Important note: Yes, there is always ECE cropping up, but there are other things to watch, depending on number of animals and symptoms. One that has destroyed a number of shelter ferrets, esp. in the South and Midwest is recent years is a genus of coccidia that many hospitals don't look for. With coccidia in ferrets, check specimens at least 3 times a week during active diarrhea, preferably checking for as close to a full week as possible, and ALWAYS check for Eimeria, especially Eimeria furonis, instead of just for Isospora which is the type most commonly looked for by vets and techs. They do look different and Eimeria is too easily missed. http://biology.unm.edu/biology/coccidia/carniv2.html will give you more on multiple types of coccidia that have been found in domestic ferrets: Eimeria furonis, Eimeria ictidea, Eimeria vison, Eimeria of undetermined species, Isospora laidlawi, Isospora putori, Isospora of undetermined species. Go here for ECE info: http://www.afip.org/ferrets/ECE/ECE.html Older ferrets and those who are naive of the coronavirus involved have the worst symptoms with that. Of course, there can be other causes of GI infection. I wanted to give you a heads up, though, because Eimera is treatable and doing so when it is present saves lives which otherwise can be needlessly lost. Fred asked about tornado safety with ferrets. Here are some sites to help: ASPCA Emergency Preparedness Tips: http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=edu_resources05 and this pamphlet <http://www.aspca.org/site/DocServer/ReadyPets-FINAL_Rev_9_5.03.06_HiRes_for_Printer.pdf?docID=8361> http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/tornadoes.shtm An unexpected thing that came up on searching: http://www.insureyourstuff.info/other.php Teaching kids: <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/15/g35/tornadosafety.html> Has an entire section on pets near the bottom: http://www.mcwar.org/articles/tornado/tornado_plain.pdf and the sites others or I already gave such as: http://www.ferretemergency.org/ and http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/333/index.html If those don't suffice and you find better ones, please, share them to help all! Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5710]
