First, there may be some confusion... there are 2 Debis here... The first 'shouted' "ALWAYS PRETREAT" statement was mine... and this, is actually due to a 'cut and paste' from the brochure that I distribute in which this particular statement is in a font that translates to text format in all caps... I don't always have the time to be 'politically correct'. I operate a shelter and have another job in addition to that. You will notice that the name of my shelter is "Ferrets First" not "Toes First". A lot of times I post something in a hurry and in the process of trying to be concise, yet cover the essentials, I don't pad the cold hard facts very well and I come across sounding arrogant, condescending, and overbearing. when in reality, I'm frantically worrying "Am I supplying enough information? Are they going to shrug it off and let their ferret die because I didn't make it sound important enough or because it sounds exaggerated?" I'm pretty much d****d if I do and d****d if I don't in most situations, so I inevitably step on some toes now and then. but, that's not such a bad thing. If they're standing that close, they're close enough to listen, and if they listen long enough they might eventually hear something that might save just one ferret life.. And my mission is accomplished. apologies about the toes. they look a lot like my bruised ego, lol. As far as options about pretreating or not are concerned... your statement seems to me to be the equivalent of saying "vaccinating children for childhood diseases is optional", when we are all 100% positive, well in advance, that our children will be exposed to and are likely to contract one of those illnesses. With this mind, I repeat, and stand by the statement: Always pretreat for any and all vaccinations. Debi Christy Ferrets First Foster Home www.ferrets1st.com [Posted in FML issue 5124]