If you have had ECE then you are EVIL!  I am sorry but I am getting sick of
this idea.  Given, I might be dramatizing it a little bit BUT the belief is
still, none the less, out there.  If this feeling was only directed at
humans then I could blow it off but this belief could cause a ferret to lose
their life.  Let me explain.
 
Once you have "admitted" to having ferrets with ECE then some people brand
you with "the scarlet letter".  You are evil and are to be avoided AT ALL
COSTS!  I admit to having felt this from some.  There were people, here on
the FML, who I thought of as "ferret friends" that cut off all communication
as soon as they found out that I had ECE.  I don't know if they thought you
might be able to get ECE through an E-Mail or what.  They probably were
afraid that I might want to come and actually visit them.  But I am now
EVIL and MUST be avoided!  I have written to people about ferret gatherings
and the like and I almost NEVER get a response.  What I wish they would
understand is that I would NEVER knowingly expose a ferret to ECE.  There
ARE steps that can be taken to greatly minimize the spread of ECE.  The nice
thing about all of this is that this attitude is not wide spread.  I have
had a lot of people ask me to stop and visit when I am in the area.  For
this, I am very grateful.  The one thing that I ALWAYS do when meeting
someone for the first time is to make ABSOLUTELY sure that they know that
my kids are ECE positive.  I would not wish ECE on anyone.  Because of this
"casting out" that can occur, I understand why people would fight to the
death to show that their ferrets did not have ECE.  No one wants to have
their ferrets or themselves rejected.
 
This other concept about "all that is green is not ECE" also really bothers
me (this IS NOT directed at anyone!  It's just a general statement!) Since
people have "demonized" ECE, I am afraid that people will go out of the way
to "prove" that their ferret doesn't have ECE even if that means the death
or at least unnecessary suffering of their ferret.  My kids HAVE had ECE.
If you want to dispute that then I will be happy to put you in touch with
my vet (who, by the way, traveled to the small animal veterinary conference
in Orlando, FL last year to give a key note speech on ECE).  He has the
credentials to back up the fact that he DOES know what he is talking about.
As ECE will do, it affected all three of my ferrets.  If you took the effect
of ECE on Doris you would swear that she definitely did NOT have ECE.  She
only showed two stools that looked at all like ECE.  She never did show real
signs of sickness but she DID have ECE.  ECE is not always a major deal.
In fact, if the ferrets are healthy and young, it is possible that you may
not even know that they have been exposed to ECE.  Since Buddy was in poor
health when ECE struck, it took him about 2 weeks of hand feeding and only
one trip to the vet for fluids given subcutaneously.  Sammy was both in
terrible health and old when the ECE virus hit, that is why he has had such
a hard time with it.  My point is that just because you only see one or two
stools of green is NOT proof that you haven't been visited by ECE.  On the
other hand it is also NOT proof that you have.  Since, to my knowledge, we
are still lacking a test which will identify ECE, there is no way to prove
that a short bout of ECE was or was not the cause.
 
I guess my whole point is that we should put our personal prejudice aside
and treat "anything that is green" as ECE until you know different.  To
explain why I feel we should treat it as ECE, let me state the very basics
of treating a suspected case of ECE.  The basic steps are: 1.  Make sure the
ferret stays hydrated.  2.  Make sure the ferret is eating.  3.  Take the
ferret to a vet as soon as possible for tests to make sure that it isn't
something else.  Things you do to remedy the first two are: give lots of
fluid (Pedialyte, etc.) by tube if necessary, and feed a food formula (duck
soup, Hill's A/D, etc) by tube if necessary.  Unless there is something out
there that I am not aware of, taking these steps will help no matter what
the illness is.  Just please remember, if it is severe case of ECE your
beloved ferret may be dead within 24 hours if not treated.
 
So instead of arguing what is or what isn't ECE, why don't we treat our
ferrets as if it is, just to make sure that they all have a happy and
healthy life.  Then once that magical day appears when someone invents a
test for ECE we can know immediately what we are dealing with.
 
Jason, Sammy, Doris, and Buddy
ICQ # 7528859 (Sammy's Dad)
ICQ - www.icq.com
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2326]