Chris, Aleutian's disease is a *VERY* contagous disease in ferrets. I attended a talk by Dr. Kawasaki at a Montgomery Ferret Club meeting, where he breifly discussed it. This information is based on my memory of that talk, which was several months ago. There doesn't seem to be any know symptoms of Aleutian's in ferrets. [If there aren't any known symptoms of Aleutian's in ferrets, then why are we worrying?] It is a very nasty disease in Minks though, and has wiped out many populations of them. There is speculation that it can cause secondary problems, as was mentioned by the Crandalls. Aleutian's is primary spread through feces, and can live for a *VERY* long time (YEARS!). So, if a ferret defecates somewhere and that spot isn't disenfected, another ferret may come along and be infected 3 years later. Dr. Kawasaki estimated that about 1 in every 5 ferrets is infected with Aleutian's (20 - 30%). He said that there is a very simple test for Aleutian's. All you have to do is clip the toenail to draw some blood, then run an antibody test. I don't know the details, though. [Taking blood from a ferret has always been a bit difficult. Doing it by clipping a toenail (or from the tail) is old-fashioned, a bit difficult to control, and somewhat unnecessarily painful. Our vets shave a small patch on the upper front of the foreleg and take it direct from a vein.] The Crandalls, I am so happy to hear Fritter is doing alright. And you are VERY, VERY, welcome for the wholesale information. :-) About the other ferret's reactions to her illness, ferrets can become very attached to each other. When something is wrong with one one of them, the others will get very stressed out. I remember at the Ferret Expo there was a little black sable up for adoption at the shelter. She looked completely pitiful. She had a rat tail, and just sat there shivering violently. She looked like she was, in fact, very ill herself. I asked about her, and the story was that her cagemate, David, had just recently died after a very long, degenerative, illness. And the worse he had gotten, the more stressed out she got, losing weight and hair. Finally, he died and they had her up for adoption. All the other ferrets were adopted out fairly quickly, but she was passed by because she looked so bad, even though everyone was assured she was in perfect health. Finally, near the end of the day a very kind lady took her out and carried her around. After a few hours of a little love and attention, there was a little glimmer of life in her eyes. I don't know what happened to this little black sable. I don't know if the nice lady adopted her or not, but she did say she would look after her for a few days. So, if anyone ever has an ill ferret, watch all his/her pals too. They know that something is wrong with their friend, and will be under a lot of stress. I've heard of many cases where a ferret's friend will get a rat tail during an illness, or after a death. I *LOVE* the ferret Dalek idea, that is hilarious. :-) Also, I too have a Mac at home. My ferrets think it's great fun to make the keyboard go "clikety click", and it's even better when I forget to turn the power supply off and they can make it make neat sounds. There's nothing quite like being awakened to "It's alive, It's ALIVE, It's *ALIVE*!" in the wee hours of the morning. (That's one of my favorite startup sounds, it's from Young Frankenstein.) Causes some interesting dreams before I become fully awake. :-) In response to Fara's statement, I agree with you, everyone is very excited about the new club, but it's hard to find people willing to take a lot of responsibility. My club is only about 6 months old now, so I'm still going through all that. (I started it because Chip Gallo said it would be "easy". Chip, you really are a good salesman... :-) ) At least I've just started a chapter of an existing organization (the mid-Atlantic Ferret Association), so I can use their newsletter, and they are currently handling the mailing list. They also are financially supporting the DVFC until we get on our feet, and handling a *LOT* of other stuff. I never could have started a club from scratch. I'm stressed out enough as it is, and the AFA is handling all the really hard stuff. My best advice for anyone starting a club is to find an organization and start a *chapter* in your area. It will save you a lot of work, and you'll be able to accomplish more, instead of being bogged down trying to get the next newsletter out all the time. It's also very difficult letting people know that the club exists. You can stick as many fliers as you want up, and they will only be seen by a few people. I really lucked out, when the press releases were sent out for our first meeting, I was contacted by a reporter, and interviewed. He wrote a very pro-ferret article, with a big color picture of me holding my ferrets, and two little pictures of Percy and Bree. The article plugged the DVFC and our picnic. I had *MANY* phone calls in response to the article, and the picnic was a success because of it. So, now I at least have a lot of people on the mailing list. From here, we can grow by word of mouth. But that initial boost was what this club really needed. (I didn't know *ANY* other ferret owners in the area!!!) About hair loss: Thanks for all the responses. But, there was one vital question that noone has answered yet. Since the ferret in question has had a rat tail for 3 years, and it is just now starting up the back, we were wondering whether or not Cushing's could be present for so long without showing any other symptoms? Is it possible for it to progress so slowly, with hair loss as the only symptom? - Nancy -- Nancy Hartman CIS graduate student [log in to unmask] U. of Delaware President and founder, Delaware Valley Ferret Club Owner of Percy & Bree [Posted in FML 0153]