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]