Dear ferret people,
 
Can ferrets get ECE twice?  Why did I think they developed immunity after
having it once?
 
Last winter my 2 ferrets had ECE bad - they became ill a couple days
after i played with some cute babies at the pet store.  It was a totally
nervewracking couple of months, with an initial crisis during a blizzard,
and forcing food, and subcutaneous fluids, and weak scrawny little
creatures, and of course the well known disgusting diarrhea - and a lot
of patience and good advice from you all... We survived, and a few months
later they were feeling fine, and this fall they got nice and plump.
Just about a year from when they got sick, we adopted a new ferret from
a shelter (what a character - but that's another post) - and altho we
were a little nervous about it, no one got ill.
 
We live in a ferret-poor area, but a while ago i met someone thru the FML
who lives nearby.  I met her ferrets, and they were healthy and perky and
as far as she knew had never had ECE, and she met mine, and it was a year
since they'd had ECE, and we decided to get them together to play, as a
prelude to maybe being able to pet-sit for each other.  And they had a
great time.
 
But 2 days later, my ferrets got sick.  they didn't have it nearly as
severely - they're almost totally recovered already - but i'm pretty
sure it was ece, because the symptoms were mostly the same (the odor and
texture of the poops, the unwillingness to eat, the malaise) - although
the poops were only a little bit green this time.
 
So what should I think?  Could they have gotten something else with
gelatinous stinky poops and depressed apetite?  The ferrets they played
with had been boarded at a shelter or breeder at some point, could they
carry ECE without getting ill?  Can I ever let mine be around other
ferrets?  My first 2 are getting on in years, and i don't think one of
them could survive if they got as sick again as they were a year ago...
or do the symptoms get milder each time?
 
I'd be curious to hear what folks think.
 
Thanks, and happy ferreting
 
---shen
[Posted in FML issue 3706]