Hello everyone.  I took our tiny little Bumblebee (2 years old) to the vet
on Wednesday because she had been suffering from diarrhea and weight loss.
I was shocked when the first thing Dr. Kim did was pry open her mouth and
show me a pale pink sore on her palate.  He suspects this is the "mystery
virus" and said we were lucky to catch it at such an early stage.
 
He prescribed Chloramphenicol and gave us a tube of Bene-Bac as well.  He
also checked her glucose level and said it was fine.  We have another
appointment next Wednesday but in the meantime I had some questions I
thought you folks might help me out with.
 
1) How do you get a ferret to eat Duck Soup?
I made two recipies from a web site
(www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/5410/DuckSoup.html),
one with kibble, one without.  The two chunky ferrets slurped it up but
the two who have been losing weight had no interest whatsoever.
 
2) If I can't get them to eat Duck Soup, is Nutri-Cal ok instead?  Also, is
there a big difference between Nutri-Cal and Ferretvite?  The store was out
of Nutri-Cal so we bought Ferretvite instead; only problem is, no one will
eat it.
 
3) Is it okay to warm up Pedialyte?  None of them will drink anything cold.
Also, how long will it stay good in a water bottle?
 
4) Should I continue to give hairball remover to Bumblebee even though she
has had diarrhea (sometimes it's solid, sometimes not)?
 
5) The last ingredient in Bene-Bac is "ethoxyquin."  Gary Holowicki's web
site mentions this preservative as the culprit in a particular cat food
that can cause toxic build-up.  Is Bene-Bac safe to use?
 
6) If this "mystery illness" is actually a particularly deadly strain of
Coccidea wouldn't all the ferrets in the household end up with severe
diarrhea?
 
Bumblebee's symptoms are relatively mild, she is eating hard food on her
own (but is still at low weight, 1lb.  6 ounces -- her lowest since she was
12 weeks old), and except for some extra sleepiness is as active as ever.
 
Of the other three, my male Kili is the only other one who has lost any
weight (he slipped from biggest to second biggest ferret -- 2lbs. 6 ounces)
and all four have suffered from at least one or two incidents of diarrhea
and/or dark green, grainy, or watery stool.
 
I have already contacted Sukie Crandall who has been collecting information
on the "mystery virus" but if anyone else has any information on what this
could be or answers to my questions, please feel free to post or email me
privately.
 
I haven't had to deal with a sick ferret before (my mom took care of my
first ferret Tasslehoff when she was diagnosed with adrenal) but I've
already picked up a few tips: 1) Never try to administer medication while
wearing your good sweater, 2) Keep a dictionary handy in case you have to
spell the word "diarrhea", 3) If you can't handle the sight of blood, leave
the exam room when the vet gets the blood sample.  I was so embarrassed
'cause I almost passed out.  :-)
 
-mel
[Posted in FML issue 2478]