Hello everyone,
Finally, some great news! Thanks to all of you who sent suggestions on
treating
ferrets that have come down with ECE (Green Diarrhea Virus). Both of our 3 year
old
males are doing much better but I'm so glad that in those instructions, both
posted here
and the ones e-mailed to me, that you've mentioned setbacks in recovery. Kirby
was the
larger of the boys at 2 3/4 lbs. He is down to 1 3/4 lbs. but for a while he
seemed so
much better off than Bandit who at less than 2 lbs. lost more than 1/2 his
weight.
Bandit couldn't walk to the litter box in his cage and was unable to climb into
the
hammock placed only 1 inch above the floor (since they've been sick). With the
medications (amoxicillin/and tetracycline), Pedialyte, and variations of DUCK
SOUP,
Bandit has put back on all the weight he had lost, his fur is shiny again and
he's as
active as ever. Kirby,however,had relapsed a little but in the past 2 days he is
eating
well again, putting on a little weight and wants to play but will climb back
into the
cage and get into his bed even if Bandit is still running around. These guys are
smarter
than people think.(Other than us ferret owners, of course! We know!) To all who
are
nursing your fuzzies thru this, be sure to continue everything (meds, liquids,
and force
the food, no matter what it is) an extra week or so after they seem OK. I found
Bandit
would only eat Gerber banana- pineapple dessert if COLD, and nothing else, until
his
stomach was healed enough to go on to moistened dry food with the dessert added.
The
whole time, Kirby got to eat everything Bandit turned down. He loved this except
for
chicken, they both HATE that. The people at the grocery store thought we had
another
baby with all the baby food we tried. Then Kirby stopped eating again and
started
grinding his teeth. The pepto-bismol worked great and now I own a whole bunck of
pink
dotted shirts. Maybe the pill form would have been better if I could have gotten
them to
swallow it. Good luck with the pepto!
Our local vet hadn't heard of ECE and he is also very impressed with the
support
system available thru the FML. He now has copies of all the medical data sent to
us by
BIG and the others who have sent me info directly (THANK YOU!!!). He said that
the
hands-on feeding info is great and he'll make it available to others who may
need it.
My daughter and I are putting together all this data along with the Frequently
Asked
Questions (FAQ) and placing them in all the pet stores in this area. Not one of
the
stores knew of ECE or any other ferret problems. I'm still trying to find out
where
people are taking the sick ferrets!
Thanks for the help and for just being there! You are a special group of
folks.
We probably would have lost both of our fellas and that would be almost too much
to
bear. Our thoughts and prayers are with those of you with sick ferrets and to
the ones
who have gone to Rainbow Bridge. Bless you all.
Bruce and the Maine gang.
[Posted in FML issue 1638]
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