Fuzzy greetings to all.  Hope everyone had a great holiday season!  The
Merry Mob is happy the holidays are over, cause now mom has plenty more
time for them.
 
About the nail clipping for blood samples.  We've had it done, and will
have it done again.  When you have to get blood, it's always gonna cause
some discomfort.  Having a needle put through the skin is painful as well,
although it is done when necessary.  But the stress of having to hold them
down, and possibly have multiple attempts at hitting the vein seems harder
on them than the nail clipping when a small amount is all that is needed.
And I wouldn't even consider putting them under anesthesia as an
alternative.  The ones that we did showed no signs of lasting stress, and
one even acted as though she didn't even feel it, just licked her ferretone
happily.  Considering that clipping the quick is something that could even
happen on accident during routine grooming, using the procedure to an
advantage in appropriate circumstances doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
 
Sherry and her Merry Mob
[Posted in FML issue 2925]