Dr. K -
What do we do on carpets and floors if bleach doesn't kill the spores and
our ferrets have an accident?
 
Here's some info on Coccidia -
 
Coccidia are single-celled parasites that belong to a family of organisms
known as Protozoa.
 
After going through several stages, oocysts break out of the epithelial
lining of the gut and pass out in the feces of the infected animal. Each
stage of development of coccidia within the animal causes physical damage.
 
Certain coccidia may cause severe illness and even death before any
oocysts have been produced. Consequently, failure to find oocysts in feces
in a diarrhea disease does not necessarily mean the disease is not
coccidiosis.
 
Oocysts deposited in the environment must undergo additional development
before they are infective.  When the environment has adequate moisture,
oxygen and temperature, the development of the infective stage (the
sporulated oocyst) can occur in 24 to 48 hours.  The sporulated oocyst can
remain infective in the environment for prolonged periods of time, usually
2 to 3 months.  Under certain conditions, they can remain viable for a year
or more.
 
Typical signs of coccidiosis are diarrhea, rough coat, loss of appetite
and weight, and general emaciation. In more severe cases the stools may
contain blood, mucus, and stringy masses of tissue. This occurs because
the destruction of the epithelial cells results in the sloughing of the
epithelium lining the intestine.
 
Recommended treatment is Albon.
 
Surgeries -
Bud has his right adrenal debulked for the second time and his blood
glucose was low at 57.  Klondike had his spleen, a growth and left adrenal
removed and many nodules on his pancreas.  Rikki had his left adrenal
removed and blood glucosse was fine.  All are resting comfortably.
 
I do have a question for vets on the list.  If you go in for adrenal
surgery and find other problems, do you charge per organ that you remove?
I was a bit surprised to find an extra charge for the spleen removal and
another for the adrenal removal on Klondike.  Not a nominal charge but a
charge that would normally include opening and closing for that specific
surgery.  I could understand a nominal charge but this was more than
expected.  Our vet doesn't give us a discount so that can't be the reason.
 
Hugs to all. tle
[Posted in FML issue 2415]