Kev,
 
Steve and I are sorry that you are dealing with this.
 
Please, be sure to have a necropsy and pathology done on Rascal.  Maybe
then the cause can be found to save Socks, and also protect any future
fuzzies in the household.  It sounds paradoxical, but necropsies can
often be life savers because the testing can be more intensive.
 
Bruce Williams does only special cases now, and they might take longer
due to a policy change at a lab (which might not be good in your case given
the needs of Socks), but he's an option for the pathology when a mystery
exists.  If you want me to contact him for you, please, write to me.  His
personal recommendation is:
 
>I am recommending that my ferret clients switch over to Mike Garner of
>Northwest ZooPath in Snohomish, WA.  We have worked and published together
>on ferret pathology, so I know he'll do a good job.
>
>The particulars are Northwest ZooPath, 18210 Waverly Drive,
>Snohomish, WA 98296-4815.
>Telephone: (360)-668-6003
>Fax (360)-6686072
 
If your vet doesn't have a ferret-knowledgeable pathologist this info will
help.
 
We know how you feel not being able to interact with any other ferrets;
we felt like that for over a year due to ECE and later when Spot's kidney
disease acted a bit strange we also carefully stayed away from any other
critters, just to be safe for the animals' sake.  We are glad that you are
being careful by staying away from other ferrets to protect them.  Having
people who might be carrying an infectious disease on clothing interact
with other ferrets is one way that epizooics (epidemics in animals) start
and spread.  Look at the extremely careful way people behaved a few years
ago when that mutant strain of coccidea appeared and killed a number of
ferrets; that may have actually stopped the disease since there haven't
been cases of that strain seen since.  Juxtapose that with how people acted
with ECE early on and notice how that unintentional carelessness increased
the spread.  You are showing good sense now not cuddling any other ferrets
and not having any others enter your home.  Thank you for that degree of
responsibility.
 
Please, accept our sympathy and know that Steve and I hope that the testing
(both necropsy and pathology, and the blood tests you mentioned) prove
helpful.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2904]