Steve and I accidently met Sarah <starcat> of Petco and saw the adoption
center there in Raritan, NJ.  The young lady does not do herself justice.
She has much more knowledge than is usual for two years with ferrets,
certainly far, far more than we had in our second year around ferrets.
Both Steve and I were surprised to find out that she hadn't been with
ferrets more like 10 years.  The set up was clean, the ferrets were happy
and obviously trusting, and the ones with signs of problems had the signs
already spotted early and arrangements were being made for surgeries.
It's a bit of a drive for us but we both decided that it is someplace
we'll be buying some of our supplies in the future, too.  Isn't it
wonderful when people do thing right?
 
There is something I'm looking up for which I am afraid I'll have to
request a spelling because I don't find it where I am looking.
 
Let's see, going through 4 vet texts I find:
Trichinosis (Trichinella spiralis) but that is nematode which sets up
housekeeping in many species' intestines and not like what the person
is seeking.  (Fox's text)
 
Toglotrema acutum, a trematude found in sinuses of fox, mink and polecats
in continental Europe, possible due to eating frogs.
 
(Lewington's text)
Tricinella spiralis (see next listing)
Tricuris vulpis, whipworms (enteritis) (Lewington's text)
Trichophyton mentagrophytes, a fungal skin disease (which cats and
rabbits also get)  (Purcell's text)
 
None of those fit the bill for what I am seeking for a person, so I am
going to some sites, starting with http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org then on.
 
Nope, no luck.
 
Okay, back to the vet texts to look up respiratory...
 
Nothing fits.
 
Now, I will look up zoonoses: Nope, that is no help, either.  If you can
find out the spelling of what the rodents have I'll crack the books again
for you and try to find if there is anything on ferrets in relation to
it.  It's probably just the wrong name; we all do that at times.  Sure
know that I do.
 
I had a food manufacturer bring up an interesting point the other day.
HOW FIRM ARE WILD POLECAT AND FERRET FECES?  I don't know how many of you
have looked at wild feces, but it is way to know what animals are in an
area and unlike human stools with our high fiber intake which soaks up
fluids the waste of many animals is rather -- well, I guess the best way
to put it is "splat" or "thick pudding like".  This is a feature which
happens a good deal with some wild carnivores, especially those who tend
toward a meat diet that is high in minerals because the minerals pull
even more fluids along with them.  So, the question arises asking what
the wild feces are like because it might be that what exists could be a
choice: pudding like stools with a diet which is more natural, or tubular
stools with a diet which has more fiber than a natural diet (unless a
type of fiber can be found which in low amounts solves the fluid
equation).  It is an interesting biological problem to think about,
feces aside.
[Posted in FML issue 4387]