One of my ferrets, Buckwheat, was just diagnosed with eosinophilic
gastroenteritis, which I had never heard of before and would like to know
more about.  In today's fml, Karen posted that her Rinkydink was diagnosed
a while back with this.  Karen, how is she doing?  What sort of treatment
was prescribed?  Does she still have it, and how do you tell?
 
My Bucky was on the table for adrenal surgery when my vet, Dr. Paul Kim,
noticed that his intestines looked congested and the blood vessels around
his intestines were enlarged.  So he sent a tissue sample of the augmentin
out for a biopsy, and this was the diagnosis.  I was told that it is caused
by a parasite, and so Bucky is also on Ivermectin.  But I would like to
know what kind of parasite causes this, and how did he get it?  Dr. Kim
said it is not clear how they get this, and that it is not contagious so
my other ferrets are not at risk.  But I would love to know more about it,
if anyone has any info or references (Dr. Williams?).  The only direct
reference I've been able to find on the web was a definition (for humans)
at: http://chorus.rad.mcw.edu/doc/00903.html.
 
Bucky looks and acts like he's feeling fine (both before and after the
surgery, thanks to Dr. Kim!), and other than his hair loss and aggression
from the adrenal tumor, I never would have suspected anything was wrong.
So I'm also wondering how I can tell if and when he's gotten over the
gastroenteritis?
 
Bucky is a Marshall Farms ferret that I got as a baby from a reputable pet
shop.  I have no way of knowing whether he was weaned too early, but he was
eating dry kibble when I got him, and he has always been quite healthy and
rambunctious.  The only difference with him is that he has always been more
sensitive to things than any of my other six.  He gets motion sickness,
he has always hated having his nails trimmed, and he was the first of my
ferrets to have a vaccine reaction.  Also, FWIW, he has always had a
stronger musky odor than any of my others.  Not unpleasant, just stronger.
I can often tell when he has walked into the room by his odor (or aroma;
it's really not a bad odor at all).  Could he also be sensitive to food,
and have a food allergy that caused this?  All my ferrets are fed Totally
Ferret, with raisins and dried cranberries as treats.
 
Speaking of vaccine reactions, one of my other guys, Sprouts, just had the
dubious distinction of having the first reaction to Imrab 3 that Dr. Kim
had ever seen!  Sprouts is about 3 years old, had no previous reactions,
and had previously been given Fervac D and Imrab 3 at the same time.  This
year, all my ferrets had their Fervac D given 3 weeks prior to the rabies
shots, at Dr. Kim's recommendation.  Sprouts had a cold at the time of his
distemper shot, and had a reaction to that, even though he was pre-treated
with Benadryl.  Dr. Kim thought the cold may have helped bring on the
reaction.  He was over his cold 3 weeks later when he had the rabies shot,
but reacted again.  Both reactions were not severe, but not mild either.
Dr. Kim advised that Sprouts have no future vaccinations, but I'm not so
sure I feel comfortable with that - especially since I regularly have lots
of neighbor kids over to play with the ferrets.  When he's due again next
year, I'm going to discuss other options with Dr. Kim, such as a longer
course of pre-treatment with Benadryl, as I've seen mentioned here.
 
Sorry this got so long.  If anyone has any input, I'd appreciate it!
 
Nancy and critters
[Posted in FML issue 3241]