First, thank you, Alicia. But, I am afraid I am blushing. There are
many people other then me who have had to live with ADV and try to
provide the best quality time for their ferrets that they can. For those
of you who have not experienced ADV, I hope you never do. For those of
you who have lived with it, even for a short time, I feel your pain.
I hope that people will take the time to read the article. While much
of it is old information to people familiar with ADV and ADV testing,
there is some new information, also. Perhaps the most important new
item is the one Alicia mentioned - the estimated cost for UGA to develop
a vaccine against ADV.
The total cost does sound unreachable - $240,000.00 - until you start to
break it down. When I interviewed Dr. Ritchie, and he told me that, I
made some comment about needing to get corporate sponsors. He said that
he thought we could do it, and suggested thinking of it as $60,000.00 a
year for 4 years (his estimate on the length of time to develop a
vaccine).
To me, $60,000.00 still sounded like a lot of money. There are so many
causes, both ferret related and not, that need funding. Our money just
gets spread too thin. And, the economy has not been all that nice to
many people.
Then I realized, with about 2,500 members on the FML, that cost for a
vaccine works out to about $25.00 per FML member for 4 years. Still
sound like a lot? Well, think of it as about $2.00 a month for the next
4 years.
Now, it may be that some of the non US resident members of the FML
would not want to participate. A vaccine developed in the US might not
be readily available overseas (although I am sure something could be
worked out). Even if we say only the people who live in the US would
participate, it would still be under $3.00 a month for the next 4 years.
Or, to really break it down - less then a ten cents a day.
Imagine, for less then ten cents a day, in 4 years there might be a
vaccine developed that could protect ferrets from ADV. Anyone wanting
to donate to this should send checks made out to "The Arch Foundation"
and with either "ADV Research" or "ADV Fund" written on the notations
line to the following address:
Kate Pennick, Research Tech III
Dept. of Pathology -- Room 148
UGA College of Vet Med
Athens, GA 30602-7388
And, while I am talking about articles in Ferrets Magazine, and the
great information they provide, I wanted to call attention to 2 other
articles - both in the March/April issue. Now, I don't know about other
areas, but the pet stores in my area still have copies of the March/April
issue available, so if you haven't seen it, you may still be able to get
a copy.
The first article is by Dr. Katrina Ramsell, and discusses the work she
is doing on DIM. Like ADV, DIM is a horrible disease, robbing kits of
their life. There is actually not a lot that is known about it, at least
not yet. But, the article gives some very accurate information on what
is known, and also has contact information for Dr. Ramsell. Since the
article was written, she has come up with a treatment protocol that is
showing some hope. Bottom line on this one - good article and important
information to know.
The second article I want to mention is by Alicia Drakiotes, and
discusses post operative care for ferrets. Again, I highly recommend
reading the article. One of the vets that I use was so impressed with
the article that she is photo copying it, and will be handing it out to
clients whose ferrets have surgery. That says a lot about the article,
when a very ferret knowledgeable vet decides to use it as a reference.
--
Danee DeVore
International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator
http://www.ferretcongress.org
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com
You can help fight ADV!
Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
[Posted in FML issue 5211]
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