From:
mjanke@miamiferret.org
Date: 2002-07-07 02:44:50 UTC
Subject: RE: New Ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <22212659.1026009890046.JavaMail.root@scandium>
> We have three ferrets, ages 2 1/2, 4 1/2 and nearly 8 years old. I fell
> in love with a four month pld silver mitt ferret @ the pet shop today!
> How do you think my other babies would take to a new ferret?
Proceed with EXTREME caution. If your ferrets never had ECE, you run the risk of the new baby being a carrier and infecting your current crew. It's a very common story, unfortunately.
ECE is a very difficult disease and you will probably spend weeks on supportive care, particularly for the older ferrets. While generally not a fatal disease, it can be so if the infected ferret has other health issues. I'd be afraid of even the thought of infecting an 8 year old with ECE.
If they've already had ECE, then you need only worry about whether or not they'll all get along with the newcomer. Of course then there's ADV, which is another issue.
mike