I've just spoken to my dog's vet. She has been in contact with the
other vets (exotics vets and the rescue centre's vets) and has also
told her colleagues about the situation in case they have any ideas.

Natalie, our exotics specialist vet says she has never come across a
situation like this in her career, which seriously worries me, but we
just have to wait for the pathology results.

I spoke to the vet at the Woodgreen Animal Sanctuary (they have their
own vet centre). It was really awful having to read out the ferrets
serial numbers and tell the story again of how they died and I kind
of lost it.The good news, for other owners, is that their stock is
healthy, but they are in contact with Natalie and will warn the staff
about symptoms to look out for.

Another couple of ideas I want to throw into the mix:
* Aspergillus fungus. We don't have the same species as causes so much
  damage in the USA, but its still a potential problem. Not sure of
  the symptoms however.
* Hepatitis. Before Fiora died, her liver ALT levels were 15x high
  normal. One vet told me "any animal that has a liver could get
  hepatitis" but he isn't a ferret specialist.
* Mushrooms. A woman in UK died recently from eating deathcap mushrooms
  she found in her garden. But could the spores be dangerous?
* Lung worm. We have a lot of slugs and snails this year.
* Lyme disease
* Floor glue or window sealant
* Heavy metal poisoning

These ideas are probably daft, but I'm just thinking out loud.

Anna Hayward

[Posted in FML 7797]