Hi All!!!
 
A couple of observations from the last FML:
 
I wanted to comment as a non-vet person about my personal experiences with
heliobacter.  I have only come across this as a secondary and perhaps
opportunistic problem with ferrets with ECE.  Heliobacter, as I understand
it, is a naturally occurring bacteria in the stomach, which in normal
numbers, aids in digestion.  If, however, it is allowed to go into
hyper-mode and reproduce exponentially, it causes a lot of problems in
ferrets, including nausea, ulcers and diarreah.  I have been successful in
treating this symptomatically with sulfacrate, duck soup, pedialyte and
sub-q fluids if dehydration is occurring.  I consider this to be what causes
so many ferrets with ECE to go downhill so fast - the immune system is
suppressed by the virus and the bacteria is allowed "free rein" in the
digestive tract.  Anyway - like I said, just a layman's eye-view of
heliobacter.
 
Declawing - I consider this to be cruel and unusual punishment - sort of
like saying, "ok, you're a ferret and you dig at the carpet and I can't
break you of the habit, so I am going to take your toenails away." I had one
opportunity to be around a cat that had been declawed because of excessive
scratching, and while removing his nails may have spared some damage, it
caused the cat to become a very nasty biter!  He also then began to CHEW on
the furniture!  I think that surgically trying to correct a behavior problem
is WRONG.  Either sacrifice the carpet, or live with the destruction!  Its a
lot easier for me to rationalize why I should change my behavior about the
carpet or plants than it is to permanently remove a part of my ferrets' body.
 
Eye color - again, a laymans point of view - I have noticed that the
ruby-red eyes of an albino reflect back orange, the burgundy eyes of some
badgers/pandas/mitts seem to reflect back red, and the brown eyes of all
other ferrets reflect green.  Maybe of test of people's eyes are in order -
do brown reflect differently than green?  hazel?  blue?  I dont know.
Perhaps the reflective color has to do with the pupils color?
 
Snoring ferrets - is it me, or is it just the boys that do it?
the wheezing, the whistling, the generally
"i'm-gonna-keep-you-awake-by-making-noise-at-2am" stuff that you hear as you
are trying to drift off?
 
Anyway - thanks to Georgia Wood, and the SOS gang again, and I hope each
ferret has a happy, healthy and thoroughly spoiled Christmas/Hanukkah!
Ferret Navidad, folks!
 
Lisa
[Posted in FML issue 1793]