I have several questions/comments relating to the topic of shelter policies
and the minimum time ferrets are in a shelter before being adopted.  I
think it is very important to fully evaluate the health and personality
of ferrets before they are matched up with new owners and I think that
takes at least 2-3 weeks.  I have personally seen that a ferrets' true
personality does not always emerge until it has "settled" in, often
taking at least 2 weeks.  I also feel most comfortable with adopting to
individuals that are willing to wait until the ferret they are interested
in is ready to leave.  I'd appreciate any comments regarding the following
questions and statements.
 
1. I realize there are sometimes unusual circumstances where an arrival
would not need to go through a quarantine period, but in general, if a
shelter is maintaining the recommended quarantine time for new arrivals
(1-2 weeks) how can they let someone take a ferret home before that
quarantine period is finished?
 
2. How can a ferret be evaluated for its response to other ferrets until
after it is out of quarantine?  This means keeping the ferret at least a
bit longer than the minimum quarantine time.
 
3. Any ferret with an unknown vaccine history should be given the
recommended series of 2 distemper vaccines, which means having the ferrets
for at least 3 weeks, unless making special arrangements with the new
owners to see that the second vaccine is given in the appropriate time
span.
 
4. Are shelters that are testing for ADV requiring that those that adopt
from them have all their ferrets tested for ADV before they can bring their
ferrets to the shelter to find a new companion?  If not, how are they
dealing with that unknown source of contamination?
 
Elayne Barclay
Cascade Ferret Network
Network Coordinator
[Posted in FML issue 3026]