To anonymous:
 
>Our vet said that is very hard to diagnose a ferret for heartworms with blood
>work and that they just look for an elevated white count.  ...it seems
>me that if you are just looking at white count any number of things
>could guessed at but not concluded.  True?
 
        This doesn't sound quite right.  Ferets can be tested for heartworms
using an occult heartworm detection kit, just as we do in some dog cases.  The
kit test for the presence of heartworm antigens in the blood.  The typical
examination of a blood smear under the microscope for the presence of
free-floating larva in the blood does not work, as we don't see these in
ferrets.  Also, almost anything, including stress can elevate a ferret's white
count, so this is at best a poor test for heartworms.
 
>Then I told her about the bovine vaccine which should be diluted and given
>orally and also gave her the name of the dr. in florida that dr. williams
>provided (thank you). She thought that sounded interesting and was curious to
>know what she should dilute it in. She said she'd call the dr. in florida if
>she couldn't figure it out, but i'm curious too...
 
        She probably should just go ahead and call Dr. Kemmerer.  The vehicle
Dr. Kemmerer uses is propylene glycol.  But she needs to get firsthand info.
from Dr. K. about making this medicine up, because if there is a problem with
dilution, the results can be dire.
 
--
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Department of Veterinary Pathology
[log in to unmask]               Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]             Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
(202) 782-2600/2602
[Posted in FML issue 1168]