Dear anonymous,
When I read your letter on FML, I could not respond fast enough!  The same
scenario is being played many times over and over all over the country every
day.  Your ferret almost certainly has ECE.  It was brought in by the new
little one who is not ill but is the carrier.  That means he survived
theECE.  This disease is a wasting diahrreal disease that strips the
intestinal lining and causes a ferret to feel very ill and stop eating and
drinking to the point they will die if not encouraged to eat.  The protocol
is to start amoxi-drops at 1ml initially then one-half ml 2 times a day,(
the ECE is a corona virus and the antibiotic will have no effect on it BUT
is will knock out any other existing bacteria process which usually
accompanies this illness.  The other considerations are to feed the ill
animal.  The eating not only sustains its life and keeps its weight up, but
the ferret will feel better eating than having the affected intestinal tract
to be empty.  They often get ulcerations in their mouth as well as the
intestinal tract and shake their head when given the liquid supplement.
Your ferret will go down quickly if he does not eat.  Ferrets must eat to
live.  If you have never supplemented with liquid diets, try this one: One
can of Science Diet canned A|D,(can only be gotten from a vet-Get the
CANINEl|FELINE -comes in a small can) To this add one\fourth FINELY ground
dry food(Science diet, Iams, Totally ferret, or whatever he is currently
eating),put in one-half finely ground Pepto -bismol tablet(I prefer the
cherry flavor),also put in Linatone or ferretone-1Tablespoon, then gradually
add this liquid as you grind it all together--FRUIT FLAVORED PEDIALYTE(I use
the generic from Walmart but it must be FRUIT flavor).  Now the liquid
amount should be to make the "duck soup"(as many ferreters call it),about
the consistency your little one likes.  I think about 3\4th of a cup maybe.
Add more or less to get soupy mixture.  I am a little vague on the liquid
amt.  because I make my recipe in a larger quantity, and give supplements to
my old and insulinoma ferret and new rescues that have been malnourished.  I
have amassed a ton of info on ECE since about 9 months ago we were hit with
it.  We got it when we visited our son in Texas who had l ferret about 1 and
1\2 yr.  old and they brought a "healthy" kit in to be company for her.  She
wasted down to almost a skeleton before we learned about supplemental
feeding.  Most vets don't know about "duck soup" ,but I would not be
surprised that you will be deluged by FMLers telling you about ECE
[Posted in FML issue 1835]