Hi Everyone, I have a question for all the shelter owners out there: When you take in a rescue do you take the new baby to the vet right away for shots and a general check up? Or are shots and that initial check up the responsibility of the person adopting the ferret? The situation that I find myself in is that I'm a new ferret owner. I got one kit a year ago and decided that she needed a cage mate. Well, I wanted a rescue because I though it was the right thing to do. I contacted my local shelter and arranged to see the ferret. The shelter owner said that the baby was about 2 to 3 years old and had had a hard life. This baby looked like he needed a home bad. She wasn't feeding the right kind of food (Iams cat chow, said that mature ferrets can't handle the excess fat and protein) and she said he had lost a lot of weight since he had been in the shelter for the last 3wks. But she still hadn't taken him to the Vet! I told her that I was going to take him to the vet right away and she looked evasive and said that the vet hadn't seen him and she gave me a discount for the weezel. Bells should have been ringing about now but they weren't. Anyway, I get him to the vet and I find that he's actually 4 to 5 years old, has ear mites and has adreanal disease! I am soo mad because I was really trying to do the right thing. I'm not giving him back--Never. He's too cute and sweet and deserves better. Sorry for such a long post. Dooks, Julie [Posted in FML issue 2712]