I have been reading about the outbreaks in some shelters and we also
recently had a scare here, with 2 of our 6 coming down with some type
of flu-like illness that caused vomiting, loss of appetite, and chills.
We were fortunate to prevent it from spreading to our other 4 by
putting the two sick girls in a separate cage and getting them to the
vet immediately for evaluation and some prescribed meds. Diligent
hand-feedings of soup and water every 4 hours kept them nourished
and hydrated during the recovery period.

It took a week, but the two girls got back to normal, and everyone is
back together now. I believe that we could have possibly avoided this
if we had worn surgical masks when handling the ferrets. We had some
kind of flu take out both my wife and son prior to the 2 ferrets
getting sick, and it's probable that it was the same illness. I
regularly wear masks around the ferrets anyway, due to allergies, but
my point here is that all ferret owners need to be aware that we CAN
transfer many different illnesses to them, and an ounce of prevention
(in the form of a mask) is worth a ton of cure.

I have purchased my masks in the past from Ebay and from medical supply
websites when on sale. I prefer the kind that tie in the back rather
than the 'ear loop' type, but both should certainly help to prevent
spreading most illnesses (along with conscientious hand washing, bowl
cleaning, etc).

Jeff
In Memory of Neo and Mr. Parker
Caring for Trinny, Morphy, Baby Girl, Luna, Dozer, and Possum the
Million Dollar Ferret

[Posted in FML 6506]