DISTEMPEK IN FERRETS. 25 



during the time his dogs were bad, yet a week 

 afterwards his ferrets caught the disease. He 

 tried all the remedies he knew of, but in 14 

 days 12 hitherto good, strong, healthy ferrets 

 died : all he had. This will show at once that 

 the disease is very contagious. The moment 

 you see signs of distemper coming on feed the 

 ferret as little as possible. Give it as little to 

 eat as will just keep life in it, for in feeding 

 the ferret you also feed the disease. When 

 you have kept the food from it is the time to 

 start curing if possible. Now, from experience 

 the first thing I recommend is to sweat the 

 disease out of it, and I find the best way to do 

 this is as follows : Get an old bucket with a 

 few one-inch holes bored in the bottom, and 

 almost fill it with good new straw horse- 

 droppings; put a little hay on the top of the 

 droppings, and -then put the ferret on the hay. 

 Place or hang the bucket over a boiler or on 

 the mantelpiece, and let the kettle steam 

 under the bucket, say for 30 minutes, and you 

 will find the steam and the ammonia from the 

 droppings will together sweat the disease out 

 of the ferret; then you can start feeding it 

 again. Feed it with something substantial, 

 such as the jelly from stewed co wheels ; give 

 them the jelly only, not the meat ; and you 

 will have a good result. Also give them 



