Possible canine distemper?

[Deleted]

I was wondering if my ferret could be suffering from canine distemper. He is about 12 weeks old and has been fine up until today. He has began to sneeze a lot, and when he sneezes there is clear nasal discharge. He sneezed on my hand as well, but i made sure to wash it good. I don't notice any eye irritation or any other symptoms yet, but might he have it? Thank you for your time.

[LindaM]

Has there been an outbreak of distemper in your area? Call your vet to find out, they'll usually know. Canine Distemper in ferrets is practically 100% fatal.

The symptoms he currently has could be for other things, one of those being the flu or an upper respiratory infection.

I highly suggest taking him to the vet and getting him checked out, even more so if he hasn't had a vet visit since you got him.

[Sherry]

Ferrets are very sneezy creatures, and distemper is a very virulent disease moving quite quickly. You would notice crustiness on eyes, nose, paw pads, etc. Here is a quote:

miamiferret.org/distemper.htm

Canine distemper is virtually 100% fatal in ferrets within 12 to 42 days after exposure. Once they get the disease, euthanasia is usually recommended to prevent the spread of disease to other animals and to put the animal out of misery. The signs of distemper are the loss of appetite, foul-smelling yellow or green sticky eye discharge, swollen eyelids, green or yellow nasal discharge, swelling of the lips and chin, thick brown crusts that form on the eyes, nose, lips and chin, lethargy, diarrhea, a subtle form of pneumonia, dehydration, swelling of the anus, orange crusting of the skin in the abdominal and anal area, muscular tremors, hyper-excitability, convulsions, and in the later stages thickening and hardening of the paw pads. Many of these symptoms are never seen because the ferret will die first. Ferrets do not appear to be susceptible to panleukopenia (feline distemper)