Charlie sent me the following to share with you:
 
>Thanks so much for defending my free time, I really do appreciate it.  I
>think some of the people that love their ferrets and just have a few don't
>realize that at work I see hundreds or thousands of ferrets for many
>reasons and spend my free time researching and trying to find treatments
>for these terrible conditions (not to mention all the veterinarians that
>call for consults and my family who I'd like to spend time with), and as a
>result its hard for me to take so many free phone calls some of which just
>want to talk.  As a result I think I've found a way around it.  I now will
>answer phone calls at work in reference to ferrets I haven't seen under
>these conditions: prior to me calling them back they have to give the
>receptionist a credit card # for a $30 consult fee, and I'll call them back
>collect.  This money (after taxes) will go toward the adrenal research.
>Although this may make people upset that's what I'll have to do and then
>its a win win situation for the adrenal research
 
Charlie has already put a couple thousand of his own money, not to mention
so very hours of his time into this research into ways to control the
symptoms of adrenal tumors of ferrets who are not viable surgical
candidates even after having some private donors, and help from U.TN, a
pharmaceutical, and Marshall Farms (Hey, EVERYONE wants answers for adrenal
growths!) so this sounds like something which is certainly affordable and
yet will not interfere with the work which needs to be done.  His office
number, BTW, is 1-301-299-4142.  People who want to donate toward
furthering this research can send checks to the hospital.  Steve and I made
our checks out to: Charlie Weiss/Adrenal Studies.  Potomac Animal Hospital,
10020 River Rd., Potomac, MD 20837
 
I asked Bruce if the rat work on Ethoxyquin in rats might bode similar
concerns for ferrets (Bruce did the kidney pathology for Spot back then.)
and he let me know that preneoplastic lesions in rat kidneys (a different
species in a different order, which he told me are already prone to these
types of lesions even without any carcinogens) at a dose he considers
"pretty whopping" makes him not at this point find a cause for worry.
Figured this might help a few people be less worried that they might have
accidentally hurt their well loved furries; know a few people had started
to beat themselves up and they don't deserve the pain.  He pointed out that
if people get 100% oxygen for 24 hours they tend to develop lung disease --
as a way to point out that even very good things can become hazards if
taken in amounts too large.
 
BTW, the current issue of AFA's "American Ferret Report" is by far the
absolute best they have ever done!  It has an article on Charlie's work,
BTW, a ton of pieces on breeding hazards and cautions, etc.  Reading of
advances and the hard work so many are doing and have done I remembered
back when the idea of widening the American gene pool was being first
discussed, and the first popular literature realization that Waardensburg
shows up in ferrets (Okay, that's cause it was me and I'm a stuffy egotist
;-S , but the other stuff was not mine to start with though I was in some
of the discussions as were we all since the FML was so very small then.),
discussions of the (then on-going) early MIT work in Aleutian Disease,
early talks about when the end a breeding line, etc.  It's so interesting
to see progress being made on some of these fronts -- really a thrill,
exciting.  Did you know that MANY things now taken as normal ferret
considerations were discussed FIRST in the FML?  A LOT has come from here
to help ferrets over the last 11 years and several months!  I remember that
Bruce Williams even once wrote an article which included the FML as one of
the ten best things which ever happened to ferret veterinary care.
 
Anyway, I didn't mean to get silly or so far off base, and you can probably
guess that I haven't had much sleep recently, so I just want to say that I
REALLY RECOMMEND this issue of AFR!!!!!!  If a person uses the AFR, Modern
Ferret, Ferret Central, the AFIP ferret website, and the FML the result is
a marvelous, complimentary panorama of ferret information which can help
everyone, plus with three of those free and the other easily two affordable
anyone who can afford to have a ferret can afford them.  Oh, another BTW --
the AFA still has copies of James Fox's _Biology and Diseases of the
Ferret, second edition_, as well as having Quesenberry and Hillyer's easier
to find vet text, and other resources.  They can be reached at
1-888-FERRET1.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2614]