(The survey was cats and dogs, but still useful to know for folks on ferret lists because risk to ferrets may be increasing.) http://www.heartwormsociety.org/heart.htm http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=281908 For info on heartworm in ferrets: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/heartworm.htm For general heartworm data and a map of cases to see what your area was like in 2003: http://www.heartwormsociety.org/GeneralInfo.htm Do NOT assume that a given area is safe; the map has some real surprises. It turns out that NJ has gotten a LOT worse, and I was startled by the density in parts of the midwest. I guess we'll have to start discussing prevention even though that has not been a real concern here in earlier years. Some related posts from the archives: http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG9792 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG9762 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG14337 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG16015 Ticks are also a very real problem in this area so we may have to consider Advantage instead of Frontline, or a combo. I definitely have more to learn on this score now that the area is worsening for heartworm incidence... -- Sukie (not a vet) Ferret Health List co-moderator http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives fan http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ replacing http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org International Ferret Congress advisor http://www.ferretcongress.org [Posted in FML issue 5119]