>I have a couple of puzzling questions and I wondered if you could
>shed some light here.  First of all what is the difference between
>heliocobacter (sp?) and ECE and is the treatment the same.
 
The differences are many, and a comprehensive review is beyond the scope
of the list - you might want to spend some time on the Internet - there
are a lot of sites that deal with these subjects.
 
In short, Helicobacter is a bacterium that results in chronic infection
of the stomach, and eventually destroys the stomach's lining, markedly
impairing the animal's ability to secrete acid and digest food.  ECE is
a viral infection of the small intestine which results in a markedly
decreased surface area for the absorption of the food once in a digestible
state.  Additionally, there is less surface available for absorption of
water as well.
 
The treatments is different.  There is no significant treatment available
for viruses, so we simply support the ferrets with ECE until the body can
heal itself.  There are a number of treatments for Helicobacter available
(bacteria can be treated, and antibiotics are the key.
 
>How can you really distinguish one from the other?
 
Certainly the best way is to do a biopsy, as you suggest, but a good
practitioner can evaluate the clinical signs, consistency of feces, etc.
and come to a fairly useful diagnosis.
 
>For that matter the same question goes for IBD-EE-IBS and colitis...it's
>just so confusing-I guess the answer is Biopsy???  but what's involved in
>that procedure and is it risky for a six yr.  old ferret??  What exactly
>has to be biopsied???
 
IBD, EE,and colitis are all inflammatory diseases of the intestine or
colon.  You may want to look at my site at www.afip.org/ferrets for more
information on these conditions.  It would be all night to describe them
here!  IBD and EE would require an intestinal biopsy - colitis, requires
a biopsy of the colon.
 
>Second question about worms- you had said tapeworms can look like rice in
>the stool by any chance could they look like the seeds found in the poops
 
No - tapeworms look like rice grains - if you see the feces just after it
has been passed, you can even see them wiggle!
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
 
Join the Ferret Health List at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list
[Posted in FML issue 3431]