Please note: Some information may be a little graphic.  I want Jako's
ordeal to benefit those who face a similar situation.
 
This all started the first week of October.  Rikki passed away to unknown
causes.  Since no autopsy was done, we brought her home for the others to
say good-bye.  A few days later, Jako had green loose stools and would
not eat.  We took him in immediately where he was diagnosed (without and
blood work) with ECE.  Amoxcil was prescribed and then a little later
prednisone.  During this whole time, Jako would only eat the chicken
gravy.  Eventually he seemed to get better January into March passed
without incident.  Then all the same symptoms came back.  We took him in,
he was diagnosed with the same thing, and the same treatment was started.
This time he did not respond.  We went back in and I was hit with a huge
list of various tests we could run, at great expense, and there was
always the possibility of not finding the problem.  I then found this
message board and was led to a ferret specialist.  By this time, Jako had
the tell-tale signs of adrenal with hair loss on his hind quarters, but
he was still not eating and was losing weight.  We started on Augmentin
(Amoxcil with an additive to prevent bacterial immunity), Biaxin, and
Carafate (to help coat and rebuild stomach and intestines).  Jako went
up and down, sometimes eating on his own, but mostly needed it from a
syringe.  His stool was sometimes black and tar-like, other time it was
yellow and "seedy".  During the bulk of this time he would still get out
and run around, just was not very social.  Then, Tuesday night, Jako took
a turn for the worse.  His belly felt a bit swollen, and I mistook that
for being normal weight gain.  He was also vomiting and pawing at his
face.  By the next morning, he could not get into his box and had soiled
his bedding.  His nose also had a yellowy look, not it's normal pink.  I
took him to the vet as soon as they opened.  There was an examination
then we left him for observation.  At 11 am, things got worse and by 1 pm
he had left us.  The vet did an autopsy and found the cause of death was
an intestine ruptured in two places.  The affected portion is being sent
to a lab to see what exactly caused the weakening.  I feel terribly sad,
but I know that there was very little that could have been done.  The
problem was all in soft tissue so X-rays and sonograms would have been
ineffective.  Surgery might, but it is unlikely since we were not looking
for it.  I hope that if other fuzzies exhibit similar symptoms, quicker
action can be taken.
 
James, Melissa & Kassidy
 
Loving:  Bebe, Riley
Missing:  Wheezer, Pym, Rikki, Jako
[Posted in FML issue 4156]