>From: Brad Logan <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Green Slime (reply to Jack Lechelt)
>One of my boys had green slime for several days, and I took him to a
>vet(not his usual she was on vacation). He started treating him for ECE.
>After almost 2 weeks of treating him for ECE and giving him supportive
>care he wasn't getting any better, so I took him to his regular vet.  It
>turned out he had a single cell parasite called jardia(not sure of the
>spelling).  After 2 weeks of treatment he is perfectly healthy again.
>The vet said green slime isn't necessarily ECE, and ECE isn't quite as
>prevelent as it once was, so you may want to take him to the vet to have
>them check for other parasites...
 
Hi,
 
I know a little something about the giardia parasite - I've done some
hiking, and hikers have to guard against these little buggers.
 
They can be found in unfiltered water, even water that appears to be
perfectly clean, such as mountain streams, lakes, and so forth.  Hikers
who need to drink water from such places can use various filters and/or
chemical agents to guard against giardia.  I would NOT recommend using any
chemical agent in water to be drunk by ferrets as I have no idea whether it
would harm them or not (I am a layman and don't pretend to be an expert on
these substances).
 
Giardia gives humans the same symptoms as ferrets.  It's no fun to have
them.  I had no idea that ferrets could be victimized by them until now,
but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, what with all the other
human-affecting diseases and such that they can get.  Guess we just gotta
treat them like little people (like we don't already! :) ).
 
By the way, this is my first post to the list since I subscribed.  Hope I
helped with my info.
 
- Mike (along with fiancee Paula, and Buddy, Dickens, Daisy, Sweet Pea,
and Winter).  Dooks!
[Posted in FML issue 2939]