>From:    One Crazy Business <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: About quarantine procedures -- why are they necessary?
 
We don't have an elaborate quarrantine but there are good arguments in
favor of it.
 
>So, anyway--someone, please, tell me what horrible diseases can be
>prevented by a two-week quarantine?
 
You are indeed correct the the more talked about diseases are not really
going to be screened by a two week quarantine.  But ECE is only one of
many gastro-intestinal bugs.  Some of the others can be caught.
 
Also parasites.  They might not bee seen at first look.  Ear mites, worms,
even fleas can be hiding.
 
>The most common serious ferret diseases that we talk about here--adrenal
>disease and insulinoma--are almost certainly not communicable or linked
>to anything that is.
 
Maybe.  The fact that adrenal disease runs in clusters hasn't been
explained yet and there might be a communicable component.  Maybe not
likely but possible.  But a quarantine won't have much to do with this.
 
But another point to think about is that ferrets do indeed die from
shelter shock.  When ferrets that are used to one environment with only a
few ferrets suddenly get put into an environment where there are lots of
ferrets there are ferrets that will basically die overnight from no other
cause.  We've only had one luckily.  Well except for poor Stinky (not our
name) that just died by the morning after he arrived.  If a quarantine
room has fewer ferrets that shock might be reduced.  See Bob C's note from
yesterday.
 
>From:    Michele Fitzgerald <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Another baby lost, and misdiagnoses
 
With no necropsy to show what happened you don't have a case for
misdiagnosis.  Different vets with at least three different theories
and no evidence to show which two might be wrong.  Or three.  Or none.
Anger is a part of grieving.
 
>From:    Amy Flemming <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF & Dots
 
So I'm a uncareful editor at times... Yup Karen miswrote that and then gave
herself a concussion or something.
 
>From:    Ashael Rave <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Black ferret?? and thnx.
>Just wanted to ask a question that been bugging me lately.  everyone know
>there are albino ferrets and normal whites, put has anyone heard of an
>over-pigmented ferret, ie "blackino"?  i mean a real black one and not
>dark brown.
 
True black in ferrets is almost always accompanied by white feet.  And
almost all ferrets have light colors on their face.
 
So called black sables aren't black.  The AFA term means sable guard hairs
with cool grey or whitish undertones.  The term in other standards is sable
solids and sometimes refers to specific mask types.  Personally I don't
like the name for the color/pattern or the definitions.  Though Kym despite
her Kymness through out the day in North Carolina did manage to have a pair
that very clearly demonstrated the AFA difference between an AFA sable and
black sable.  And boy did that particular black sable try to hog all the
ribbons...
 
>From:    "Gustafson, Barb" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Curious about Sumo ferrets
 
The size of kits at birth is a function of the number of kits in the litter
not the size they'll grow into.  Not hard to understand when you think
about how much more the smaller kits can 'get' from the mothers by not
having to share so much.
 
We did lose a jill (and her litter) because of an abnormal litter which
had three normal kits and one truly humongous kit.  Poor jill got all torn
up inside trying to deliver that big one.  She delivered that final kit on
the kitchen table of Dr. Jean Wardell with Dr. Kawasaki consulting via the
phone.  With hindsight now we can see that a caesarian might have saved the
jill but there is no way we or the vets could have know that one kit was
'wrong' since the other three were perfectly normal.  The jill was not
particularly large nor was the father.  We don't know what happened.
 
>From:    "K. Crassi" <[log in to unmask]>
>Well, yes, I do.  Most of the time.  I have been known to wardance buck
>nekkid with the ferrets though.  :-D
 
So do you sell tickets to watch as a shelter fund raiser?  <ducking real
fast>
 
bill (and diane)
--
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2813]