>From:    "Lori A. Gilmore" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: LOVE is a beautiful thing
>I have decided to do intense research before I get my own furry.  I found a
>shelter here in Leesburg and also found out that there is a Loudoun Cty
>Ferret Club.
 
Hi!  Welcome to the neighborhood!  Vickie's shelter is by far the busiest in
Northern Virginia - possibly the whole state but Lisa in Tidewater is busy
too and don't want to worry about exact numbers offerrets though - not
important.  LAFF has been one of the better ferret clubs.
 
>From:    "Kris Aaron-Benedum (and S. & S.)" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: people don' need nobody's fur
 
>Mr. Parsons until he explains -- in detail -- why he is "farming" mink and
>how he kills (sorry, "harvests") them.
 
He is raising and mink to earn a living of course.  The man is old.  Too old
to start a new profession.  Its legal.  Fight the law not the farmer.
 
And you obviously omitted being concerned that mink were killed.  Aren't
they God's creatures too?
 
We are well aware of the true feelings of all of the local ferret folk
including Diane Rogers about Mr. Parsons' ranch.  You obviously are not.
 
Lets leave the A/R fight for A/R forums, this is a ferret forum.
 
>From:    Bob Church <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Comments from Bob C
>>>Second, it is presumpuous to assume that just because an animal can
>>>live on a single food, that it would want too.
>>While that may be true, if I fed my dog something different every time I
>>bought food, or even "mixed" occasionally something else with his food he
>>would have COLITIS VERY VERY BAD!!!!!!!!
>Can't address the dog issue, but with up to 20 ferts over several years, it
>has never caused a problem.  Ever.
 
(Thats a bit of history...)
 
We have seen ferrets that did not do well when they switched foods.
Surprisingly it was switching from cheap food to Iams Cat.  It was prolapsed
rectums in some of the Swedes.  They ate the food all right but had this
embarrasing hang out problem.  They've since been able to eat the food.
 
We continue to use Iam's Cat as our base food and Totally Ferret as the base
food for ill/pregnant/nursing/etc ferrets.  We provide others including
Mazuri, Pro Plan Feline Growth, Eukanuba for cats, 8in1 tossed in at times.
I think we are a middle ground between a single diet which can be relatively
healthy (for a kibble diet) and a constantly changing diet.  Most of their
food is Iams Cat or Toatally Ferret.  Variety comes from different kibbles
and those bones the dogs don't snag first from human food.
 
We've been attacked through email about our cruel treatment of the ferrets
for not giving enough variety but this is from folks that hate everything we
do.
 
>From:    Kim Hastings <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Cleaning keyboards/distemper series/who to call about rabies
>Trish, it seems like I've read dozens of times that an adult fert with
>unknown vaccination history needs two distemper shots, four weeks apart,
>then annual boosters.
 
You've been correctly informed.  This is the most generally accepted
treatment.  The 6 month booster idea is only from this one vet in Texas.
Though I think three weeks is acceptable as it matches the 3 week interval
for kits.  Fervac-D is still also the only tested vaccine for CDV in
ferrets.  Anecdotally it appears Galaxy-D might work also.  Especially its
recommended for ferrets that react badly to Fervac-D.  There are politics in
vaccine choice which is stupid.  No we don't think Trish is stupid - we
respect her a great deal.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1937]