Hi Sally!
This is my first post to the FML so Hello everyone as well!
 
I read your post about your little girls and I wanted to tell you
about my little boy Marc.  He might have something in common with
your girls.
 
I purchased Marc from Petco (I was unaware at that time of the
reputation & boycott against Petco) Nov 1st this year.  He was a Marshall
Farms ferret born on Sept 1st.  About 2 weeks later I noticed his urine
had a reddish tint, so off to the vet we went.  The vet tried to get a
sample but couldn't and he felt all over Marc checking for lumps, looked
in his mouth, ears, eyes and nose.  He couldn't find anything so he gave
us amoxicillin (sp?) and had us come back in 2 weeks.  During those 2
weeks his urine stopped looking red but his stool changed to a very soft
(not runny) seady, slightly mucusy, light tannish color.  Took Marc back
to the vet at the 2 week mark and he checked him again couldn't find
anything and attributed the strange stool to the medicine.  Told me to
continue the medicine for 1 more week and see if it clears up afterward.
All this time Marc ate, played, slept like normal.  Showing no signs of
anything wrong.
 
Now 1 week after we stopped the medicine his stool didn't change so I
called the vet to see what to do, he said to bring him in if I felt it
was serious enough to warrent a bunch of tests.  Now mind you I am new
to the world of ferrets only being owned by them since Oct 27th 02.  So
anyway I made an apt for the next day.  Next day I take little Marc to
work with me and all day long his stool starts looking normal, getting
more solid as the day wore on.  So I'm thinking OK I'm a overly worried
mom prone to panic over nothing, etc etc.  I call the vet cancel the
appointment appologize for my behavior.  That was Dec 3rd.  Marc's stool
never did get back to normal, he didn't gain any weight, he did grow
longer but no real weight gain, his coat didn't thicken up.  He left us
Christmas day to join the others at the Rainbow bridge.  The vet said
that it was possibly a birth defect or a genetic defect that took him.
 
So when I read your post about your girls and you mentioned their stool
and that they are from Marshalls I thought could there be a connection?
I don't know how old your girls are (they sound very young) but Marc was
only 4 months old when he passed.
 
Jaque
Mommy to 2 fuzzies and 5 doggies.
 
Fuzzies: Cleopatra and Marc Antony
Marc 9-1-02 to 12-25-02, Forever in our hearts.
 
Doggies: Trixie, Scottie, Maggy, Suzy and Sassy.
[Posted in FML issue 4011]