>Now this story is not done...On Wednesday morning I noticed a single dot
>in the first mom's ear (we are calling her Kayla)... breeder from Canada
>was using the same tatoo in the ear.  I immediately called that breeder
>only to discover that breeder had sold his business and supplies to
>another Canadian breeder who had agreements with Pet Stores... stores...
>found the ferrets were not altered
 
What color is the dot?
 
There is someone with whom I am in correspondence who has a ferret
with what was thought to be a surgical error (a ferret who was sold as
descented but wasn't and they got infected), but the dot color on the
ferrets' ear doesn't sound like the claimed origin and the paperwork
that farm supplies was never given (I'll have to also have her see if
she can find any toe tats; if not the store's origin claim is going to
be even more likely to be false, I think, when taken in conjunction with
the rest, though many toe tats can be hard to find.)
 
I am curious if the color you are seeing for the ear tat is the same as
what she has encountered.  If it is she will need to consider that the
ferret may also be whole and act accordingly.
 
>Question for Dr. Williams,
>
>Is there any danger of transmittal of FIP from feline populations to
>ferret populations or is this still unknown?  Thanks.
 
From the Ferret Mailing List Archives (URL in header of every day's FML):
 
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0101&L=ferret-search&P=R6993
>No, FIP is not contagious to ferrets.  Nothing to be afraid of.
 
>You may want to run the diagnostic test on the kitty again after eight
>months with no symptoms, to rule out the possibility of a false
>positive.  They are rare, but they do occur.
>
>With kindest regards,
>Bruce Williams,d VM
>[Posted in FML issue 3289]
 
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0101&L=ferret-search&P=R6241
>>question is, can ferrets catch feline leukemia and/or FIP, and would
>>it be safe to let them play with him?  He would just love to play with
>>them, I know, and they'd give him a run for his money, but I don't
>>want to get my babies sick.
 
>Ferrets do not contract either of those diseases.  It is safe to let
>them play.  While FIP is a coronavirus, as is ECE, these viruses do not
>cross species lines.  Let Moses have some fun!
>
>All the best,
>Bruce Williams, dVM
>[Posted in FML issue 3288]
[Posted in FML issue 4520]