I am too busy to skim much but did a bit of search so check in some of these, and others may make good reading, too. http://miamiferret.org/fhc/physiology.htm http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0205&L=ferret-search &F=&S=&P=26845 (on one incidental possible cause of a certain lipase reading) http://www.ferret-universe.com/health/cbc.asp http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/108/1/86 I THINK I recall part of that in http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html as part of an article, so check... Later thought: pass along the article on confusion and controversy... in the vet and vet path section to your vet! http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/oldbib/ferretla.htm From _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, 2nd edition, page 127 Resting serum ammonia level 200-400 ug/dl Each of the above should be worth your vet having, I think, for reference and for fun. Well, vet pathologists are the ones who have determined that ferrets do not get colds, and I am sure the pharmacology industry isn't happy about not having that easy an animal model to use for product testing. They get some things that LOOK like colds and ARE often mistaken for colds, but it IS IMPORTANT to know the difference. Why? Because the true cold is from a viral source which is short-lived -- rhinoviral cause, but what ferrets get are bacterial infections (same as we do with sinus infections and we CAN trade those back and forth) which are potentially more serious and can move down the respiratory tract to cause serious illness. BTW, they do also get allergies at times. Want verification? Check with a vet pathologist who does ferrets, or with the pharmacology industry, or in texts like the one above which also are used by medical researchers due to detail of the information on things like zoonoses (Some vet texts are best for teaching, some for hands-on care, some for looking up things not used or encountered in standard ferret health care, etc. This particular one is especially good for the unusual stuff.). Jules has already read this, but here is a GREAT reference for everyone else: http://www.afip.org/ferrets/Mast/mastcell.html (Only one has ever been found in a ferret which was not benign and that one was internal.) Vax with possible adrenal symptoms: In this case let the vet who knows your individual make the call. There is some protection past a year but no one knows for how long. The vet will decide based on how long it has been since the ferret was vaccinated, the state of the ferret's health, the local rate of such illnesses, possible timing of surgery, and the hospital policy for how and where animals with such potentially serious illnesses move in the hospital, etc. -- things no one here can judge. Besides, your vet is the one who is going to have the optimal level of info in general. [Posted in FML issue 4647]