Well, kennel cough in dogs consists of two elements and according to one of the world's top ferret pathologists ferrets can get ONE of those two things, Bordetella (a bacterium), (but usually do not), so you are each half right, unless something major has changed in recent years and somehow missed being reported. PubMed lists no veterinary articles on the subject of Kennel Cough and ferrets, and 9 come up when I search for Bordatella ferrets while 11 come up for bordetella mustela, but I don't have time to check them for you though you can yourself at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez to see if any are applicable. http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG4987 >Kennel cough in the dog is a combination of viral and bacterial >infections and is specific to the dog. While your ferret has a remote >chance of picking up the bacterial component, the syndrome of kennel >cough is not a consideration in the ferret. > >With kindest regards, >Bruce Williams, DVM also http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG11643 and http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG4145 which includes: >You are correct in that kennel cough is due to one of a number of >respiratory viruses which pave the way for later infection by >Bordetella by "knocking out" the local immune reaction. > >While Bordetella can conceivably (but very rarely) infect other >mammalian species, it is generally pretty well conserved to dogs, >and poses little threat to ferrets. Ferrets are also not sensitive >to the common viral infections that facilitate kennel cough, with >the exception of one of the rarest, canine distemper. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html HAPPY: http://www.6footsix.com/my_weblog/2010/01/high-fives-for-happiness.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 6622]
