From:
pj2-455
Date: 2001-08-20 21:38:00 UTC
Subject: Quarantines (Long)
(cross-posted a few days ago to a.p.f, sorry for those who read both)
Well, ferret math strikes in a way I really didn't want, but there you
go. I'm taking in a 4th ferret from a guy down the street (son bought it
for him from a pet store, they don't want it, same old same old).
This ferret has been in ferret isolation for a year or more
(she's an only ferret, I mean), so I sincerely doubt she could have
picked up anything ferret related.
However, she's probably around 2, and hasn't had any shots since
whatever she got at the breeder, and I'm fairly sure she's been exposed
to either dogs or people who spend a good deal of time around dogs.
My three ferrets (Jinx, Whistler and Sam) are all up on their shots,
including distemper. I would like to quarantine this new girl. My
ferrets currently exist in two businesses, because Jinx just won't let
Sam alone; I swear Jinx is out to kill Sam. Whistler is my 'swing'
ferret, he plays with both Jinx and Sam. But because I can't let Sam and
Jinx play together, all of the ferret proofed areas of my very small
house are full of ferrets.
So here's my question (three paragraphs later). I can put the new
ferret's
cage in my kitchen, and when she's caged, leave her in there. But I
can't let her play in the kitchen because it's not ferretproofed (and it
would be difficult to impossible to ferretproof it well). So, can I let
the new ferret play in my other ferret playrooms, as long as she's never
in contact with the other ferrets directly?
I know about washing hands etc. between the quarantined girl and the
rest of the monsters, (and a.p.f. suggested swapping litter boxes in the
playroom, too, to prevent the spread of anything like giarrdia) but
I'm wondering if she could be carrying anything that could spread to my
ferrets through contact with toys, etc, since my ferrets have their
shots, and the new girl is very unlikely to have anything uniquely
ferrety, like ADV.
I have a vet appointment for the new girl next week, to get her checked
out and to start her shots again, but when I met her earlier, she looked
pretty healthy. I'm not taking her from a hellish situation, just an
unfortunate one.
Thanks everyone,
-455
--
"I am not a number, I am a free man!" -Number Six
"You cannot make history, you can only survive it." -G'Kar