From:
"Randy Ferret Aid"
Date: 2005-10-20 15:13:55 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] ADV in Ontario
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
This weekend, a reputable vet wanted to surrender a ferret she found last
week to me. I asked her to please ADV test the ferret for me. She said
"Well, ADV is not in Canada" So, I asked her, "Do you test for ADV
regularly?". After a long silence on the phone, she said "No". "So, how can
you say ADV is not in Canada if you are not testing for it on a regular
basis" I asked. "Good point" she concluded.
I've been yelling at vets and ferret lovers for years to take ADV seriously
in Ontario. I've been testing my ferrets since 2000, ALL of them. I've been
trying to educate my members, my volunteers, my ferret friends. I have felt
like i have been screaming on deaf ears for many years - felt like no one
took me seriously. Once even had a reputable ferret vet tell me "ADV is no
big deal Randy. Ferrets can live long, happy lives with it". My jaw hit the
ground - I was speechless.....
Well, now we have a confirmed case of it in Ontario. I chatted with one of
my vets about it. She was speechless.....
The owner of the ferret wishes to remain nameless.
She doesn't want to be ostracized or poked at. She is scared, just finding
out today her ferret has ADV. She was lucky she found out her ferret has
ADV. She was NEVER going to test. Why did she test? She wanted to visit our
shelter and our policy is to have people test their ferrets before allowing
them to come into our shelter.
Why wasn't she going to test? Because it is VERY expensive to test in this
country!!!!! For instance, one vet in Toronto (I will not mention names in
this post) will charge up to $180 to send 1 blood test to United Vaccine for
a CEP test (the one that we recommend). The same vet will charge $240 to
send blood off to Vita Tech for another ADV test (not sure which one). All
of this and it doesn't include the cost of the office visit which is another
$60 PLUS tax!!!!! The reason for this is quite simple i'm told. BOARDER
crossing with biohazards. Blood is a biohazard, therefore, it costs a lot
more to fill out paperwork and overnight post blood across the boarder to
the USA for testing.
Other ferret vets i called had not even heard of the United Vaccine test.
They were still thinking our University did tests (which wasn't a CEP test
and produced many false positives in the past). Our University stopped doing
ADV tests about 2 years ago. SO, I called the University and asked them
where they sent the tests (had heard a rumor they were sending to a Canadian
lab that did CEP tests) and chatted with the head of virology. Seems that
there has been an increased concern among the fur industry about ADV in
Canada (humm....) and this has encouraged our University to look into CEP
testing for ADV.
Well, either way, we'll learn more about the CEP tests this week. The head
virologist was wonderful and is very keen on learning more about the disease
and how it effects the ferret. Though he says it will cost the consumer more
to test (because it's a pet) he is willing to work with us. Hopefully this
will be good news for us Canadians and will encourage more of us to test our
ferrets.
PLEASE, i can not stress enough to my fellow Canadian ferret lovers that we
do not live in a bubble and that the boarder between the USA and Canada is
not a barricade, it's an invisible line that ADV can (and now HAS been
proven to) cross. PLEASE, test your ferrets. Help prevent the spread of ADV
by knowing if your ferret is infected. If you have any questions or would
like to know the status of the CEP test availability, please contact me
randy@ferretaid.org
Miss Randy Melanie Belair
President
The Ferret Aid Society
www.ferretaid.org
Join us for the IFC Ferret Aid 2006 Conference!
Book early, almost 1/2 sold out!!
http://www.ferretaid.org/events/ferret_aid_2006.html
====================================================================<<<
Whatever you Wanadoo, click below:
http://ads.smartgroups.com/adclick/CID=000000b7c79a99a500000000
====================================================================>>>
--
If you want to share pictures, use the calendar, or start a vote
visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
To leave the group, email: ferrethealth-unsubscribe@smartgroups.com
Report abuse http://www.smartgroups.com/text/abusereport.cfm?gid%3D1423922&mid%3D15763