To Bill and Sue Baker:
>We boarded our ferrets with an individual who breeds them herself.  She kept
>them separate from her other ferrets; i.e. in another building altogether.
>They were exposed to other animals though; dogs and cats.  When we picked
>them up two of the three had bad diarrhea.  The male, Dugless, is the one
>who scares us the most.  He has lost considerable amount of weight.
 
        Bill and Sue - we have seen cases of the green diarrhea in Arizona -
may I inquire with whom you boarded them (offline, please - don't want to
alarm anyone).  While the GD (more properly referred to as epizootic
catarrhal enteritis is certainly a good suspect here, with all of the
ferrets being affected, and the breeder isolating them in a serparate
building no less, tehre are other contagious diseases which present as
diarrhea and could be caught from dogs or cats - namely coccidia.  REmember,
also, that the GD (if you are unsure of this disease, check the medical FAQ)
can be transmitted on clothes or human hands, without ferret-to-ferret
contact.  Unfortunately breeders are often well-hooked into the ferret
community and may easily come in contact with infected ferrets or their owners.
 
        Make sure the vet has run several fecal samples to check for
coccidia, and stay with the Duck Soup and Amoxi.  You might also try chicken
baby food - it is very well tolerated and digestible.
 
Bruce H. Williams, DVM         Dept. of Veterinary Pathology
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]         Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
                               [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1217]