Anonymous: try these resources to find a ferret knowledgeable vet; they aren't as up to date as I'd like. For instance many still don't list Joe Martins in Bellemead AH in N.J.. Sorry about having to repeat this info so soon, Bill, but Anonymous didn't give an address, so may as well give everyone another chance to save these useful sites. http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc http://www.thepetproject.com/starferrets.html http://www.ferretcentral.org http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/FerretVets.htm Do NOT forget to look at the vets who are used by shelters. You can do this by getting a copy of the SOS list if you don't have it already. Use the command: "SEND SHELTER LISTS" to the listserv addy above in the FML header: <[log in to unmask]>. Don't forget search engines due to people having mentioned such posts in the past. For instance, try http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html . BTW, several people asked questions today who could get vet-supplied info by using such server options and the ones below my signature including their links. In situations in which ferret-knowledgeable vet and other health-related expert replies are needed in a timely fashion the FHL (Ferret Health List) has a much better than average chance of helping, although that sometimes is partly dependent upon which vets are not away at conferences and the like, partly dependent on how recently a similar question has been answered, and partly dependent on how how complete the information given is (for example actual test results when available) -- all of those being features which affect any ferret list with vet members such as the FML (Ferret Mailing List). There are some folks who get confused about the various lists, so we FHL moderators wind up passing along compliments or questions meant for Bill Gruber periodically, and visa versa. Another BTW, sadly a number of vets simply are NOT current on ferret health. You can help them by directing them to reputable on-line resources with vet comments and articles, to veterinary text books such as Dr. Karen Purcell's _Essentials of Ferrets_ on AAHA Press, Doctors Katherine Quesenberry and Elizabeth Hillyer's _Ferrets, Rabbits and Rodents_ by Saunders which is due to have a second edition sometime in coming months, and James Fox's _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, second edition_ from Williams and Wilkins. At least there are many ways for vets to learn now, before 1989 there weren't texts so just imagine what it was like then. Early on the internet, and the original (not any later re-births) of rec.pets.alt.ferrets, then the Ferret Mailing List which began over 15 years ago were the options that existed, and they were critical in improving ferret health care. Vets do NOT need to remain in the stone age for ferret health needs since information IS available, so, please, do pass on such information to vets to help them and the ferrets. >Hi. I've had 9 ferrets all live on Iams kitten (we started out in a >Michigan when ferrets were illegal, and it's all I could get). My oldest >passed away 2 weeks shy of her ninth birtday. The others are between 6 >and 8. None of them have had any urinary tract infections or crystals. If there is a question about how an individual copes with a food then the urine's pH can be checked. If it is too alkaline then the food can be changed and perhaps even a urine acidifier can be added. More commonly, such problems are secondary to the adrenal disease hormonal cascade in ferrets. Here is a prostate compilation which will also answer a number of such questions: http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/prostate.txt for either gender, though it is mostly prostate material. Back before there ever were specilized foods except for a few for certain illnesses we had only one develop urinary crystals and he had adrenal disease. That said, I have heard reports from Britain in the last year (Use the search engines to find the originals) about some companies wanting to jump rapidly into ferret products which introduced foods so high in some starches that they caused alkaline urine and allowed minerals to precipitate out, causing crystals. In all areas of ferret products there are those out for a quick buck. Just think of the places selling latex or rubber toys as ferret toys then killing them with blockages, or the ones selling very hard and large dried fruits and veggies for ferrets causing malnutrition and fatal blockages, or the ones marketing cedar for ferrets and causing lung damage, etc. . The SOS Shelter List from June is in the Files section, too: http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/shelter.txt as are many other useful articles that will help save ferrets. Sukie For ferret health information: http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth (Ferret Health List) http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/ (easy to search FHL Archives) http://geocities.com/sukieslist (in need of updating, links for health concerns) [Posted in FML issue 3881]