Charlene Lowe provided some useful references on colloidal silver that I will look up when I have an opportunity. With only one or two exceptions, all were from peer-reviewed journals that are still published. Although I don't want to turn this into a perpetual thread on the FML, I'd like to clarify a few points. Charlene stressed the need to avoid overdosing with colloidal silver despite the minimal reported toxicity of "pure" CS (i.e., no contaminants). But she also indicated that CS does little harm to beneficial bacteria in the gut. From what I have read of CS so far, it's broad spectrum of activity would *not* be limited to pathogenic bugs. Drugs cannot think. And, biologically, helpful and harmful microbes are not fundamentally different. To be as broadly effective against so many different organisms, it is not logical to assume that CS would not wipe out lots of organisms. To me, this means that chronic treatment with CS could also inhibit (or kill?) the flora that helps in digestion and absorption of nutrients. If a ferret were treated with a short course of CS, it might be wise to try to recolonize the GI flora as one might do following treatment with a broad-spectrum cephalosporin. Although I haven't gotten down to reading textbooks and journal articles on the metabolism of silver, I found no evidence whatsoever that silver is a required part of any human [or ferret] diet or that "silver deficiency" is a real entity. It is true that silver exists in soil, in food and even as a pollutant in air in some places and that this silver becomes deposited in the body. I also found evidence supporting the claim that the amount of silver absorped declines with age. However, this does *not* necessarily mean that one is deficient and needs silver supplements. You probably also have cadmium, arsenic, lead, bismuth, strontium and other metals in your body and your absorption and retention of some of these declines with age, too. But that does not mean you need to take lead supplements. Silicon and aluminum are even more plentiful in soil and they also end up in the body in small amounts. Just because it's there doesn't mean that it's *supposed* to be there. I am aware of no biologic process that *requires* silver. Point me toward the evidence that silver is needed for proper immune function or health and I shall recant. I would wonder if "silver deficiencies" are not wishful thinking on the part of CS manufacturers. zzz If CS is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with low toxicity (as the toxicology data support), then perhaps members of the FML can try to understand which conditions in ferrets are best treated by CS, and how it could be best used (e.g., as supportive therapy, first-line treatment, etc.) and whether there are any circumstances in which CS is not effective (and thus, a waste of money) or harmful (maybe ferrets with impaired liver function?). I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that CS might be a panacea (I've got a perpetual motion machine to sell you if you ;) but if it is helpful and with little risk, why not explore how we can use it to our benefit and to the benefit of our fuzzies. --Jeff ([log in to unmask]) [Posted in FML issue 1378]