I apologize for my miswording on my post about the euthanizing of the possible distemper ferret. I didn't realize what I had wrote until it was already published. I literally was not sleeping all week, if I could sleep at all, in 1 hour naps, but usually I would just lie there and not be able to sleep. So I meant to write more about his doing downhill on Friday - that would have been the primary reason for putting him down and I should have added "if he gets worse". He stopped wanting to eat and drink as much, and instead of his back legs getting better, he refused to stand at all when supported, and it was extending to the rest of him. He started to go downhill even worse. For the person who asked about the tests - there are several tests labs can do, such as blood smears to look for inclusions, and other things - but only one real definitive test, and that is a PCR. The test results would not come back for at least a week or more due to the 4-7 day time it takes. All the other tests can include false negatives and also titers may not be a good indicator if the lab does not look for the right type of antibody. I called a lot of vets for info on which antibody they look for, and none got back to me in time for the weekend. He is doing okay. The discoloration on his nose went from light brown to dark and then started having a weird crust from top to bottom and he still has it, although I've been putting Mometamax on the parts he can't lick with his nose - the same med that has antifungals in it (kind of like Animax). The crusting has stopped progressing. It is not near his nostrils and is not discharge. It can't be washed off or softened enough to pick it off. We are getting a scraping done on Monday. I wonder if it is the same thing that he has on his side, "wet dermatitis" which the vet who saw him wasn't sure about. If you have ever eaten a dutch crunch roll, his side was entirely covered in an orange crust that very much resembled in both feel, texture, and color, the "crunch" on top of one of those rolls. We'll find out Monday was the heck is on his nose. If it was distemper I believe he would have continued to crash on Saturday but thankfully his guardian angel helped him and he went from being a limp noodle on Friday (previously he could at least crawl!) to suddenly waking up and standing and walking out of his pen. The Mometamax seems to have stopped the crust from getting bigger on his nose. While this did not present as a classic case of distemper - I was concerned - and from a lot of pictures I was sent of confirmed cases, many of those ferrets did not end up with red rashes or were let go before it got to that point. However, throughout the week the concern has lessened and I have had many vets, shelter moms, and owners talk to me on the phone and through emails, sending pictures or talking to me (a nervous wreck and zombie case), giving their information to me freely. Everyone knows who you are - and all the owners as well who called and supported me not vaccinating my older ferrets - I know there are differing views on vaccination. I did not get one single negative email for having ferrets that were unvaccinated. The ferret community seems to be split 50/50 on it. Everyone here except for him was vaccinated on Friday. I have a lot of "lumps" and some with red rashes from the shot, and some constipation and diarrhea, but no one had any anaphylactic shock. All were pretreated with oral Benadryl, dye free. I would like to also thank the two ferret in my area. There was a misunderstanding between myself and one of them - I thought I was being called to pick him up from the shelter for their club, and was going to pass him along to them. After asking if they could pay his first vet bill while I held on to him until he could be transported, we realized that was not the agreement and he became my club's ferret officially. Unfortunately that first club I thought I was picking up for, was left out of the loop due to me not calling their President back (I was barely sleeping, eating, out of it taking care of him constantly as he couldn't walk and needed help to go potty, baths, encouragement to eat, flushing maggot wounds, etc.). So they called and offered to pay for him to go to the vet when they hadn't heard about him getting care a few days later, concerned. Another miscommunication, but it was also straightened out. Thank you to everyone who was involved. He has had a lot of people looking out for him all over. I am so grateful to everyone. I know there are classic cases of CDV, and not so classic. Being scared like this is not fun. And I have learned more about distemper than I ever thought I could. As a lot of you suggested, I did contact Jenny, who lost so many to this disease, but had survivors who have normal lives now. Thank you everyone for looking out for Ralphie. His toes - for everyone who has seen his pictures and said "ouch" - the scabs are not getting better, but with time they will fall off. One did already, but the others seem much deeper. I cannot imagine what he looked like with maggots on him. When I picked him up from the shelter, they didn't release meds or anything and technically "accidently" released him although he was somehow cleared to go - he had been bathed but there was still a lot of dead tissue on him. It looked like small dog bite that had been infected. It was the first time I had seen a ferret with maggot wounds. He is heading to the vet on Monday. The others are sick but it looks like it is a flu spreading. My cats have gotten sick too, but only for a day and a half of sneezes and one day of wet, drippy runny noses. Now they are fine. I have ferrets still sick in the other room, after I spent last night with them, I noticed a few more who are also coming down with the same thing. Laryssa [Posted in FML 6413]