| ADV - Get Informed Heard of ADV but not quite sure what it is, or how it may affect you and your ferret? Get informed. Knowledge is power! After you read this page, read our comprehesive ADV page for more information on the disease itself. Whenever your ferrets come in contact with other ferrets (say at a friend's house, shows, events or when you adopt a newbie ferret) you run the risk of unknowlingly exposing them to ADV. Whenever you bring a new ferret into your home, you should always be sure the ferret is ADV negative before exposing them to your current ferret(s). Most people test their ferrets once a year for ADV. Some have tested once, and because they have a "closed colony" they may not test again unless they are adopting a newbie, then they will test the newbie first. Most ferret shelters will have already tested the ferrets for ADV before putting them up for adoption. Ask before adopting if the ferret has been tested yet. If you should have an ADV positive ferret, something to consider doing, is adopting other ADV positive ferrets into your family. Of course,you would only want to adopt positive at this point so you do not knowingly expose a negative ferret to a positive. There are different types of testing and some folks have relied only on one over another and I'm honestly not sure of the statisitcs as to which test has given the most accurate results. I only know opinions of many different people from the reading I have done and many folks have strong opinions on which test is better. The good news is, testing can be done yourself. If you choose the blood test, you can collect the blood samples yourself and mail them right into the lab for quick results. If you choose the saliva, you can collect the saliva samples yourself and either mail them in to the lab or use the POCT (point of care) for a fast, instant result. Some shelters rely on the POCT test for a quick read when needing to do an emergency or fast rescue. The testing runs an average of $12 per test, however the prices are lower when you buy the tests in higher quantities. On our regular ADV page, we have a link to Kim's page with detailed instructions on collecting blood samples at home. We also have links to where tests can be ordered right on line whether you mail in or do the point of care. Remember, you can always just have your Vet do the testing also if you are uncomfortable with collecting samples. © October 2004 MNFF To learn what ADV is, please read our following page | 
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