I find it difficult to believe that you have ADV afoot in a crew of 17
that decided to cause 3 to crash together. I guess it's possible, but
ADV wouldn't be the first thing I would be looking for. I noticed you
mentioned one of your ferrets was drooling while he was totally out of
it. Did the vet check his blood glucose level? That's where I would
have started, since drooling is a tell-tale sign of a low glucose
episode.

You also mentioned a parasite. Did the vet find coccidia or giardia
in any of the stool samples? Now coccidia can indeed cause 3 to crash
together out of a crew. We've had two outbreaks in our Shelter; one in
2006 and one this year. During the 2006 outbreak we lost 7 of 42, to
give you an idea how devastating it was. At first we thought we had a
simple situation: a new quad of critters arrived, then after a few days
two went down with black tarry stools - indicating ulcers, right? Such
a common occurance, "Shelter Shock." We started the typical treatment
(flagyl, carafate, amoxi + fluid and nutrition support), but after 2
more days the poops turned to a reddish goo, which told us something
else was going on. By the time we had an answer, some 5 days since
the beginning, several others were now sick. And on and on it went.

Although much of the information you can find on coccidia suggests
it's no big deal and only causes mild diarreah, this has NOT been our
experience. Our crew had a more troublesome strain, that we know from
the necropsies done at MSU. But in any case, some critters will be fine
and others will have major trouble. This summer's outbreak sickened
5 of perhaps 40, and fortunately we are now always on alert for the
parasite so we began treating immediately and agressively. We only
lost one little girl who was not well to begin with, then we have
another girl still battling back after 2.5 months now.

So if your crew has coccidia afoot, that sure could cause such dire
trouble for several at once. We used albon of course, but we also
went ahead and used amoxi, carafate and flagyl to support the critter
otherwise and stave off gastric ulcers if possible. Also, I found super
cleaning to not be much help at all. If you have a critter shedding the
parasite it's going to get around. Unless you have a separate room for
each cage and critters to play in, it's freakin' impossible to get to
absolutely every possible surface, nook and cranny. I understand bleach
doesn't kill the oocysts; manually removing them is the only way (think
of scrubbing).

We tried to close in 2006 but frankly we had some new cases develop
over the course of 6 months in total, even when we didn't have anyone
who was noticeably "sick." This summer's outbreak was different in that
we didn't take anyone in for a month, then once we started accepting
surrenders again we did not have new cases. I'm sure we were quicker
on the draw and more used to keeping extra clean and so forth, but
honestly I think it was luck as well...and quite possible I reckon we
might have had a little "coccidia critter" back in 2006 who just kept
shedding it...but who knows? All microscopic and simply dastardly!

And a word from someone who's been doing rescue for 10 years now:
to have 3 of 17 hit the deck at once is disturbing and to my mind
suggests a possible parasite problem, losing 3 in a week will happen
on occasion. We just got a ferret in that has 9 toes in the grave from
lymphoma...others will not have obvious troubles at surrender but
thanks to the stress of losing their home you will soon be able to
notice their trouble...loss is just a part of doing the rescue work.
Over the years we've taken in just shy of 700 ferrets and to date,
about 20% will spend their final days with us - some who aren't with
us very long, while others will be with us for some time but never get
adopted. It's frustrating, daunting work that can turn anyone into a
cynical old hag in about 6 weeks. Of course I am an exception to this
rule and I still find myself young and fresh...not! :)

I screen critters 3+ for insulinoma twice a year as a standard, then
I test all the new surrenders I suspect are any past 2 about 48 hours
after surrender, when the stress should be setting in. The test is
often a lifesaver to many, as in it heads off the troubles before they
really get started. But again, I'm most concerned that you do have a
parasite due to your mention and I'm eager to hear what it is.

Nanci
Motor City Ferrets
www.motorcityferrets.org

[Posted in FML 6104]