>From: Eric Corbett <[log in to unmask]> > >Ferreter has consistently claimed that many UK vets routinely use >Frontline to treat ear mites, and are quite happy to recommend its use. >Yet every time I have asked her for the name of even one vet who holds >this opinion she has refused to divulge it. The 'threatening letter' >she refers to must be the one I wrote to her own vet simply asking >whether he supported this unconventional and potentially hazardous use >of Frontline as a routine treatment for ear mites in ferrets, as she >had intimated that he did on several occasions. Only MY vet? You have also threatened another veterinary surgeon with reporting him to the RCVS. I am still using the word threaten because that is what you are doing. After I and several concerned ferret owners have trawled through pages and pages of information of the various web site we have yet to find one instance where a ferret has been harmed by using Frontline. The first time fipronil was mentioned in the BSAVA Manual of Exotic Pets was in either 1996 or 1997 - it is still in the 2002 edition. If vets were so concerned why was the reference not changed? A Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons - a vet who has been in practice for 30 + years has the following to say:- "he is not aware of any veterinary paper or presentation that has highlighted any problems with fipronil as a parasite control in small animals". And no we are not going to give you his name so that you can threaten him as well. When I spoke to my own vet regarding your threatening letter to him he indicated all the drugs on the shelves in his consulting room and just said everyone off those is potentially a dangerous drug. He also mentioned that when he queried the safety of a new vaccine with the drug company he was assured that it had been carefully tested on animals. When he asked how many control animals had been used he was told 22 (TWENTY-TWO)!!! Mr Corbett - one vet alone has administered Frontline into the ears of over 90 (NINETY) ferrets and absolutely no adverse reactions. We have repeatedly requested instances where actual ferrets have been harmed by Frontline but you have not come up with one case - you just quote a lot of mumbo jumbo at us i.e. the potential dangers of using Frontline - as I said before drugs are dangerous. BTW one of my ferrets has dilated cardiomyopathy and MY vet has put him on 1/10 of a 5 mg tablet of Fortekor a day... a non licensed drug for ferret use, does this meet with your approval? Or do I just let Tiberius die? [Posted in FML issue 4389]