Just a quick note to advise everyone that a six month old ferret that
had fallen ill in Gainesville Florida and subsequently died in isolation
at Dookie's House six days later tested high positive for distemper
antibodies.  He showed no symptoms except marked lethargy and subtle
muscular tremors.  He had no fever, no diarrhea, no vomiting, no nasal
or eye discharges and was peeing and pooping ok.
 
The owner has no idea where she may have contacted the virus and brought
it home to her ferret.  She has four other ferrets that thankfully were
current on vaccines and all are doing well.
 
I know there are some ferret owners and even a few shelter operators that
don't believe in vaccinating their ferrets against this dreaded disease.
Let Monster's untimely death be a wake up call to anyone who has ferrets
that are not current on vaccines.  Monster was an incredibly cute,
wonderfully socialized little boy who was very special to his ferret mom.
You can only imagine the anguish she now feels knowing that his death
could have been so easily and inexpensively prevented and that her
failure to act in a timely manner led to his death.  The only comfort
we can take in Monster's case is that he didn't experience many of the
horrible distemper symptoms and died quickly without too much pain and
suffering.
 
It would be wise for everyone to take this opportunity to review
vaccination records and make sure everyone is current.  I would
recommend that any shelter operators who do not promptly vaccinate
new arrivals lacking documentation reconsider their procedures.
 
Best wishes to all,
 
Pat Elmore
Dookie's House Ferret Rescue & Shelter
Sebring, FL
http://www.dookieshouse.org
[Posted in FML issue 4108]