Sukie asks about foul-smelling stools in ferrets with ECE:
>Is the smell possibly indicative of something else -- like damage from a
>secondary infection, degree of intestinal damage, etc.?  Might noticing it
>(Would have to have no sense of smell to miss it.) be helpful in figuring
>out some other aspect of what is going on in such a situation?
 
Odor, like color, is very non-specific, and I realy wouldn't try to
attribute anything to an odor or lack of an odor.  However, if you really
want to know, there are probably a couple of reasons why some ferrets with
ECE may have foul-smelling stools.  The more common cause is that the food
that the ferret is eating is not being well digested.  Remeber that ECE
causes marked loss of the villi of the intestine, and with it, much of
the intestinal enzymes that are used to digest protein and fat.  When fat
is not broken down, it becomes rancid, and foul-smelling poop results.
Partially digested protein has a somewhat ammoniacal smell to it.  I don't
think undigested carbohydrates have much of a smell.
 
Another thing I always worry about when smelling bad poop is the
possibility of digested blood.  For anyone who has ever worked with
parvovirus in dogs, their feces, due to the amount of digested blood, has
a very peculiar bad odor that you never forget.  So animals with ulcers
or those who are passing foreign bodies may have foul-smelling poop.
 
But, as I said, the smell or non-smell of the poop should not be used as
a diagnostic criterium for ECE.  Look at recent introductions, widespread
diarrhea in multiple animals, and the basic character of the diarrhea as
far more reliable signs.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3285]