
agree is one of the best.  He has at times asked to do the necropsy and
send the lab work out on "his dime" as a learning experience for him and
his staff.  I wish all vets were like him.  There would be a lot less bad
vet horror stories on this list.
 
Slightly OT- I'll be in Boston/Cambridge in late October on a business
trip.  Would love to have dinner with a bunch of FML'ers while there.
Please email me privately if you'd like to get together.  I am flying in,
so we'll need to meet someplace I can safely and easily get to either by
walking or taking the T.  Sunday 10/29 will probably work best for me.
 
Anne
[Posted in FML issue 3203]