Has anyone had ferrets who have had this illness?
 
"Giardia otherwise known as beaver fever, is a bacteria found in our water
supply because the river is contaminated with animal/human sewage upstream.
The organism is usually killed by the turbulence of the water as it passes
through the water pipes, but I think the cysts are more hardy.  Many home
water filter systems are specific for giardia and similar disease organisms;
some even filter out bacteria - but they do cost money.  I thinks giardia
got the name "beaver fever" because someone thought that beavers were the
original host for the parasite, but I found out yesterday that mice (and I
assume, other rodents) have their own species of giardia.  It does affect
cats, dogs, ferrets and humans, and probably other species too.  I suspect
there are more giardia in the water in runoff time because so much fecal
material gets washed into the river; however, at the same time, the
treatment plant goes into overdrive to remove the odor and the germs, so
maybe the water is actually cleaner then!  A ferret can also get this
disease if an infected animal, either an asymtomatic carrier or one that is
sick, passes through or poops in the yard - I don't know how long the cysts
live in the soil, but I don't think it has to be fresh poop that is the
source.  I know that my ferrets aren't allowed near any fresh dog or cat
poop in our yard!  All you need is for one live cyst to be ingested by the
ferret, and if the ferret has an immune problem or is under stress, the
disease will follow.  Binky had lost much of the hair on her tail and had a
crop of blackheads as well, probably from the stress of having Major move
in, so I know she has been really stressed - so of course, she was the first
to get sick.  Dora and Willow seem to be fine, but they get the Flagyl
anyway.  Sweetums and Misty have slightly runny poops, and Sweetums' is kind
of green - they've got it for sure, since they share Binky's cage.  Major is
in between - not really runny poop but not really normal either.  We were
just lucky that Dr Ness found a couple of cysts in the direct fecal smear,
because the specific test found nothing!  And this disease does take a few
days to get over - we have had Binky on Flagyl since Tuesday (3 doses) and
she is actually sicker now than she was Tuesday.  Dr Ness says that she
should be getting better by Monday next - sure hope so."
 
I'm just curious if others out there have been through this with their
ferrets and if so what was the treatment?  These ferrets belong to our
Society's president and she has been treating them with Flagyl but you know
how hard it is to get that stuff into a ferret!  If you have any suggestions
please e-mail me directly.
 
I just don't know what I'd do without the FML.  It's a comfort to know that
help is just an e-mail away.
 
Barb Gustafson (aka Boots)
Alberta Ferret Society.
[Posted in FML issue 2104]