>I feel that, if a ferret is healthy, and is four or under, that it *should* >be exposed so that it won't be hit by it once it gets older and cannot deal >with it. One of the problems I have with this statement, and the logic behind it, is that it seems to be a blanket statement that doesn't take into account the circumstances. I do *NOT* believe that this was Trish's intent; she mentions being concerned about Bob's older ferrets being exposed, so I take it she would not have me expose ~2 yr. old Anastasia and let her bring it home to scenario, well, almost... Who is to say that, should Goose depart this Earth and I decide to expose Anastasia, that I might not turn out to be a jerk and abandon her, or circumstances force me to give her away, or I get hit by a car tomorrow... then she ends up sharing a cage with another older, previously ECE-free ferret, who would not survive? Or infecting a whole shelter? Or someone's 10 or 20 pets? The fact that Trish lost no ferrets to ECE does little to convince me that everyone would be so lucky, expecially those who have not or never will find the support of the FML, or who are new to ferrets and know nothing of ECE. Someone could go away for a weekend and return to find their pets knocking on death's door, as quickly as ferrets can go downhill (no, I don't condone leaving ferrets alone for a weekend, but I'm sure it happens...) The fact that we have not been able to stop the spread of this disease or learn about it is NOT, to me, a good reason to *facilitate* it's spread. I think Bill K's analogy is valid; I'm not standing in line for herpes either :) Let alone the ferrets that survive the disease but may continue to exhibit signs of gastro-intestinal distress from time-to-time, or just not return to their former selves, ever. The fact that we know so little abount ECE is all the more reason not to mess with it, IMHO. If I were running a shelter, I *might* agree that I would be faced with it eventually, so I might as well - but then everyone who adopted from my shelter would have that choice made for them, would they not? And since most of us are not running shelters, I think that we should try to avoid all-encompassing statements, and consider all the circumstances. Disclaimer: I'm not flaming anyone, I'm stating my opinion which happens to differ somewhat from opinions posted by others, all of whom are probably more experienced and knowledgable about ferrets than I, and whom I have come to respect during my time on the fml. Ed Atlee (edman, whose seen one too many flame wars recently...) Goose & Annie (neither of whom are volunteering for exposure) and Maggie the Lab (what's ECE?) [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1670]