>My big, strong, healthy two year old boy Sturmie then got the flu, or so I
>thought.  When he collapsed at my feet, and I ran him into the vet, he not
>only just had the flu, he had kidney failure due to undiagnosed Insulinoma
>that had just cropped up.  He was in the vet's for a week and a half.
 
A friend who is an anatomy professor developed acute severe diabetes in
his late 20s when he got influenza years ago; his flu either damaged the
pancreas or caused an inclination in that direction to flare up in a huge
way; he was hospitalized and close to death for a while.  Influenzas have
killed hearty people in their prime, though that's rare compared to the old
or ill.  It should therefore be no surprise that ferrets, too, can have
complications which can kill and sometimes kill fast.  I suspect that part
of the confusion is that there are people who call just about anything
viral a "flu" when there's a big difference between those and true
influenza which is primarily a respiratory disease with other areas also
likely to become involved including the digestive tract; Steve's parents do
that and at times Steve will lapse.  I also suspect that many weren't
realizing that secondary infections can happen.
 
BTW, ferrets are so very susceptible to true influenza that they are used
in the development of vaccines.  There have been two (I think) posts here
in the past on ferrets adopted after being used for such research.
 
I have also heard over the years of three ferrets which were behaviorally
normal before having influenza as kits but behaved in a very intellectually
challenged fashion afterward.  All ran extremely high fevers.
 
>... My dealer said it is okay to cover them with a tarp.  what I did
>before placing them on the ground is get some pallets, or use ...
 
Just don't expect to be able to use this method or to be able to buy your
pellents from a place which uses this method if anyone in your family is
allergic to molds!  Been there...
 
Loved the arcing ferrets!  We have a new cute thing here.  Ashling puts her
hands over her ears to keep us out -- claps 'em right over and that's that,
so there!  In all these years she's our first for doing this.
[Posted in FML issue 2596]