Okay well the first due date passed without incident, but because she
did not appear to ovulate after the first mating, she'd had a second
pairing a few days later.
New due date is June 6-8, so keep an eye out!
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/NorthAmerica/default.cfm?cam=BFF
40 kits have been born so far at the National Zoo's Front Royal
facility, with 39 surviving.
Linda
[Posted in FML 7448]
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Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 08:55:57 -0400
From: Ferrets at Heart -- Ask A Ferret <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: ECE breakout at Ferrets at Heart rescue
Let me give you the short version, because, as a resident staff of one
with occasional volunteers, I'm exhausted. The last 17 days have been
awful. You can't quarantine ECE; the definitive literature and shelter
testimonies bears this out. All of our ferrets are "special needs" or
"permanent residents" right now (Each shelter calls the aged and
adrenal/insulinoma something different.).
We thought it was just "shelter shock" at first. Then, our established
ferrets began to take ill. First the mucus-like green poop, followed by
the odorous black tar poop a few days later. Then, they stopped eating
and the body mass dropped visibly. We had Egyptian ferret mummies.
With soup, Nutri-Cal, Pepto-Bismol, Pedialyte, and prayer, most are
through the ECE. One of the virus vectors (We narrowed it down to a
pair) was relapsing, but he is again willingly eating soup on his
own and not having to be force-fed anymore. The other lingering case
accepted his soup from a spoon yesterday for the first time, instead of
the syringe method we both abhor. Two females have yet to exhibit the
"greenies" -- an almost 8-yr. DMK with adrenal, insulinoma, and renal
failure, and a 2.5-yr. who had successful adrenal surgery in May 2011
and dealt with Helicobacter this late winter and early spring. They
show softened stool and are a bit tired, but the gals are still eating
and drinking well. ECE is 100% contagious, so they will succumb
eventually. The DMK... We'll just pray very hard.
The ECE lab test involves putting a ferret under anesthesia and sending
a scraping of the intestine to Michigan State for a culture. A negative
result does not mean that the ferret does not have ECE, but just that
the ferret isn't shedding the virus at the moment. Considering the
evidence already established by the symptoms and the stress and risk
of infection this surgery would put the ferrets through, we don't feel
the ECE lab test is truly necessary, nor does our vet. Our vet is as
sure as he can be from our description that this is ECE, as are the
ferret-knowledgeable folk with whom we've consulted.
If you are a rescue and have any spare supplies you can send, please
contact us. Helping you to overnight such with a cold pack can be
managed, but our vet fund doesn't extend to taking these remaining
cases to our clinic and paying for individual exam fees and individual
medication fees (Everything is tied up with an order of adrenal
implants from Peptech). Please also feel free to call us with any
advice. From what we've read and been told, the virus is contagious
for up to six months, so there won't be any Buckeye Bash for us this
year, and we won't be seeing any of our friends who have ferrets in
the family for quite some time.
If you aren't a shelter and would like to help, please consider
donating by PayPal to [log in to unmask] (or by the donation
button on our website). Though ECE has a very low mortality rate when
the ferret is kept properly hydrated and nourished, this takes
supplies, and there can develop secondary bacterial infections
requiring antibiotics, be a need for more potent nausea/diarrhea drugs,
and, in the most serious cases, be ferrets who must have subcutaneous
fluids. I've been providing soup every two hours by day and every four
at night for the last two weeks to whichever ferrets were not eating
kibble well at that time.
Our plan was to take in these six previously-quarantined ferrets, order
the adrenal implants, and get another fundraiser going. Well, two of
the ferrets had not been quarantined. I was told Monday that they'd
only been housed there for 2.5 days. That is as specific as I want to
get in this public venue, because mistakes are easily made, as are
miscommunications between shelters. As previously mentioned,
quarantining would not have stopped the ECE, but it would have
identified it. Instead, the implants were ordered in anticipation of
the influx of ferrets, and we have almost no money ($35?) with which
to battle this illness.
Please keep us, our ferrets -- and our sanity -- in your prayers. All
this is why the website hasn't been updated in some time.
With respect,
Lori of Ferrets at Heart
Huron, Ohio
(419)433-6016
http://ferretsatheart.com/
[Posted in FML 7449]
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