>From:    Eric Corbett <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Ferreter has consistently claimed that many UK vets routinely use
>Frontline to treat ear mites, and are quite happy to recommend its use.
>Yet every time I have asked her for the name of even one vet who holds
>this opinion she has refused to divulge it.  The 'threatening letter'
>she refers to must be the one I wrote to her own vet simply asking
>whether he supported this unconventional and potentially hazardous use
>of Frontline as a routine treatment for ear mites in ferrets, as she
>had intimated that he did on several occasions.
 
Only MY vet?  You have also threatened another veterinary surgeon with
reporting him to the RCVS.  I am still using the word threaten because
that is what you are doing.
 
After I and several concerned ferret owners have trawled through pages
and pages of information of the various web site we have yet to find
one instance where a ferret has been harmed by using Frontline.
 
The first time fipronil was mentioned in the BSAVA Manual of Exotic Pets
was in either 1996 or 1997 - it is still in the 2002 edition.  If vets
were so concerned why was the reference not changed?  A Fellow of the
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons - a vet who has been in practice for
30 + years has the following to say:- "he is not aware of any veterinary
paper or presentation that has highlighted any problems with fipronil as
a parasite control in small animals".  And no we are not going to give
you his name so that you can threaten him as well.
 
When I spoke to my own vet regarding your threatening letter to him
he indicated all the drugs on the shelves in his consulting room and
just said everyone off those is potentially a dangerous drug.  He also
mentioned that when he queried the safety of a new vaccine with the drug
company he was assured that it had been carefully tested on animals.
When he asked how many control animals had been used he was told 22
(TWENTY-TWO)!!!  Mr Corbett - one vet alone has administered Frontline
into the ears of over 90 (NINETY) ferrets and absolutely no adverse
reactions.
 
We have repeatedly requested instances where actual ferrets have been
harmed by Frontline but you have not come up with one case - you just
quote a lot of mumbo jumbo at us i.e. the potential dangers of using
Frontline - as I said before drugs are dangerous.
 
BTW one of my ferrets has dilated cardiomyopathy and MY vet has put
him on 1/10 of a 5 mg tablet of Fortekor a day... a non licensed drug
for ferret use, does this meet with your approval?  Or do I just let
Tiberius die?
[Posted in FML issue 4389]