Dear Trevor
>What is your opinion of all this?  Could Cody have contracted ECE from the
>baby ferret?
 
This is a very common scenario - young ferret exposed either at breeder or
during transport, and young ferrets have the most mild symptoms to no
symptoms at all.
 
>Does it seem to you, from all that I have described, that Cody does indeed
>have ECE?
 
Certainly sounds possible.....at this point, I would discontinue the
metronidazole and see if his stools don't firm up.
 
>Another concern of ours is that we had visited the local Animal Control to
>look at dogs the previous Saturday (9/28/96).  Although there were no
>ferrets in the shelter, we did come into contact with many dogs.  We are
>worried that we could have brought something home with us from there which
>infected Cody.
 
Very unlikely.....can't think of a single dog disease, save distemper, which
causes diarrhea routinely in ferrets - could be a hot bacterial enteritis,
but the chance of picking one up and transmitting it to Cody is fairly
astronomical...
 
>It is nerve-wracking not knowing what this is.  Is there any testing that
>can be done to determine what exactly is causing his enteritis?
 
There is currently no good test for ECE.  A stool sample and culture mayrule
out parasitic and some types of bacterial infections.  But I think that most
of that, outside the stool sample and smear, is unnecessary.  Let's go on
the assumption that we are dealing with ECE.
 
>We are also concerned that, although he is eating, he will not get the
>nutrients he needs as his digestive system is still not functioning as it
>should.  What can we do to prevent wasting?
 
Best way to do that is to take him off of his regular kibble for a while and
switch to a bland diet - Gerber's chicken baby food, Duck Soup (a bland food
made with Sustacal or Ensure, coupled with some ground-up AD - available at
your vets) - anything that is low residue and easily digested.  Remember
that in ECE, the intestinal lining is damagedand there is a marked decrease
of absorptive capacity - his regular food probably is very poorly absorbed.
A gradual return to normal food over 10d to two weeks with careful
monitoring of the consistency of the stool is in order....
 
Best regards,
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
[Posted in FML issue 1717]