Oh what I've learned these past few days . . . foremost is that a definitive diagnosis seems to be very hard to obtain. And that has been confirmed by a couple of shelters that have contacted me privately to share their personal experience with CDV. We lost one of our intensive care ferrets today .... She progressed to the neurological phase and was in such pain that we had to let her go the the Bridge. I do hope there is a very special place for her and the other innocents that have preceded her while they wait to cross. :( One more is showing symptoms and two others need hand feeding in the shelter and we suspect we will see the signs soon. Doing the math, we think this phase of seeing new cases will continue another 2 or maybe 3 weeks. So many people fear cross contamination of the virus (yes, while unconfirmed we are treating this as CDV), that I've been working with Barbara Clay to get folks that follow the Rocky's site to help pull together documentation of appropriate protocols to keep volunteers and their ferrets safe. She's running full tilt and for those on Facebook who want to contribute to what will be pulled together, I urge you to help in that effort. So much misinformation and unclear information persists. Protocols are rather vague and do not reflect the reality of the ferret community and how most ferrets are sheltered in the US (and I suspect a good part of the world). But there is a lot that can be extracted from the dog world as well as wildlife rehabbers. With much affection to those I've worked with, I thought I knew a LOT about poop after 30 years of ferret ownership. Can say say with all sincerity that I ain't learned nothing yet!! :) More good news is that - as I've shared elsewhere - CDV is a rather whimpy virus compared to what most of the animal community has to deal with. It's not the bubonic plague and it's pretty easy to contain and recover from. You don't have to burn the house down or sacrifice your firstborn to the appease the gods of viral containment. We just need people like Kevin and the dedicated folks at WFR; and others that have come forward on facebook and in personal emails to share their experiences and learnings. Yes, sadly, we have and will continue to loose ferrets. But that won't ever stop if we don't all work together as a community to eliminate the fear of disclosure and foster the free sharing of information! Thanks for your support, thanks for your sharing, but mostly thanks for your love of our beloved companions. Ann Gruden Ferret Association of Connecticut [Posted in FML 7106]