I noticed this commented on about some ferrets in Utah, and thought I
would post, as a comparison...I have/had two ferrets diagnosed with IBD.
One, she was 6 and also had insolinoma (in fact through her insolinoma
surgery she was diagnosed with IBD), she was pretty bad off as far as the
IBD goes, she went on immuram but died after 10 months (NOT
insolinoma-related).  The other, he was 5 1/2 when he was diagnosed, he
had had adrenal surgery and a GI biopsy.  His case was milder, he went on
immuram (and later octagol b/c of liver hepatitis), and has been on these
meds for almost 3 years.  He is so much healthier and happier than my
first, he has shown no sign of muscle wasting, his energy level has not
decreased, he continues to eat/drink/poop/play, in fact I am beginning to
suspect he is slowly being transformed into a SuperFerret.  He is now 7
1/4 years old.
 
Anyway, these two would qualify as case studies, but it appeared that
early detection in Mr. SuperFerret (his real name is Linus) greatly
improved his quality of life.  My older ferret (she was a year older than
Linus, her name was Zooey), did not benefit from early detection.  In
fact, once I knew what was wrong with her, I just knew it had been
bothering her for years.  None of the other vets ever had a clue.  She
was always the one most bothered by stress, even though half the time she
seemed to be enjoying it (such as moving, she loved to explore the
various boxes, etc.).  She was always the one who needed some form of
antibiotic to help her get over diahrrea.  IN FACT, since she was my
first ferret, I just thought all ferrets needed that help, because she
did.  And none of my previous vets ever knew what else was wrong with
her, so they never suggested perhaps my treating all the ferrets like her
was over-treating them because she was actually sick.  Anyway, it took
'til she was 6 years old and showing clear signs of an already
established ferret disease, insolinoma, before i could get her to a vet
that was researching IBD and recognized the signs.  It isn't that widely
known, but in my two cases, it was clearly a disease that needed
treatment.  Zooey wasted away her last year, the medications came too
late for her.
 
Sorry I didn't mean for that to be so long, but basically wanted to
reaffirm what the post from Utah was saying...IBD is a serious disease
that should be "laughed" off as a "fad".
 
Minta 7 the ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 3886]