It feels like a miracle, but Sandee Mozzone's ferrets are definitely on the mend. She asked me to thank you all for your calls, for the info you sent me, and for your prayers. I'll repeat the story so that perhaps anyone this happens to in the future can have hope and hang in there. Bruce Williams was consulted and was as helpful as he could be, but he has not heard of this problem before. At this time, it is something we'll have to share information with each other about in hopes we can be of some help. One of Sandee's ferrets became paralyzed over a period of several days, beginning with being unable to use her hind legs. When the ferret began to have difficulty breathing and was unable to urinate any longer, our vet and Sandee decided to put her down. A second ferret had begun to have a similar paralysis, and it progressed to where she could not use her legs. Then another ferret lost the use of its hind legs. Then a fourth. Then one began to drag one of his hind legs. Sandee (who runs the ferret shelter in Upper Darby, PA, west of Philadelphia) called me in a panic when she came home to find the third one in trouble. She is not on the internet, and our vet was stumped. Sandee had visions of this paralysis spreading to all of her 20+ ferrets and wiping out her dearest fur kids. She hoped that someone on the list would know something that could help her. A special thanks to Noni in Houston!! She had been through the same experience with one ferret, and her vet knew of a shelter that had experienced several cases of this paralysis. No one knew what the problem is, but Noni was able to give Sandee hope. Her vet had encouraged her to hang in there a little longer after her ferret became totally paralyzed (I don't think it had the breathing/urination problem, but I'm not sure) ... and her ferret recovered, albeit slowly. It was Noni's story that kept Sandee from putting her second ferret down days ago. It was difficult to see the paralyzed ferret in her condition. She constantly wet and dirtied herself, and despite being washed gently several times a day, she had developed a rash and seemed quite miserable. Sandee was beginning to feel cruel for keeping her alive. All four living ferrets are being treated with prednisone against spinal inflammation, and none of them got worse after a certain point. The last time I posted, the two with hind end paralysis had begun to wobble around on their hind legs. A day or two ago, the other ferret began to weakly use his one leg. But today was the miracle. When Sandee came home, she noticed a poop in the corner of the paralyzed ferret's cage which had not been there at lunch time. She washed her as usual and placed her on the floor ... and she stood on her own legs! Then she even tried to walk a bit! So all the news is good. The virus (or whatever it is) never spread to the rest of the ferrets. Only one was affected in the lungs and kidneys. Each of the four who came down with it were less affected than the previous ferret. All four are on the mend. Thank you again for your prayers. If anyone needs to ask Sandee about her experience with this, her number is 610-352-4852. [Posted in FML issue 1908]