School has kept me *really* busy lately, but I must share some suggestions
with the readers of the FML.
 
        #1 - Keep a good source of ferret medical information handy at
                all times.  The Medical FAQ is *excellent*.
        #2 - Talk with your vet about emergency first aid for illness and
                injuries *before* anything happens.
        #3 - Keep the supplies handy that your vet recommends.
 
One of my ferrets had an apparent insulinoma induced seizure last night
and I almost freaked out.  In my 6 years of owning ferrets (right now I
have 11 of various ages), I have never seen anything like it.  When I put
Gunther out to play, his head tilted to the right and he stumbled square
into the wall. When I picked him up, the first thing that crossed my mind was
a stroke.  Then I noticed he was drooling. I remember reading in the FAQ
about insulinomas.
 
Of course when I attempted to log on to the network, it was acting up.  It
took 5 tries to finally get logged on.  This is why I made suggestion #1.
Keep the information handy! The last thing you need to do is search for
information when your ferrets' life is in your hands.
 
I talked with my vet a long time ago about first aid and illness preparedness.
I had the Karo syrup on hand and was able to bring him out of the stupor
after about 25 minutes. I also had our version of ferret soup on hand and fed
him that to stabilize the protein (all of these suggestions were in the
FAQ.) He will be visiting our vet to insure my diagnosis was correct and
to discuss long term care and management of the disease.
 
So please, talk to your vet before anything happens, have the things on
hand that your vet recommends, and keep a copy of the FAQ *handy*!!
 
Second, I think Mary McCarthy made some excellent points about Marshall
Farms.  I loved my MF ferret dearly but he died at 5 years from
adrenal-related problems (our California vet and us did not know what was
wrong.) How can a closed colony of breeders for 40 years (which MF is) be
anything but inbred?  Just my $.0200000000 (my brand new laptop 486
rounds off just fine, thank you.)
 
        -Carla
[Posted in FML issue 1070]