Hi all! About a week ago - I noticed that Ricky (my 2.5 yr old male) was acting kinda funny - started last Wednesday. He was getting around realllllly slowly - and acting real tired all the time. I also noticed that he was shedding - a bit more than usual. I attributed this (correctly I found out) to the new climate we are living in - and didn't worry too much about it. However, Thursday - when I came home from work - he was so lethargic he wouldn't move. He also wasn't eating or drinking, or anything. I let them out of the cage (Lucy and him) and he didn't get two steps before he laid down and didn't move. Well being the calm person I am, I PANICKED and drove' to the Emergency Vet Center. Thank the heavens - it is right across the street and down a couple drives from the hotel we are at. The vet there (and this kid was yoooouuunngggg...) determined that he was lethargic AND severly dehydrated. I allowed the blood draw, urine sample taking, etc...... they could not come up with anything wrong with him.......they also wanted a total of $562.00 to process the lab work, keep him overnite, IV, etc. Also - they checked his sugar level there - which they said was perfectly normal. They said however, that an alternative to leaving him there w/IV's would be to give him sub-Q liquids (just under the skin) - and then I could take him home. The vet did not think he was in immediate danger - and I didn't have 500 smackers - so we went home. Thru the night - I was "force feeding" him sugar water, using a syringe. He didn't appreciate it much - but it seemed to do the trick. After doing this (two syringe fulls every 2 hours) all night - the next day - he seemed better, but still not quite "right". He was eating/drinking on his own - but not in large quantities. So I took him to a vet I located here in Kansas that was not only fert knowledgable - but super friendly, helpful, etc. He did NOT charge me the office visit to bring Ricky in (I told them how much I spent the night before) - which I thought was fabulous! He said Ricky looked down still - but didn't think he was in immediate danger. He did tell me that giving him the sugar water was a good idea - and it probably did help. He did a thorough exam - determined that he was too young for Insuloma/Adrenal disease - and figured that he probably caught a "bug". He gave him a penicillin shot - another "under the skin" dose of liquids - and sent us home with amoxicillin. This vet was soooo good, kind and ferret knowledgable!!! I talked to him about my reluctance to "vaccinate" my kids - and guess what he told me? His clinic no longer vaccinates (for distemper) ferrets due to the fact that they had so many ferrets with horrid reactions, and a couple deaths. I asked him what types of vaccines they used and he said they had tried several different ones, but the percentage of reactions/deaths was too high for their comfort level and that they didn't feel comfortable with how sick the kids got from it (and this was also with the ferts who had been pre-treated for reactions). He did of course, let me know the dangers of distemper - etc - but said that with the kids being indoor kidlets - and where we live, chances of them contracting anything were slight (but still there). Now before everyone goes off half-cocked - he DID tell me the dangers of NOT vaccinating, etc. Soooo anyways, Ricky picked back up by day 3 and seems now a week later, to be fine!!! I was soooo scared though guys......I never saw an animal go downhill sooo quickly - and not have any reason for it......oh, for the record - I did take all the blood/urine/stool that was collected at the ER to the new vet - who said that he would keep it in the fridge - for 2 days - just in case the moxy didn't work - so that we could send it in to be analyzed. My question? Has anyone else out there ever had this happen? I mean - not being able to find anything "wrong" - but havin a fert get so sick, so quick? Any advise (besides flamming me about vaccines) would be appreciated!!! Honestly though folks, please, please - don't waste breath trying to convince me about vaccinating - I am fully aware of what I need to do regarding that. Thanks all!!!! Kim and Her Army of Idiots [Posted in FML issue 4569]