According to my equine vet, Texas is under a rabies alert, with an
unprecedented number of cases (human and animal) showing a geographic spread
pattern from southwest to northeast. The most common carriers are coyotes,
foxes, skunks, and racoons. My vet (while vaccinating the horses against
rabies) asked to make sure the ferrets were protected as well. (They are
current on their IMRAB).
 
My opinion is that Texas ferrets should be vaccinated, even if your ferrets
are strictly indoors and you do not believe they are at risk. This is for two
reasons (not to mention peace of mind for yourself):
(1) You never know what wild critter may get into your house, or if your ferret
will get out of your house.  There is ALWAYS a risk. We had a rabid fox
throwing himself at our patio door here -- what if the glass had broken?
(2) Rabies is a "scare" topic in Texas - people will be ultra-sensitive to
this issue.  If your ferret bites or scratches a visitor, and you cannot
assure them that your ferret was immunized, you risk losing your ferret to
testing due to Texas' residents fear of rabies, no matter how unreasonable
the charge (I once had a woman upset about catching a disease when my ferret
kissed her on a scratch left by her cat).
 
- Erika (and Misty, Sasha, and Lizzie, the Texas ferrets)
[Posted in FML issue 1177]