Hi all,
 
Bailey, my dark-eyed white male ferret is 1.5 years old.  He is NOT a
Marshall Farms ferret, and is fixed, but not descented.  He's always
been very healthy, and I feed them a mix of Iams Adult and Iams Kitten
(have to mix because I have 3 other ferrets that are between 4 and 6
years old).  I've recently added Totally Ferret and Science Diet Adult
to their diet.
 
I noticed Bailey getting sick last weekend.  He was sleeping *constantly*
very unlike the "leg-leaper" Bailey I know that is constantly seeking you
out to play.  Bailey used to jump on the cat, you, the other ferrets,
anything in his sight!  Now, he just lays around, not feeling well.
 
I noticed he wasn't eating/drinking/pooping.  So I seperated him from the
rest to monitor him.  I gave him some laxative, and when he did poop, it
was very very dark brown (almost black) and like liquid.  It looked like
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.  So, on Monday, I had a stool sample analyzed
to check for blood (i.e., Ulcer?).  The vet found some red blood cells,
but not enough for concern.  I also noticed that he was very warm.  I
tried to take his temperature, but couldn't get a good enough reading.  I
think he had a fever though, because his nose was all dry and sort of
scaley, like it had been burned or something.  On Wednesday, I had X-rays
done to look for an instestinal blockage, nothing there either.  Still,
things weren't looking any better.  I found him laying on the floor in a
zoned out state, foaming at the mouth.  On Friday, I had blood work done.
Glucose levels fine (not insulinoma), regular blood work stuff fine as
well.  I noticed that he was spraying more than usual.  Perhaps problems
with the anal scent glands?  They did feel about the size of kidney beans
and were kind of hard.  Have to ask my vet about that on Monday.  Today, I
found him in his cage laying on his stomach with his head hanging out over
the hammock, and when I got him up, he started to vommit, but was only
throwing up stomach acid.
 
I've been periodically force-feeding him (mix of AD, Nutrical, FerretZYME,
and slippery elm bark), as well as force-liquiding him Pedialyte.  I've
also pre-empted that with PeptoBismal to calm his stomach.
 
Symptoms: Sleeps A LOT.  Periodic bouts of playfulness (not lasting
longer than 5 minutes).  Not interested in eating or drinking very often.
Poop is now more solid form but still gooey.  He tried vommiting today.
Once found him in zoned out state and foaming at mouth (probably low
blood sugar levels from not eating).  I think he had fevers in the
beginning.  The problem is, he's not improving.  I'm at a loss here for
what it could be.  We've already had the green virus, and his poop isn't
green or mucousy anyways.
 
Any help for Bailey would be GREATLY appreciated.
 
Chris & Co.
 
Ferret Homepage:  http://www.engr.wisc.edu/~christin/ferret.html
[Posted in FML issue 1332]