>"Actually, the Dr. who saw this persons ferrets spoke with the main
>Dr. involved here. It was apparently actually food poisoning from a
>raw diet. I write raw diet..not to incite anyone. I do it to separate
>it from kibble with contaminated ingredient or ingredients."

I have the express permission from Penny, the owner of these ferrets,
to post this here. (Penny does not have internet at home and has asked
me to post for her.)

The main point that I want to let everyone know is that Penny does NOT
feed a raw diet. Im not sure where this came from or how this got
started but it is 100% incorrect. We both feed about the same. We free
fed kibble (zupreem, evo innova canine, the ferret store food, felidae,
and sometimes california natural). We also get whole chicken fryers
ground up at my butcher in Coatesville, Pa. Then we cook this ground
up food (its has the consistency of hamburger meat) on the stove with
water. This last batch Penny left hers slightly pink. This is what why
Dr Gold feels it was ecoli. Penny's ferrets got sick as fast as Dr
Ruth's. One minute they were fine the next they were vomiting, pooping
forest green poo, terribly dehydrated and their pads of their feet
were bright red.

Our good friend Claudia from Oxford Ferret Rescue helped Penny give
subq fluids (the 1st several ferrets got sick, of course, over the
weekend!) on sat and sun until Dr Gold opened on Monday morning. Dr
Gold admitted Penny's ferrets into the hospital. The kidney values were
off the charts. Princess had values so high (over 200) they didnt even
register on the blood test. Ecoli affects the kidneys and with this
sudden serious sickness and undercooked chicken Dr Gold felt it was
ecoli. 6 of Penny's ferrets were terribly sick and all of them over
the course of a few weeks were in the hospital on IV fluids. But all of
them survived! Dr Gold put her remaining 6 on antibiotics to prevent
any further illnesses.

We are lucky to have Dr Gold as our vet. He treats so many ferrets,
sometimes 20 in 1 day! He is not only a fantastic ferret vet but a
fantastic surgeon as well. He saved Penny's ferrets (as he has done
many many many ferrets including mine). He is not only a fantastic
ferret vet but a fabulous vet for all animals and his office is so
helpful and wonderful to deal with. I couldnt ask for a better vet!
He has also spoken to Dr Ruth and will speak to any other vet who
may need help or has any questions.

If anybody has any other questions or needs any information please
let me know.

Lisa Vible
AFA Education Director

[Posted in FML 6195]