DISEASES OF FERRETS. 203 



flux or diarrhoea, providing no otlier ailment 

 accompanies. 



Sweating. — European raisers are of the be- 

 lief that sweat or sweating is a certain stage of 

 the disease known as distemper, while most 

 American raisers think it an entirely different 

 disease. In Europe where they are all classed as 

 one and the same, they are described as follows : 

 Distemper, sweat or the sweating sicknc^ss, is a 

 malady identical with distemper in dogs, usually 

 attacking young ferrets near the time they first 

 open their eyes or gain their sight. As a rule, 

 with healthy ferrets, it takes a mild form; but 

 with poor ones, improperly fed, or otherwise not 

 in good condition it is apt to be serious and very 

 contagious. With healthy stock a change of 

 food and a cleaning of their nests with fresh and 

 clean bedding supplied, will generally be all that 

 is required. If the sweating keeps up it leads to 

 heaviness and dullness, food untouched. The 

 condition and treatment in Europe are much the 

 same as explained for the disease known as dis- 

 temper in America. 



A breeder and successful ferret raiser, lo- 

 cated in Central Illinois, gives the following 

 description of sweating and tlie method of treat- 

 ing: ^'Young ferrets while tliey are yet in the 

 nest sometimes become affected with a form of 



