Greetings to all.  Normally I'm just a lurker here on the FML, but since I'm
heading into my 4th (and hopefully last) week of dealing with the dreaded
ECE I thought I'd share my experience with everyone.
 
Nearly a month ago, we added a new, healthy looking (then and now) baby (a
10 week old MF male) to our gang of 4.  We bought him at a local pet store,
and we're 99% sure that he was the one who brought it into the household.
2-3 days after we brought him home, we noticed the first signs of a problem
with Tazi, our 17 month old female.  She had the green diarrhea, was acting
very lethargic, and didn't want to eat or drink.  I knew right off we were
probably dealing with ECE.  We started hydrating her with Pedialyte right
away, and took her to the vet.  He didn't know a whole lot about ECE, but he
said we were right to keep her hydrated, and he prescribed Amoxicillin for
her to ward off any infections.
 
Tazi was down with it for maybe 3-4 days, and is now pretty much back to
normal.  A little skinny, but acting like her old self and eating again.
Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.  A day or two after Tazi showed
her first symptoms, Molly (4 years old) and Tootsie (at least 6) showed
theirs.  We started them on the Pedialyte and Amoxicillin, and Molly seemed
to improve within 3-4 days.  Tootsie, however, looked awful.  She was losing
weight pretty rapidly, and was getting weaker every day.
 
I remembered the recipe for Lucky Duck soup that I had written down some
time ago, and decided to try it.  We started her on it on a Friday, and by
Sunday there was a world of difference.  She pepped up considerably, and
after a week gained quite a bit of the weight back.  The woman who takes
care of the sick ferrets at our local shelter also recommended a half tablet
of Immodium per day, and that was a big help as well.  Tootsie's bout with
it lasted about a week and a half, and I'm convinced the Lucky Duck soup
really helped bring her back.
 
Molly, unfortunately, did not continue to improve.  She ended up getting the
worst case of it of all my ferrets.  She would do nothing but sleep for 3
weeks, and when we went to wake her up it seemed like forever until she'd
come to.  We started her on the Lucky Duck soup along with the Pedialyte,
but she wanted nothing to do with it.  She'd resist with what little
strength she had when we fed her, so feedings always took a long time in
order for us to get enough into her.  (We also had the vet inject fluids
under the skin since she was never quite hydrated enough.) Our other two
weren't eating on their own when they were down with it, but at least they
didn't resist the feedings like Molly.
 
Worse of all, she started grinding her teeth.  The woman at the ferret
shelter explained to us that she was probably doing this because of being
nauseated (which explained why she was so resistant to food), and possibly
developing stomach or mouth ulcers, which can sometimes go along with this
disease.  We started her on Pepto Bismol as well for this, which seemed to
help.  The grinding was limited to feeding times after that.
 
We continued the Pedialyte, Lucky Duck soup, Pepto, Immodium, Amoxicillin
routine, and after 2 weeks I was beginning to wonder if she was going to
make it.  She was still lethargic, showed no interest in eating (not even
her favorite treat, watermelon), and was just skin and bones at 14 ounces.
Even the vet found her weight troubling.  (At her heaviest, she weighed 1
lb.  12 oz.) During this time, she tried one time to eat her food, but after
one piece she gave up.  It either hurt too much, or made her sick to do it.
On the few occasions when she did walk (usually just to go potty), she was
so weak she was falling over.
 
During the 3rd week, I read about a drug used along with the Pepto and
Amoxicillin to treat ulcers (metronidazole).  We mentioned it to the vet,
and after looking into it he thought it was a good thing to try.  The
feedings also seemed to finally be doing some good at this time, as Molly
gained a few ounces.
 
I'm happy to report that as of 3 days ago, things seem to be turning around.
Molly is *much* more alert, her stools have firmed up some, and best of all,
she's eating on her own!  I nearly fell over when I saw her at her food
dish, munching away.  I can't remember the last time I was so happy.  She
played for a few minutes today, also, going through the tubes we have for
them to play in.  And she wolfed down the watermelon we gave her for a
treat.
 
We're still giving her (and Tootsie and Tazi) the soup and Pedialyte, to
help get her weight up and keep her hydrated.  And she's still sleeping
quite a bit, but we're not expecting things to change overnight.  I don't
know if the metronidazole is what did the trick, or if the improvement just
came with time, care and patience, but I'm just happy it looks like she's
going to be OK after all.  We've been very, very worried about her.
 
I just wanted to thank everyone on the FML who has shared with us their
knowledge and experience with this virus.  I'm quite sure that if it
hadn't been for the information I've read here, I wouldn't have had a
clue what I was dealing with or what to do.  My family, and my "babies"
thank you all.
 
If anyone has any advice on how to continue the recovery process, or on what
to do if, heaven forbid, we experience any relapses, I'd appreciate it.  I'm
not sure if everything we did was right, and any new or corrective
information would come in handy if the ECE rears it's ugly head again.
 
Incidentally, our youngest ferret (Zoey, a year this month) never showed any
symptoms.  She came from the same pet store last September, and we thought
that maybe she'd already been exposed, but then wouldn't she have given it
to the others when she arrived here?  Or, do some of the younger ferrets get
such a mild case that you wouldn't even know they have it?
 
--
Lynn-Anne Friese
mixcom!ccwwcc%uunet.uu.net
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[Posted in FML issue 1635]