Audry,
You posted that some ferrets you took in now have green stools.  It is
unlikely--or at least less likely--that they have ECE.  Especially since
other ferrets exposed to them do not have it.  I'll bet they have what, as
a shelter operator, I call relinqishment stress which leads to a bacterial
infection.  Generally this is just a proliferation of bacteria already
existing in the ferret, but which suddenly increases to clinical illness due
to stress.  Whether the ferrets came from a good home or bad, any change
causes stress.  Shelters expect this with virtually every new arrival, so to
get the jump on what seems to be inevitable, we put all new arrivals on
antibiotics (amoxicillin) and a stomach soother, such as Pepcid.  Either or
both can be crushed tablets or liquid added to a mix of warm water with a
little nutrical.  Seven days is the usual duration of treatment and by then
they are usually adjusted and feeling better.
 
While I'm here, a position on those little red ferret bumps that tend to
crust over and bleed.  Ferret vets advise the removal of any and all such
bumps.  They may or may not cause problems, but if they are anything but
superficial (i.e. you can feel more bump under the skin), trouble is already
underway.  We don't know if they metastisize from the organs or to the
organs, but this often happens.  It's a lot easier to have them removed (a
quick procedure if done early), than to worry over them or to let them
evolve into something a whole lot more serious.  They don't always grow,
but why take the risk?
 
Here's to healthy ferrets!
Ferret Rescue of the Western States, southern Colorado
[Posted in FML issue 2395]