I have been a lurker here for many years, but have very seldom posted.
 
I have a 5 1/2 year old neutered male.  He became very depressed when I
lost my 8 1/2 year old female.  He was very attached to her.  I really did
not want to get another ferret when I lost her.  You love them so much for
their short little lives, it just hurts too much.  My husband & I had been
discussing getting Bo a playmate for a couple of weeks when I broke down &
got another little boy.  Well, it was too late.  Bo is now very ill.  The
vet (the only ferret knowledgeable vet in the area) says that he possibly
has Heliocbacter.  She is not positive, but that is what she "thinks" it
must be.  He has the green seedy diarrhea ( I thought was a characteristic
of ECE but she does not believe that is what it is).  He has not vomited
since the first day he became sick (last Thurs).  He has no appetite and
must be force fed a mixture of A/D, baby food, pedialyte and Ferretvite
every 4 hours.  He does drink on his own.  He is currently on 1/4 ml amoxi
BID, 0.2 ml metronidazole BID, chloramphenicol 0.48 ml BID, 1/8 tablet
carafate 3 - 4 times daily before feeding.  I do not know what else to do.
The vet wants to do adrenal surgery because he has a bald tail.  She thinks
that the adrenal may be partly causing the anorexia and diarrhea.  My gut
feeling is not to do surgery.  If anyone has any more suggestions please
e-mail me as I am very behind in the FML.
[Posted in FML issue 3467]