>From:    Brian and Lisa <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Need Advice about H. Mustalea
>I am hoping to get some advice on H. Mustalea (spelling?)
>I adopted a little blaze girl, Panda, about six weeks ago.  Took all the
>precautions I knew to do like not letting her meet my crew until a Vet
>visit and I still waited for two weeks for them to meet.  Apparently my
>new little girl was a carrier of ECE so she gave it to my crew.
 
Your story is a common one.  H.  Mustelea (Helicobacter)is a fairly common
finding in ferrets but it seems more likely that your ferrets contracted
ECE, which is viral in nature, not bacterial.  Standard treatment for
Helicobacter is Amoxicillin, Metronidazole (Flagyl) and Bismuth (pepto
bismol) given for at least two weeks.  The Amoxi and Flagyl will do nothing
for ECE since these drugs are for the treatment of bacterial infections.
That doesn't mean I'm telling you to stop giving these drugs!  Only your
vet knows for sure what's going on and the proper course of treatment.  And
antibacterial agents may be beneficial to prevent any secondary bacterial
infections.
 
Dr. Bruce Williams mentioned some time ago that he was working with someone
on a test for Helicobacter.  Currently, the only way to make anything other
than a presumptive diagnosis is by histopathological study of the affected
tissue.  Perhaps Sukie knows the status of Dr. Williams test for H.
Mustelea?
 
ECE ferrets will often seem to slowly improve, only to relapse about two
weeks later.  This can repeat a number of times and the only "cure" is
constant and dedicated supportive care.  It may take a month or two before
real improvement is seen but the amount of time it takes depends on the age
and overall health of the ferret.
 
Our shelter has dealt with hundreds upon hundreds of cases of ECE.  It was
found almost without fail that if a ferret was not recovering in a time
frame that was expected, it had low blood glucose levels, most likely
related to insulinoma.  Prednisone did wonders for these ferrets.
 
Your "duck soup" sounds good except for the peanut butter.  I'm not sure
about that part of it.  Our shelter ECE ferrets were fed Gerber's chicken
baby food mixed with A/D exclusively.  Nothing else was added except
enzymes to aid in digestion.
 
It's a long road, but hang in there, they will improve.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
P.S.  In relation to the topic of H. mustelea, I have an article written
by Dr. Williams on this very topic.  You can go directly to the article on
my website by going to...
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/helicobacter.htm
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* South Florida Ferret Help Line, 305-752-7040
*
* Website:  http://www.miamiferret.org
* Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
[Posted in FML issue 3163]