Dear Sharin:
 
>Here are my 2 ideas about what got him sick: He may have eaten an entire
>cheweasel in one sitting.  (Would diarrhea from that cause bleeding?)  Or,
>i may have brought home a bug from those adorable (& healthy looking) baby
>ferrets i was, umm, socializing at the pet store.
 
Vomiting blood - that sounds very much like a gastric ulcer - look also
fore the grinding of teeth.  A whole cheweasel at one time is not the best
idea - and you could get a good case of gastroenteritis - but it doesn't
usually cause bleeding from both ends.  Once again, some form of shock
should always be considered, but you don't mention that he looks extremely
ill, and shock severe enough to cause this level of bleeding usually lays
them out flat...
 
Regarding the baby ferrets you were playing with at the pet store - you
bring up a very good point.  FML'ers - the best way to give your ferrets
ECE, distemper, or eveh the flu is to play with those kits at the pet
store.  Pet store kits are the number one transmitters of ECE - IF YOU
ARE NOT GOING TO BUY KITS, DON'T GO NEAR THEM!  GO LOOK AT THE FISH!
 
Could Ramone have gotten ECE here?  Possibly.  Has he ever had it before?
Passing non-foul-smelling mucoid feces?  I'm getting suspicious here.  The
blood is unusual, but combine coronavirus and a whole cheweasel - you may
get a non-characteristic presentation.  Let's see if his brother gets
diarrhea as well, and if he continues to pass bad stools.  If so, you
might have brought more home than happy memories....
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3284]