Dayna, be extra careful that the toilet is always closed (which it
sounds like you are) since they can drown, and in the empty bathtub place
something he can climb up and then jump form that to or over the tub
edge.  Some types of very low stools work well but check to make sure
they don't have edible things on the bottom of the stool feet, and remove
them if they do.  Put the rubber mat over the shower rod or top of the
door slide to prevent him chewing on it.
 
To keep him out of the bathroom completely find a way to get the door to
latch.  We have one door that periodically won't latch due to shifts from
a nearby quarry's blasting so we put a screw hook next to the door frame
and have a loop which also goes over the doorknob.  A slide chain like
people use inside doors to the outside is also possible if it can be done
tight enough that the ferret can't slip in.  You can also take one of
those rubber wedges which are used to keep doors from moving and punch
holes through the wider part of it with a heated ice pick.  Then take a
safe stuffed animal and using a curved needle for curving furniture and
thick coat thread sew them together using those holes so that the rubber
can't be reached.  I made one of these for a door which sometimes closes
itself just enough to break people's toes at night and it works great
(quarry effects again and we are happy that the quarry is winding down
operations with a park and recreational lake planned for much of the site
in a few years).  I've also heard of people putting large rocks into safe
stuffed animals and using those to hold doors, and there are always the
old fashions iron door stops, but make it heavy enough that ferrets can't
move it because they are strong.
 
Coughing: with bad or persistent coughing the rule of thumb is to always
get a vet appointment and a chest x-ray.  This is what vets have said
that they also do for their ferrets since there are some serious causes
of coughing which need to be tackled and very often just can't be found
without imaging the chest.
 
Phyllis, we've been in your spot.  Here is the way we handle it here:
for those who have reacted to one form of CDV vaccine we have tried an
alternative (which worked for some but not others).  The ones who reacted
to more than one vaccine type (multiple CDV vaccines OR a CDV vax and
Imrab 3 rabies vax) were considered to maybe be allergic to a common
component of vaccines and we totally stopped vaccinating those individual
animals.  We also do not vaccinate on vet's advice when some illnesses
are present or certain meds given, for example when we have one with
lymphoma.  Currently, the way we are doing vax is our vet pretreats with
a shot of dex and we use the Purevax CDV vaccines (so far without any
trouble.  (BTW, from the examples I've read up to now -- and things are
always open to change as more data comes in -- with one exception
involving numerous animals but one vaccine batch I've read (which may
have been a batch with troubles from improper storage or something) the
reports seem to show lower reaction rates by a very nice margin with the
Purevax.) Of course, we separate vaccines by weeks and we do always wait
at the vet's for an extended time after vax.
 
Oh, and I've also encountered Canine Distemper, in a friend's dog, and it
is NOT something I would ever risk anyone I cared about getting.  It was
a true torture for the dog and everyone there; still incredibly upsetting
to remember after over 30 years and I'm not the tenderest person on the
block, having been through some hefty things through the years.
 
Last year there were a LOT of reports that came into the FHL and others
privately which were CDV in unvaccinated ferrets.  Terrible, terrible
situations with entire households of ferrets sometimes dying and being
destroyed.  It was a bad CDV year for ferrets in too many places.
 
Newbies: DO remember that ferrets need a SERIES of CDV shots as kits,
ditto those of any age with an unknown vaccination history.
[Posted in FML issue 4101]