I posted this to Adele personally, but I thought I would post here as
well as people post fairly often about vet recommendations.  I'm pretty
sure what I wrote is accurate, but please feel free to correct any
misinformation that I may have passed along to her:
 
Adele,
 
Not to fear about having your ferret treated in NYC. I take my two darlings
to St. Mark's vet on East 9th Street (212-477-2688).  They are wonderful
there.  There's nothing in the DOH law that states vet's can't treat
ferrets in NYC.  And I'm sure you've noticed that the pet stores have not
stopped carrying ferret supplies.  Well, the few that had them anyway.
 
As far as hair loss on the tail, my little girl Bean lost hair on the
underside of her tail about a month ago.  She has what looks like
blackheads on her tail.  (Some people also say blackheads will cause an
orange waxy substance to form as well, but Bean did not have that.)  When
I wrote to the list asking for help about this, most of the people who
replied said that unless she began to lose the hair on the base of her tail
and butt, that I shouldn't worry.  And that if it was just "rat tail" that
most likely the hair would grow back with the next coat change.
 
Of course, it's your perogative (sp?) to take your baby to the vet if you
wish to be on the safe side.  All the folks at St. Marks are great.  They
may be a little bit pricey, but I knew after I went there the first time,
I wouldn't take my babies anywhere else.  You may also want to e-mail
Bronxelf (I don't know her address off hand, but she posts pretty regularly
to the FML and ferret newsgroup...especially on the topic of the NYC ban.)
I know she has someone that's uptown that she likes alot.  (ELF???)
 
For additional information, there's always Ferret Central...the best
resource for ferret information that I've seen.
(http://www.ferretcentral.org)
 
Best of luck to you and your big boy!
 
Leslie, Bean (mama's flying squirrel) and Daggett (mom...I thought you said
I was the fat boy?)
[Posted in FML issue 2806]