Tony and Donna,
>diarrhea last Wed, stopped eating and drinking Vet said bacterial colitis
>and treated with smz-tmp 0.5cc BID and 300cc SQ fluids BID Getting worse,
>now 103.8 fever and lost 0.5 lb.  (now weighs 0.8cc)
 
There are several diseases that could cause these symptoms:
1)ECE (Green Diarrhea)-This is a viral infection that is very contagious and
can cause severe diarrhea, dehydration, loss of appetite.  Usually there is
a history of recent exposure to other ferrets (via show or "ferret party",
etc.).  This is usually not fatal unless complicated by another disease
process.  It can cause permenant damage to the intestional tract which would
make the patient more susceptible to other diseases and diarrhea in the
future.  The treatment is suportive care with SQ fluids, Duck soup (or
another well balanced diet), amoxicillin.  It can take man weeks for ferrets
to recover depending upon their physical state prior to illness.  I hope
300ml SQ fluids you mentioned was a type-O--- that much would be fatal to a
0.8lb ferret.
 
2)Proliferative Colitis--This is a form of colitis that is fairly common in
ferrets and causes poor appetite, wt.loss,diarrhea.  The treatment consists
of chloramphenicol (an antibiotic) for 3 weeks.  In some resistant cases
ORAL gentocin can be curative.
 
3)Foreign Body---This is a common cause of poor appetite,wt.  loss, and
diarrhea (if its a partial obstruction).  The diagnosis is made by X-rays or
barium series.  The treatment is by surgical removal before the ferret is
too debilatated to undergo surgery.
 
4)Inflamatory Bowel Disease (Eosinphilic Gastritis, Lymphoplasmocytic
enteritis)--This can cause poor appetite, wt. loss, diarrhea.  Treatment is
with steroids and/or ivermectin.
 
5) GI Lymphosarcoma--can cause poor appetite, wt.  loss, diarrhea, enlarged
lymph nodes.  Diagnosis is with biopsy and the prognosis is guarded.
 
There are many things that can cause these symptoms in ferrets.  It sounds
like your ferret has lost almost 1/2 his body weight.  This combined with
the high fever make this a potentially life threatning illness.  It does not
sound like he is responding to treatment.
 
I would recommend bloodwork, Xrays and syringing feeding to keep up his
strength ASAP.
 
Good Luck
Dr Weiss
301-299-4142
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[Posted in FML issue 1354]