You wrote:
>He DID tell me they are using ANIMALS ETC in response to the publics
>plea not to sell Marshall Farms ferrets!  So we went from not great to
>TERRIBLE!
 
and you quoted:
>>Oh how awful!!  Alex not euthanize them???????  Since when???  It is
>>a wonder he is still there.  When our client contacted the Petco in
>>Bensalem and told them that she had a letter from us stating that the
>>ferret tested + in our office she was told he would be returned to the
>>distributor and destroyed.
 
Oh, gads, so in response to folks complaining about Marshall Farms Petco
is going with someplace that has a far worse track record, if memory
serves, and -- bingo -- they wind up with diseased kits that Alicia
thinks are going to be destroyed.  Wasn't this the place that brought in
disease fur fitch from New Zealand a number of years back that had to be
destroyed, and which has had the Associated Humane Societies after them
multiple times for animal abuse, or am I confusing them with a different
place?  Clarify, please.  Well, everyone knew that having someplace worse
utilized was a hazard of such continual complaints, and some cared about
the risk while some didn't.  Sure hope that they don't actually kill
those ten kits.  I wish that before people complained like crazy about a
source they would actually weigh the risks of the alternatives that might
be utilized and which were utilized in the past since those associations
might be reactivated.  From the fire to frying pan...
 
>However, Nutmeg infected another ferret (now deceased) with ECE when
>she arrived as a kit from Path Valley.  The ferret health documents
>seem to indicate that once a ferret is infected, that they don't get
>the disease again.  Therefore I thought that she would be "safe" if I
brought another ferret in.
 
It is considered unlikely for a ferret that is not immune-suppressed to
acquire ECE a second time, but there are multiple types of infections
that ferrets can get which produce similar symptoms so either might have
been something other than ECE, and it is alternatively possible that the
little one has intestinal damage from ECE so that the stress of bringing
in a new one is aggravating that damage temporarily -- stress runs plus
the damage weighing in.
 
If you know that the source was definitely PV rather than a distributor
or store be sure to let them know.  That's what we did when we brought
two home who gave it to our crew (and boy was that a major haul for 3
months with 4 of the ferrets having enough damage that two died earlier
than they would have otherwise) and it makes sense because then at least
they know and can make their choices.  Have you been doing fecal tests
for things like giardia and coccidia?  We had the latter come home from
an in-trouble-with-the-state pet store's sickly one once.
 
Remember that experts on ECE say that it remains infectious for AT LEAST
6 months or AT LEAST 8 months depending on which document is read, so we
played it safe and didn't go near a pet store, anyone's ferrets, shows,
etc for full year after symptoms ended here to be safest.
 
We now have one with IBD that is likley secondary to the infection.
 
Re: pred: You do not want to miss those doses (esp. more than one) so
have pet sitter in such situations.  We usually use a vet tech and leave
a permission-to-treat letter fro the vet in case a medical emergency
occurs.
 
Sukie
for ferret health info:  http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
for assorted health info (though I need to update it):
http://www.sukieslist.com
for Steve's blog re-born after 6 years of folks requesting:
http://radio.weblogs.com/0110648/ (click on calendar dates for more
from 7/12 onward)
[Posted in FML issue 3847]