Wondering if anyone has encountered this-

My ferret Slinky (5 year old, male, albino) has been having chronic
issues with diarrhea and I'm at my wit's end.

Nov 2008- I took him to the vet for vomiting and diarrhea. The vet said
the level of clostridium was too high, and he was given an antibiotic
and probiotic which cleared everything up for awhile. Since then he has
reoccurring diarrhea- same diagnosis and treatment with same results.
The diarrhea clears up for a bit (a few days, a week, maybe a month),
then comes back. At 1st he was given amoxicillin, then clavamox.

Friday evening, Sept 18, Slinky began vomiting and could not stop. Then
the diarrhea started. We rushed him to an emergency vet where he stayed
overnight on an IV. He was dehydrated and his body temp was low. Blood
tests showed that he wasn't expelling CO2 properly. The ER Vet said
that could be b/c of shallow breathing (since he was in pain) or
pneumonia, lymphoma, fluid on lungs- any # of things, but he would need
an x-ray to be able to tell. Saturday morning I took him to his regular
vet. X-rays and more blood tests were run. Everything came back fine-
no blockages, no tumors, no signs of cancer, pneumonia, etc. His BW was
back to normal. No one was able to say why he started vomiting, but he
was put on metronidazole and probiotics. By Saturday afternoon, Slinky
was running around as though he had never been sick.

We finished up with the metronidazole this past Saturday morning (Sept
26), and yesterday the loose stools were back. I called my vet, and
Slinky will have to take more antibiotics again.

This is the 8th time since Nov 2008 that I have had to put him on
antibiotics. I asked the vet why this keeps reoccurring and she doesn't
know but is looking into it.

I keep his toys clean, and Slinky shares his space and food with 3
other ferrets who have not had any problems. Slinky also takes .3 ml of
prednisone for allergies (to what, I have no idea. His skin just gets
very dry and itchy and the vet said he appeared to be allergic to
something). He has been tested for adrenal and insulinoma- both came
back negative.

So- has anyone else dealt with this? Any suggestions, recommendations,
ideas, thoughts?

Thank you,
Tara Elmore

[Posted in FML 6471]