Hi all,
Just signed on the list, with a heavy heart here.  We got two very sweet
sister ferrets for Christmas for our boys.  The whole family loved them
dearly and quickly became very attached.  My daughter was envious and as her
birthday was right after Christmas, we got her a cute little albino for her
birthday.  The two sable sisters (Coney and Mariel), were fine up to that
point.  Being ignorant of quarantine procedures for new babies, we
introduced her to the other two right away.  We were told the first two were
around 6 months and the third (Vanilla) about 2 months.  All were altered,
with visible tatoos.  We feed Iams kitten food.  Soon after Vanilla's
arrival, Coney became lethargic and had diarreah (she had earlier had it for
a couple of days, but since she had gotten to some yogurt and her poop
solidified, I figured it was a lactose thing).  We took her to the vet, got
some antibiotics and some prescription soft food for syringe feeding (Coney
was a very skinny girl).  She did okay on the syringe and seemed to be
improving.  Then, the first shocker happened, one morning my son went to see
our babies, and Mariel was DEAD in the cage...  :( She had begun to have
some diarreah but didn't act lethargic or ill other than that...we were
really sad.  Then, Coney began to just waste away...we continued feeding her
with the syringe but her fur began to fall out, she was weak and eventually
even unable to get up to go to the litter box.  The vet had not been very
positive about her survival, did a check for parasites, none of those.
 
I had spoken with a local ferret enthusiast and she filled me in on the
green diarreah virus (I have the name she told me written down, but not
handy).  She gave me some good ideas to nurse them through the disease, but
I guess it was not in the cards *sigh*.  We are all very melancholy.  I was
*so* hoping we could nurse our babies through this terrible sickness, but
Coney died last night....so we have our second ferret burial in a week...
 
Anyway, after this depressing background, I will get to my point.  I am
wondering, considering the possibility that Vanilla is a carrier (she shows
no signs of diarreah or lethargy but does sneeze a few times a day)...how
long should we wait before we get new babies?  If it is the green diarreah
virus...or any other viral infection, how long before we can be sure that
our new ferrets won't be getting exposed?  The local ferret lady said that
she had a very difficult time keeping the virus from spreading, even though
she was very careful to try to keep them separated.  She said she had 24
sick ferrets at once (she helps with the local ferret rescue club).
 
Thanks for any help you can offer, either on the list or privately,
whichever seems more appropriate.
 
Michelle,  mom to four kids and many critters....current census:
 
1 horse, 2 dogs, 1 ferret, 4 rats, 3 box turtles, 3 cockatiels,  100+
chickens, 5 ducks, 4 geese, 1 turkey, 8 cats,  1 rabbit, 2 Mediterranean
geckos & a goldfish
 
Michelle Lowe in the Phoenix desert          \|/     |
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[Posted in FML issue 1459]