>If you had had read correctly what I had written, you would have noticed
>I stated I AM NOT a Vet.
I was questioning your vet's seemingly hasty declaration of ECE and what I
had interpreted from the post as a TREATMENT for ECE, not secondary
infection.
>Let me please pass on more information, such as the research which has
>been done regarding ECE.......
Thank you. This is good information that I hope everyone read. I don't
have my original post in front of me, but I don't see that it's all that
different (granted it's much more complete as one would expect from THE
ferret vet) from my response.
>Symptoms include vomiting and passage of dark green stool with abundant
>mucus.
Now I won't disagree with this, but I've seen ECE poop described via a
plethora of color indicators. The most common I've seen is neon green; I've
seen everything from grass-green to olive-green to forest-green to bright
yellow-green diarrhea that has NOT been ECE. Color evaluation is also a
highly subjective tool for diagnosis: what one calls 'dark green' another
could call 'bright green' and so on. This is why I say color is a poor
means of diagnosing any pathogen.
>ECE, also known as "green slime" because it resembles the child's toy,
>"Green Slime". It is diagnosed by observation and elimination.
>When the fecal exam performed rules out the possibility of parasites or
>some other bacteria, the visual diagnosis leaves ECE a possibility.
Yes, a possibility. The point, which I guess I failed to make, what that I
don't know a a test FOR ECE. You can't prove for A by eliminating other
choices (B, C, D, E, etc.). As far as I knew, it generally takes a few
weeks to diagnose ECE since one must first rule out all other pathogens.
This is not to say that the vet visits are useless. In any such case a vet
is often what stands between your ferret's life and death. I have NEVER
advocated a 'wait-and-see' approach and I apologize to anyone who took my
remarks in that regard.
>Stress can cause ferrets to have "green poop". I have been blessed not to
>have my kids stressed to the point where it disrupts their tummies. I
>I am not discounting your experience, I am just stating I have not had
>my ferrets that stressed. I guess I am lucky.
We have a few that get 'green poo' fairly easily so I've seen (and smelled)
a lot of what can come from the 'posterior station' of these guys. I never
intended to discount your experience either. Someone pointed out to me via
email that there seems to be a bizarre increasing trend of people who see
ECE as a sort of Purple Heart of owning ferrets and WANT to have ECE, or at
least refer to what they've been through as ECE. I'm not trying to deny the
severity of ECE or tick off the entire FML by being cavalier toward this
issue. I think many people don't realize the virulence of ECE and
consequently any nasty green-poop disease becomes ECE. Regardless: go to
the vet.
>Flagile may also be given to help sooth the bowel. I believe this is the
>name of the second medication the Vet. instructed me to give my ferret
>when they were sick last March.
In humans Flagyl causes diarrhea and stomach cramping. It's used to kill
intestinal protozoan parasites and may be carcinogenic. I can't imagine
that's it's drastically different in ferrets, but I'm not a vet
>Now, for the lysol thing...
>I carried the cage downstairs to the drive and scrubbed it using very
>hot water and a cap full of LIQUID (read:> liquid not aerosol) lysol.
Sorry, that's my goof. The stuff in the can IS a liquid and, when applied
as they state, it IS a liquid on the surface. Sounds like whatever was
previously living in the cage didn't have a chance...poor parasites! :)
>Before I go let me state if you find the need and/or disire to correct
>someone, please do it with less of a heavy hand. You produced some
>hissing from this ferret mother due to the tone of your condescending
>response.
>[log in to unmask]
I really didn't mean to offend (yet I seem to have a pretty good track
record of doing so). There are a just a few hot topics that spring up from
time to time around here (and on apf) that for some reason I just can't sit
in lurk-mode. I try not make anything personal since I doubt there are ANY
bad people on the FML who deserve vicious attacks. For those of you ready
and willing to torch me up, wait a day and see if you still feel the same
way. I generally do on any 'hot' topic just to TRY to keep my foot out of
my mouth (doesn't always work, but it keeps my posing level down...:) ).
-Erin...
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Mr. Erin M. Ennis | Any sufficiently convoluted argument can
eennis(at)zoo,uvm,edu | be made to appear to be science as the
Water Resources Major, | layman equates incomprehensibility with
Biology Minor | science. -Unknown
Uni. of Vermont |
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[Posted in FML issue 2321]
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