mark prince wrote: >They are as smart as an 8-12 year old child Ferrets are smart, but they're not that smart. >If you don't believe in herbs then stop taking 33% of your western >medicines (especially digoxin for heart problems.) See my comments in my post "Herbal stuff" regarding potency issues for herbs. >and for the record, 8-12 Tylenol per day over an extended period of time >is a toxic dose. Right. My point was (and still is) that there is a dosage at which a person can safely take Tylenol, but this is not so for ferrets. Thus, an herb may be safe for humans at a particular dosage, but that doesn't mean there is a safe dosage for ferrets. Humans and ferrets are different, and something that is safe for one is not automatically safe for the other. My concern is that many people think that because something is "natural" that it is automatically safe or that because it is safe for humans it is automatically safe for ferrets. It is dangerous to believe that what is safe for one species is safe for another. >Don't throw the babies out with the bath water, and find a knowledgeable >herbalist and cross check their recommendations with your favorite >Veterinarian, Unfortunately, I think you'll find that many (if not most) veterinarians are like most MDs -- they are as suspicious of herbal remedies as many herbalists are of traditional medications. Or they simply don't have the knowledge of herbs to be able to give an educated opinion -- so they just say, "No." I know that there are some vets out there who have studied herbal remedies as well traditional veterinary medicine, but these are few and far between. >and in my slightly educated opinion, by all means consider short term >herbal remedies for your fuzzies. My main concern about giving *any* remedy for grief (which is where this thread started) is that grief is a natural process and needs to run its course -- it's not an illness to be medicated. In fact, I believe that medicating for grief can be more harmful than helpful because it does not allow the animal (or human) to learn to live with the loss. Grief is not depression and should not be treated as such. (Depression is a completely different issue.) I did get an e-mail from Mary Conley about flower essences and how they are not a medication but that they confer a coping mechanism. I'm not sure I understand how that works -- to me, it still seems that if you're putting some sort of substance into the body that affects the mood, you're medicating. Though I suppose I wouldn't consider aromatherapy to be medication, so I think there may be some nuances here that I'm not yet picking up (though it could just as easily be semantics). --Mary & the Fuzzies ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Mary R. Shefferman, Editor, Modern Ferret Magazine Trixie, Koosh, & Gabby, The Modern Ferrets Read my blog! http://www.modernferretblog.com/mary See my cool stuff! http://www.topicaltees.com [Posted in FML issue 4163]