It does seem that many of the shelter fuzzy's get ill, but I believe this can be attributed to many things. With the little fuzzy's that we get into our shelter, we have no idea of the little one's history. We don't know what they were fed as a diet, if they ever saw a vet, or what their living conditions were like. (i.e. were they kept in an aquarium filled with cedar chips in the basement....) It's sad to never know if the little guys endured neglect or abuse. Being brought from one place to another can also cause stress, which isn't good on their systems. And, not knowing what their diet was to begin with, doesn't help us in ensuring their food intake hasn't change. We feed our shelter baby's Marshalls, but if they weren't "imprinted" with a good ferret diet, sometimes they won't eat it, no matter how good it is for them. They are also exposed to more illnesses being moved to a shelter filled with "unwanted" pets. The way I see it is, if the pets are unwanted enough to be brought into the shelter, more than likely they were not getting proper care before they were brought in. Some viruses may lie dormant, (ECE as an example) and only rear its ugly head when there is stress in the little one's life. My goal as a shelter worker is to give the little guys as much love and care as possible. Should they become ill, I can only ensure that at last they are recieving medical attention, which can do nothing but help them... It may be true that the fuzzy's bought in a "pet store" are not initally exposed to many illnesses, they may be healthier since they are coming in as small kits. The shelter kids are handed a raw deal in my opinion. (And, it should also be noted that the shelter baby's that we have gotten in to our shelter are all Marshall's babys, no breeder kids...) And while they may be more prone to illness, they are in desperate need of being loved and wanted. I truly believe, a little bit of love can go a long way... Just my 2 cents... ~~faith [Posted in FML issue 3144]