>From:    "Ilena E. Ayala" <[log in to unmask]>
>So if my ferrets are sick in a few days, I'll let everyone know, if not,
>can we put this to rest?
 
As soon as I get a check for $350- from Petco, I will be glad to.
 
>From the ECE FAQ (old version, couldn't find my newer copy this am)
>The incubation period, according to Dr. Williams, is about 2 days
 
Later in the faq(the new one) it says 3-5 days, and my personal vet says
2-4 days.  Take your pick.
 
(bronxelf)
>But you didn't go straight home either.  You posted that you hit the vets
>on the way home.  However, when I questioned this as a possible infection
>source, you stated (privately) that:
>>my vet's receptionist has 17 ferrets, some of them elderly.  I called
>>immediately to make sure that *her* ferrets had not gotten ill.  Nope.
>>They were all healthy.
 
That tends to support the theory that it *wasn't* picked up at the vets
office.  unless...
 
>Well, I'm going to play devils advocate here.  If you want to go with the
>'silent carrier' theory I can speculate on a few other possibilities.
>a) the vets receptionist has ferrets which are silent carriers.
>(seems very unlikely, but it's possibile)
 
Actually, it isn't.  Even if some were silent carriers, then at *some* point
the *rest* of her 17 ferrets would have become sick.  None of them have ever
had ECE.  Not now, or at any time in the past.
 
>You picked it up from the visit to the vets office, from or in spite of
>them, but they were unaffected by your visit.
 
Unlikely, given the fact that Pat is there every single day.  At some
point, some of her ferrets would have picked it up, if it were in the
office, wouldnt you think?
 
I want to clear up something about the vet.  My vet *never* handled the
kit.  He never took the kit in the back where other animals are being kept.
He did nothing except see the kit and comment on how *young* he was.  He
never examined him.  He was very busy that day.
 
>b) your two existing ferrets were silent carriers and the stress of having
>the newkit in the house made them go active.  *They* infected it, not the
>other way around.
 
*LOL* I'd LOVE to believe that, Ilena, because then Petco would *really* be
screwed.  I bought *Justin* at that very same Petco.  But here is the
interesting thing.  When I got Justin, Rikki was still here.  (for those not
in the know, Rikki disappeared at the end of February and was never found).
No one got sick then.  And Rikki was four years old and was being evaluated
for a possible insulinoma.  If anyone would have gotten sick in that case,
it would have been Rikki.  And this didn't happen.  None of this happened
until Niko came here.
 
>It seems to be most likely that the kit was exposed at or near the time you
>got it.  If the incubation period is 2-4 days as you stated, (I'm not sure
>how much leeway there is in 'about 2 days').  It is certainly logical to
>think it may have been incubating when you got it.  But then why aren't
>they getting other customers calling them?
 
This all depends on where those kits went.  If they went to new ferret
owners, they may not even have noticed anything wrong, and in kits, we both
know that the symptoms are light, even masked.  the real trouble comes when
the ferrets go into a home with older ferrets.  That's when the problem
starts.
 
Btw, what did you determine from the photos(I sent Ilena 2 photos of Niko.
Admittedly one is a little blurry, but you can make out the shape of his
face and all, and the other was taken a day or two before I sent it.  I was
wondering how old she thought Niko was in both photos.)?
 
Ilena, I am not trying to "just screw Petco".  I like that particular store.
But I am *still* sitting here on $350- of vet bills that I trace back to
them.  That's all I'm looking for here.  Just Kender's vet bills.  Not a
penny more.
 
But not a penny less, either.
 
thanks for the info though, and I genuinely hope your ferrets stay healthy.
 
elf.
bronxelf
Dominatrix at Arms and Guild Hall Lieutenant of the Renaissance Mercenaries
Guild.
A.F.R.  Goddess of Steel
http://www.i-2000.com/corwin/axi
"To err is human, to forgive is not our policy."    --Anonymous
"I believe pregnancy is a Sexually Transmitted Disease"- Me.
 
"I think I need my own satellite."-"Speaker of the Rock the House",
Chucklehead
 
The creativity of an elf knows no bounds.
[Posted in FML issue 2265]