Since I am one of the people who others may think is being insensitive, I guess I need to explain my reasoning a little bit. My post in no way was an attack on Ardith. I agree that she brought up some very reasonable questions, and that she is taking the proper route by having her vet contact the manufacturers and report the incidents. What bothers me is that the Deslorelin implant debate has taken on a life of its own. It has been discussed at length here, and on the FHL, and someone has ever started a Facebook page to talk about it. It's being discussed elsewhere as well. And, in these discussions are people who are adamant that the implants killed their ferrets, despite no data to back that up; no necropsy, no nothing, just their statement. The reason this bothers me is that others may decide NOT to use the implant because of these few outspoken people who are declaring that their ferrets are DEAD because of the implant. So, I guess we should just stick to a melatonin implant. After all, they work (?) and they're cheap! Wait! Has that ever killed a ferret???. OK, then how about surgery? Wait! I've heard of it killing ferrets also. Then, how about Lupron? Well, that's so expensive and I've heard of it not working, and maybe I've heard that it kills ferrets. So, I guess I'll just love on my little ferret and do nothing. I won't worry about how it feels while this disease progresses. I'll just take care of it here at home. After all, I can't really see what's going on, and all the treatments are so dangerous, so I'll just take my chances with its life. My whole point is that we shouldn't be publicly telling the ferret world that any treatment KILLS ferrets until we at least do our homework. Before we do that, we should be prepared to have necropsies done to narrow down the real cause of death. It, after a full necropsy, the treatment is indeed what caused the ferret to die, or all signs point to that, then by all means, report that to the ferret community. But don't go around slandering a potentially life-saving, life-improving treatment that may scare others away. That is why I gave my example of my ferret who became very ill within 24 hours following an implant. Had I not taken him to the emergency vet, and had he died within a few hours at home, and had I chosen not to have a necropsy done, I would have logically blamed the implant. But, an intestinal tortion has absolutely nothing to do with a Deslorelin implant, and that's why he deteriorated and died. When I posted this story on a thread on another list, it was completely ignored. I guess it wasn't what the poster wanted to hear? They only wanted to hear about deaths occurring within a YEAR after the implants with no definitive cause of death. They later changed that to within a month, I believe. Unfortunately, the person appears to have gone back and deleted their entire thread, or at least I am unable to find it. To be completely clear, this was NOT directed toward Ardith. She brought the subject up calmly and as it should have been. Unfortunately, others immediately jumped in making claims that this caused a death. Ardith, if you feel that I attacked you in any way, I humbly apologize. And, I am sorry for your loss. Some of us may not be quite as emotional as others, and instead focus on the cause of death, rather than the death itself. There are those who think I shouldn't have posted what I did to the FML, but I am seeing it take on a life of its own in multiple places, and this forum reaches the most number of people. Katharine Florida [Posted in FML 7417]