I want to thank everyone who emailed me or posted about their experiences
with isoflurane and ketamine as anesthetics for ferret surgery.  The general
consensus was that iso is far safer and rarely causes anesthetic-induced
problems.
 
We learned this the hard way.  Remember I said that 3 ferrets were taken to
altering and only one male allowed to come home that day.  The next day I
was allowed to take home the female and other male.  With 3 hours the second
male, Munchie, was dead.  The vet said he had been fine all day, but within
an hour of taking him home, I knew he was dying.  The vet's office was
closed by then, and I couldn't reach him at home until it was too late.
 
This event is doubly tragic because Munchie came into Jean's shelter as a
direct result of the Cleveland bite incident.  Munchie was owned by a
handicapped woman who was living in assisted care housing.  After the
alarming bite reports, she was told she would have to get rid of the ferret
or find another place to live.
 
Munchie had been this woman's friend for 5 years.  He was a beautiful
bulldog sable with black mask.  There was no reason for him to die.
 
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
[Posted in FML issue 2239]