We had a scare this weekend.  Saturday night at around 9:30 Rikki started
bleeding.  Red watery blood.  I watched her closely and the next time (about
45 minutes later) she did the same thing so I started ulcer therapy and
supportive care.  Sunday morning after a full night of supportive care and
meds I could wait no longer and called the vet.
 
Larry said the bright red color meant possible intestinal bleeding and the
tarry color was ulcer.  By that time I was seeing tarry and no more watery
red.  The pepto and carafate every four hours (not at the same time),
feedings every 2 hours and the twice a day amoxi seems to have worked to
stop the bleeding.
 
When I took her to the vet on Monday (after numerous calls to the vet on
Sunday - he said to use my judgement and if she needed him to call and he'd
meet me at the clinic no matter what time.  Bless his heart he even called
me on his own to check on her.) Larry said she didn't look near as bad as he
imagined from my description.  He checked her for anemia and she was low at
17-18% (norm is 30-40) but not critical (12% or lower) so we opted not to
transfuse.  She was eating very well (20-35 cc's every 2 hours) and her
stools were formed but contained clotted blood.  Larry gave her a Vit K
injection (Lynda suggested the injection and Lynda is taking Rikki to work
each day this week so she'll get her meds and feedings and have someone with
her all day - such an Angel Lynda is- I pick Rikki up each evening and keep
her on the 2 hour feedings evenings and throughout the night then take her
to Lynda each morning).  Her stool this morning was a normal color so I
think all the bleeding has stopped and the wasted blood has passed.  She is
tired, her gums are very pale but she is alert and eating well.  Hopefully
the 24 hour/7-14 day supportive care will bring her strength back soon, I
keep telling her she'll feel much better in a week.  Saturday night I had to
force her to eat, drink take meds.  She had given up, she was so very tired
and I was so frightened I'd loose her.  Thank God she's still with us.
 
Poor Rikki has not been right since ECE.  I have several others that
are also not doing well.  I can't stress enough not to expose ferrets
to ECE if there is another option.  To look at our group they look
beautiful, bright eyes-shiny thick soft coats-good weight but...
They just aren't well.  I can tell by looking at them.  Sometimes the
sparkle isn't in their eyes, other times they just lay around looking
so tired...
 
The ferret flu that Mrs Duck is talking about sounds like ECE.  Did it occur
a couple days after introducing a new ferret that wasn't showing symptoms?
Either way the treatment is the same.  Intensive supportive care.
 
Not all ECE victims have florescent stools.  Only a few in our group did.
Not all of ours vomited.  The damage that was done on the inside can't be
seen by our eyes.  And if the ferret has other medical problems that we are
not aware of at the time - the damage can be tremendous.
 
Mookie is just 15 months old.  There is something wrong with him and we
haven't been able to target the problem.  That isn't for lack of trying or
treatments either.  Several (includes Mookie) in our group have an
overgrowth of Clostridium, perhaps due to the damage to the intestinal tract
from ECE not allowing food to digest properly.  I've added good bacteria to
their diet in the form of Buttermilk, L.  Acidophilus, and other natural
flora.  We are treating them with Chloramphenicol (doesn't kill the bacteria
only tries to keep it in check- hopefully till we can replenish the good
bacteria).  And I pray.
 
Because of all the problems we've had I've elected to adopt only to ECE well
informed, medical and supportive care appropriate homes.  With ECE being so
new in our area, that is highly unlikely.  Not only are the people
uninformed but so are the vets.  WE can't even get the KS Veterinary
Association to print an article written by our vet on ECE.
 
The medical costs are overwhelming on ECE ferrets and it wouldn't be fair to
the adoptive parents to push that burden upon them, and, they may not notice
the small signs indicating illness in these ECE infected ferrets, signs that
if missed could become critical.  Or infect others that could become
critically ill or may be already ill.  It is our responsibility to ensure
that doesn't happen.  If we cannot do that, then we do not deserve to work
with ferrets.
 
As a ferret guardian our responsibility doesn't end with an adoption - it
goes on with the ferrets forever.....
 
And as for this guardian, I want the ferrets to be well, to play without
getting tired so quickly, to not have occasional diarrhea or vomiting, to
not be so lethargic and will do everything in my power to reach that goal.
 
Hugs. tle
[Posted in FML issue 1829]