In regard to ferrets with multiple infections at once:
 
When Bailey was her sickest with Insulinoma, she had Helicobacter,
Aspiration Pneumonia and ulcers at the same time.  She wouldn't eat, was
sick to her stomach all day, ground her teeth constantly, and vomited any
medicine we put in her.  Each illness she had triggered another.
 
The Prednisone gave her ulcers.  The ulcers stopped her from eating.  We
force fed her which gave her Aspiration Pneumonia.  We pumped anti-biotics
into her, which made her vomit, which put her back at square one, with the
teeth grinding and the sick stomach..
 
We were giving her 4 different medicines, plus anything I could think of
over the counter.  We backed off of one drug to try another, backed off of
three to let one stick.  None of it worked.  Nothing stuck, nothing got
better, and we had to put her down when she developed double pneumonia two
weeks into her treatment.
 
If she has ECE, your other ferrets will now have it, too.  I've been lucky
enough to never have one with it, so I am not sure if you need to get the
others tested or learn a routine of maintenance now that she will come in
contact with them.
 
It's not unusual for multiple illnesses at once.  They seem to have a
domino effect.  They suck, and if not treated with a huge amount of
aggressiveness, they will kill your ferret, like it did to Bailey.
 
Make sure you understand her illnesses 100%, her medicines and what their
side effects could possibly be, what her coming in contact with your other
ferrets could mean, and what any potential re-infections or long term
illnesses could crop up.  Your vet should have no trouble answering these
things, and it really does help to know everything in case she gets sick
again or another ferret starts to show signs of what she had.
 
Good luck,
Julie
[Posted in FML issue 3160]