Hi Everybody....  but especially Doc. W...
 
For months now I have been archiving the posts concerning various
gastro-intestinal tract conditions..  ECE..  Helicobacter... in particular..
but other posts have also appeared with symptoms that are only partially
like the ones for these two diseases..  I have the FAQ's [recently added the
Helicobacter one] and a few articles on other forms of gastritis ... but
until recently had no way to sit down and really compare all the clinical
signs of each disease with those of other diseases such as Proliferative
Bowel Disease and get a true idea of how each occurs and what individual
clinical signs each evidences..
 
There is a new book that will not be out till '97..  that has all of the
diseases of the digestive system in one large chapter..  and gives all the
clinical signs, tests, meds., and other treatments..  but most importantly
it spells out how these conditions can and do go from one of them appearing
to having three or more to deal with..  and why treating one will not cure
an infected ferret as one might expect it to..
 
the book is: 'Ferrets, Rabbits and Rodents' Clinical Medicine and Surgery it
is by Elizabeth V.  Hillyer DVM [Oldwick, New Jersey] and Katherine E.
Quesenberry DVM [The Animal Center, New York, N.  Y.] Publisher: W.B.
Saunders Company [a division of Harcourt Brace & Company, The Curtis Center,
Independence Square West, Philadelphia, Penn.  19106.
 
Now let's say your fuzzy gets ECE..[ God forbid..  but just as an example]..
this virus is very stressful and inflames the whole digestive tract and is
known for it's ability to cause rapid wt.  loss and dehydration and is
recognisable from the bright green colour of the feces and the mucus so
often seen in the stools.
 
It is known that the Helicobacter Mustelea bacteria is very nearly
universally found in ferrets today [altho it seems to stay fairly dormant
unless something triggers it to proliferate] and we see similar rapid wt.
loss with dehydration etc.  here as well, altho there may also be vomiting
attendant..  and the stools are generally black and tarry..
 
then there is PBD [Proliferative Bowel Disease]..  again there is weight
loss, dehydration..  but this time there is only sometimes a stool with the
bright green mucus, and there may also be just mucus alone and it may be
light green to bright yellow..
 
all three diseases show lethargy, and while one may see immediate refusal to
eat at all... another may see the fuzzy still eating anywhere from normally
to tapering off ... altho all eventually call for syringe feeding of high
power semi liquid foods...
 
ECE can easily produce the physical stress necessary to trigger helicobacter
to become virulent..  and I have seen posts with the 'sometimes bright green
slimy stools' from as ferret that has no way of having contacted ECE..  this
would indicate perhaps PBD is the cause of the wt.  loss etc.  and PBD also
can trigger helicobacter to become active..
 
The hitch is that what cures the ECE ferret..  [the ferret does it, we just
support him while his body developes the antibody to destroy the virus..
and the antibiotic keeps any other side infections from getting going adding
complications that can kill the ECE ill fuzzy easily] won't touch
Helicobacter..  and what does it for ECE and Helicobacter won't help with
PBD..  and what works for PBD won't touch the other two and so on and so
on..
 
Is is possible that what is happening to poor Kelleen and her shelter kids
is that the ECE has been taken care of..  and what she now is seeing is
PBD..  green mucusy stools, and the wt.  loss and so on that won't back off
?..  a result of the ECE... which brought on the Helicobacter..[which may
also still be very active unless she has had them all on the Flaygl course
for 4-6 weeks as well as the Amoxi to control side infections with the ECE
treatments] and also has been treating with Chloramphenicol for the PBD...
with one setting off the other... a ferret that starts with ECE and/or
Helicobacter may rapidly develop PBD as well..
 
This new book recommends that any gastritis treatment be accompanied by the
full course for Helicobacter and be done concurrently..
 
Isn't it the best course to go after both these diseases at the same time
with the odds so very high that both are virulently active at the same time?
and Isn't is very possible that the seeming relapse of an ECE 'cured' ferret
that begins to have the bright green mucus in the stools again etc.  is
really a case of PBD that is now having its 'day' with the fuzzy..???
 
Since ECE and Helicobacter both are very destructive to the mucosal
structure and the cilia lining the digestive tract and Helicobacter can and
often does lead to ulcerations [most usually in the pyloric region] , isn't
it reasonable to be presumptive of developing PBD?  Altho PBD is from
another 'bug' entirely [a Camphylobacter-like organism known as
Desulfovibrio species with a ribonucleic acid sequence most closely related
to that of D. disulfuricans] that is an intracellular organism ...
 
Whether one starts with ECE..  or Helicobacter... [ECE from contact with the
virus..  or Helicobacter from stress, changed diet, or whatever..  and
knowing that PBD also can trigger Helicobacter to go active and
proliferate..  Is it advisable to treat ECE and Helicobacter and PBD
concurrently for the full several weeks necessary to be completely sure
these are all completely eliminated from the ferrets digestive system?
 
Since each one has the potential to kill a fuzzy..  and curing one while
letting another continue it's equally [or worse] destructive pattern in the
intestinal tract..  and knowing there is a high probability that if there is
one there is another or even both of the other diseases active... Isn't
concurrent treatment for all the diseases going to be the safest, best, and
most economical approach right from the beginning??
 
I would appreciate the opinions and comments of the vets on the fml
concerning this issue... If what I have deduced from the posts, the
veterinary texts, and the ongoing clinical pictures I have had experience
with here, do, in fact, add up to something significant where our little
ones are concerned I hope some sort of FAQ or opinion statement can be put
together to get out to shelters and vets.
 
I am no vet.  just a fuzzy lover and gatherer of bits and pieces of data...
but everything I have collated points directly to a 'domino effect'
happening concerning these three diseases.......
 
thank you for your attention and consideration...
 
 dayna
 
 "Resident of... Marvelous Menagerie Of Mirthful Mayhem"
 dayna frazier  102046,3162  02-Nov-1996  23:41:19 PST
[Posted in FML issue 1742]