Hi Dr Williams and all.
 
I too was under the impression that a "rotten egg" scent of stoles went
along with ECE.  I had no idea that the stoles did not have such a rank
odor.  I thought it had something to do with the virus eating away at the
intestinal wall and this was what caused the strong odor.  What you've
stated makes sense though.
 
More recently, my 3 1/2 year old boy was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel
Disease via biopsies on his stomach wall, liver, and mezonteric lymphnode.
I noticed that before surgery, and for the first 3-4 weeks of treatment,
his bowel movements smelled worse than anything I'd ever smelled.  Because
of my belief that ECE is what smells rank, I worried that he may have had
ECE.  If I was on the same floor as him in my house, I knew whenever he
went to the bathroom - it smelled SOOO bad.  It was also a bright yellow
liquidy bile type consistancy - ick!
 
I'd done some research on IBD, and also spoken with some other people who
have ferrets with IBD and all have said that that they experienced that
same horrible smell with their IBD ferrets.  Again, something with the
inflamed stomach lining.
 
Also, some of the research stated that IBD is much more prevelant that
originally thought - and it has been known to be misdiagnosed as ECE or
other forms of intestional viruses in the past.  Do you think this is
what leads to an improper diagnosis of ECE as well?
 
Thanks
Lisa and her perfect ten
[Posted in FML issue 3285]