This message for Megan Scott and all others who may be holding Marshall
Farms ferrets that are estral (in heat).
 
Ferrets NorthWest's Edward Lipinski very strongly suggests that such ferrets
be opened up immediately, if not sooner, for exploratory surgery to find the
cause of the estral condition.
 
Here's the reason why this recommendation is made, and it comes from
experience at Ferrets NorthWest's Seattle Shelter.
 
First, you should know the Ferret NorthWest uses vasectomized males to
prevent embryonic pregnancy.  We allow copulatory activity between estral
females and vasectomized (not neutered) studs in order to take the females
out of heat by normal(?) mating, not making them pregnant, and not allowing
them to die from aplastic anemia.
 
The vasectomized males work very hard (no pun intended) in the Spring to
service many estral females who come to our shelter as escapees from their
owners and who have not claimed them beforehand.  In addition, such servicing
of females is performed for legitimate owners who do bring their girls here
at a $15.00 stud fee, which is termed Aspermic Studding (Aspermic = without
spermatozoa).
 
During the aspermic studding, servicing period of 3 to 7 days, we rent out
to the owners of the female ferret, at no cost to them, a loaner ferret, so
that their loneliness is muted by the loaner ferret they take home with them
for the duration.  Our loaner ferrets are the 2 to 3 year old adult intact
creatures.
 
The last 2 years we had our first experiences with estral jills from
Marshall Farms.  It was not very nice.
 
The first 2 ferrets were albino jills who had been in heat for an unknown
length of time and who were in bad shape.  Aspermic studding was
unsuccessful in that both girls died of symptoms typical of aplastic anemia.
Their eyes were lemon yellow instead of bright ruby-red, this a likely sign
that their red blood cell count was minimal.
 
The second of these ferrets was opened up at necropsy and an intact single
ovary was found, all other parts of her reproductive system having been
removed, except the vagina.
 
The third ferret, a healthy looking sable estral jill with the two blue
tatoo dots on her right pinna or auricule was placed with a vasectomized
male for the purpose of taking her out of heat without pregnancy.  The male
was removed from her cage, because the female was screaming in apparent pain
just after the male had achieved penetration, several times, albeit,
unsuccessfully.
 
Upon opening her up from neck to crotch, she was found to have multiple
ovarian fragments internally, no tubes, no uterus, no cervix and about 1/4
of a vagina.  Our vet cleaned her thoroughly and allowed us to conclude that
no estral Marshall Farms ferret would ever again be subjected to mating, but
instead would go immediately into exploratory surgery.  That has been our
practice since.
 
So, you see Megan, and any others who are possessors of Marshall Farms
ferrets, and I mean only females (they can't f..k up the males similarly,
thank goodness) judging from our experiences here in the wet and soggy,
mudsliding Great (?) Northwest, please get you ferret into the vet, so a
reason can be found for her being in heat, supposedly after she was
guaranteed spayed.
 
P.S.  Marshall Farms says they will pay the cost of the second spay,
providing you can prove the spaying was done on a Marshall Farms ferret, and
not a counterfeit Marshall Farms ferret.  You see, anybody can tatoo, not
just MF.
 
                           LUPIS EST HOMO HOMINI
[Posted in FML issue 1825]