Went to the Big Apple Ferret Show and the Ferret Veterinary clinic in
White PLains New York this weekend.  Met lots of FML folks including BIG.
This was all good.  Our ferrets did okay in the show but I get to brag on
one of Ellen Byrne's ferrets (she is on the list and sometimes posts).
She got a big dark sable hob "Professor Xavier" from us last year.  He won
the breeder class best in show!  He went to the LIFE sanctioned show the
weekend before and also made an impression on the judges.  Okay so why did
I let Ellen have this ferret instead of showing him myself?  I don't know
but they get along great so I don;t mind - got a great little champagne
jill "Satori" out of the deal.
 
Met Jaya and Ang - a badger is the same thing as a shetland or blaze.
 
Charles Pratt mentioned Midwest Cages.  We use these ourselves.  We also
use the shorter Cat Playpen - same thing without the ramps and less height.
Anyone who saw us at Chicago or New York might have seen one of these in
use for holding our 'kits for sale'.  They are great.
 
Celeste asked about Minnesota shows - there is a AFA sanctioned show every
year - don't know the sponsoring club.  I'll be sure to announce it when
the time comes.
 
Hope asked about KMR and Esbilac.  These are all from the same company and
have nearly identical ingredients.  A little extra vegetable oil is the
only difference I could discern.  There are even two different formulations
of Esbilac, only one has the ferret recommendation and it isn;t the big can
but the little 'emergency' packets.  Most of the local breeders seem to use
them interchangably.
 
Faith asked about ferret blood donors.  We and the other local ferret
breeders or well know owners sometimes get asked to loan a big hob for
blood transfusions.  We donated a hob "Killer" to Dr.  Kawasaki here in
Woodbridge/Lakeridge Virginia.  It happens to be the full brother of the
ferret I mentioned that Ellen Byrne has.  We have hobs available to the
other local vets (as do most of the other local breeders) since we get so
much help from them.
 
Registry topics:
Chere McCoy asked about using our database: We don't currently have phone
numbers and addresses of the owners of most of the ferrets.  Our goal is a
genetic type database.  We would consider using our list for your needs but
only with the permission of the owners.  Others such as Jennifer expressed
reticence of having this information available to others.  I understand
their desires as well.  If you need to call us (703)590-3473, this number
should be in the STAR* list as well.
 
What we are doing could only help in identifying ferrets if people were to
tattoo or embed microchips in the animals.  I would gladly include
information like tatto or micro chip codes if it is provided to me.  Any
on-line search capabilities would be limitted to genetic/breeder
information.  I would never put the names of the owners of ferrets out
where it could be assessed without their permission.
 
As far as the National Ferret Association or National Ferret REgistry
goes.  I've yet to find any one who has heard of this group.  THere are
several smallish groups that claim to be national including these guys
and the UFO.  I know so little about these groups I have no real comment
on them.
 
Distemper:
There are a lot of false rumors floating about concerning an outbreak of
Canine Distemper.  I've talked to most of the player in the real situation
including Dr. Curlee of United vaccine, Drs. Williams, Brown and Kawasaki
at the vet conference Sunday.  And the owners of the infected animals.
 
It is possible but not proven that the distemper came from Chicago.  Only
the ferrets of a single owner have caught the disease so it is NOT a major
breakdown in the Chicago show in anyway.  We have not been infected as I
have also heard through the rumor mills.  If anyone know of distemper cases
that have any chance at being related I'm sure many of us fell we would
like to know.  It is unlikely we will find the real source of the disease
in this case.
 
The ferrets were vaccinated by a veterinarian according to the directions
from United Vaccine.  The disease did NOT come from the vaccination itself
but an apparent exposure to an infected animal at an unknown time.  Dr.
Kawasaki did not investigate this matter, but he was consulted along with
Dr. Williams.
 
Vaccines are protection but not a guarantee.  A strong enough exposure to
the canine distemper vaccine can cause the disease in a ferret vaccinated
with ANY of the distemper vaccines.  Only Fervac-D has been tested on
ferrets and shown to provide an appropriate level of protection as defined
by the government.  There was no reaction to the vaccines in any of these
ferrets at anytime.
 
Some of the infected ferrets have died but others are undergoing a treatment
that could only be described as experimental.  I am not permitted to go into
details on this.  It is controversial to even attempt this.  Some
veterinarians believe that the potential for infection of other animals
far out weighs the probability of success.
 
I hope that any of the vets on line will correct any errors in the
veterinary information.  I attended the vet conference on Sunday but with
no real veterinary schooling I am interpreting the information as a lay
person.
 
We personally will continue to use Fervac-D in our ferrets until a better
choice comes along.  Others have a different opinion.
 
United Vaccine is doing work on alternative forms of the vaccine that would
not even involve an injection.  I was told that these alternative methods
will be tested and hopefully submitted for approval perhaps within a year.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 1379]