FERRET VISITORS: One HUGE question is if you should let your ferret have other ferrets as visitors when they are in the hospital cage. It not a simple answer because, frankly, it is situation dependent. Pros of allowing ferret visitors are that the ferret may be bonded to a specific individual, and separation may be highly stressful, so keeping them together reduces stress. Ferret visitors that sleep with the sick ferret will not only help keep them warm, but the touch and grooming could stimulate the immune system. The activity patterns of the healthy ferret can stimulate similar patterns in the sick one, as well as help reduce boredom. The cons are generally subtler than the simple worry the visiting ferret might accidentally rip out stitches or harm the sick ferret while trying to play although both are possible. Ferrets instinctively groom one another, and injury or surgical sites can be licked until raw, increasing discomfort and chance of infection. Visiting ferrets can introduce pathogens that are benign to healthy ferrets, but potentially dangerous to sick ferrets with stressed immune systems. Conversely, sick ferrets could contaminate a healthy one, sending nasty bugs back to the rest of the business, causing real troubles (get a ferret with crusty eyes and a runny nose that turns out to be distemper and you'll understand the danger). Having a visiting ferret makes it very difficult to monitor urine and stool output, water intake, and food consumption. It also makes it harder to use the nest box to transport the sick ferret, or to get a weight using the technique of nest box weighing. There are a couple other cons rarely realized. Sometimes an individual ferret REQUIRES an environment having reduced stimulation; a finding only recently discovered in premature babies. It is hard to predict which ferret will be overly stimulated, so each one must be individually evaluated. The presence of visiting ferrets can increase the energy demands of the sick ferret even though they may save some energy from being burned to stay warm. The presence of another ferret could make the sick one more active or restless during the time they should be more subdued. For example, suppose a visiting ferret saves the sick one 300 calories from being burned as body heat, but costs the sick one 500 calories being burned because the ferret is more active and isn't resting as deeply. If the sick ferret can or will eat more to offset the loss, then the matter is moot, but if not, then it is a problem. The other consideration is the effect of the hospital cage environment on the healthy ferret. The cage is designed to be a boring environment so the sick ferret will retire and rest, spending caloric energy on recovery. Is subjecting a healthy ferret to that environment fair? As for myself, I generally find the pros outweigh the cons and I will rotate ferrets--those I know to be friendly towards the sick one -- through the hospital cage. For example, a few weeks ago, Lady Noir started losing weight. I placed her in "hospital cage isolation" for a few days to get a handle on her body functions, and realized she had some sort of urinary tract infection. Off to the vet she went with all my data and observations, back she came with medicines and IV fluids for sub-q hydration, and in went Carbone for a visit. The next day, Tui visited, followed by Jezabel, and others for about a week until her antibiotic therapy was finished. She spent two days by herself so I could pinpoint changes in her body functions that supported a recovery, and when they passed with flying colors, she was reunited with the group to mind her own business. You have to decide this one for yourself, because you know your ferrets better than anyone else. Ethics and morality demand you choose the best situation for the recovery of your ferret, and if allowing a visiting ferret into the hospital cage does not cause harm, then it is no problem. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 4404]