Hello everyone.  I am new to the FML and this is my first posting.  My
little baby is Carmen (as in Where in the World is Carmen?) and she is
about 1.5 years old.  I have two issues that I wanted to address.  The
first is airlines.  I live in Nebraska, go to school in New York and visit
Colorado often.  In other words, Carmen is a frequent flying ferret.  I
can not tell you how frustrated I get with the airlines telling me that I
have to pay absurd amounts of money for Carmen to fly with the luggage
because she is a wild animal.  One airline even told me that they wouldn't
allow ferrets because they were afraid that they would chew wires and
crash the plane.  The only airline I have been really pleased with in this
regard is MarkAir (an ecomony airline) because they let Carmen fly right
next to me for only $25.00.  But as some of you may know, MarkAir is
becoming defunct and has not been flying the past few days (they were
grounded by the FAA).  If anyone has any advice of information about
ferret friendly airlines, I would appreciate it because Carmen and I fly
about 6 times a year.  Thanks!
[Moderator's note: 2 of their 6 planes were grounded by the FAA and one by
a bomb threat.  Full service is expected to return soon.  BIG]
 
The second issue is allergies.  I am one of those people who is allergic to
just about everything.  I finally found ferrets and thought that this was
the one furry animal that I could have.  I also have asthma and my allergies
and asthma have been acting up lately.  As some of you may know, there is no
allergy skin test available for ferrets or any member of that family.  My
allergist finally told me that I have to have a RAST blood test done for
ferret allergies (the sample has to be sent to Johns Hopkins).  If I test
allergic, then my allergist wants to get rid of Carmen.  As you can imagine,
this thought is unbearable.  I am having the test done in late August and I
am nervous for the results.  I was wondering if anyone is allergic to
ferrets and what their experience has been (i.e. is there ANY way of
getting aroung giving Carmen away?).  I would also appreciate any advice on
this as well.
 
Finally, condonlences to anyone who has lost their ferret.  The stories are
heartwrenching.  Thanks for any help you can offer me.
 
Jessica & Carmen (I love to steal things that aren't mine.  Heh heh heh)
[Posted in FML issue 1275]