Troy Lynne Eckart writes:
 
>Vets - I was thinking (I know I shouldn't do that), putty colored stools are
>found in dogs with corona virus.  Our ferrets have them.  Each time I ask if
>this could be a canine corona virus I'm told the virus is normally species
>specific.  But ferrets get canine distemper and they catch our flu...
>What makes corona virus species specific and not the others?  Could the
>canine corona virus vaccine possibly protect ferrets from ECE?
 
Lynn,
The color of diarrhea is a reflection of the pathological processes going on
in the gut of animal, not an indicator of its cause.  Bacterial, viral,
metabolic, and immunological diseases can all cause diarrhea of the same
appearance.  Unfortunately, although clinical signs are often used by vets
to diagnose ECE, they can occasionally be caused by other things.  All that
squirts is neither ECE nor coronavirus.
--
Bruce S. Levine, DVM
 
"Lost in Cyberspace"
[Posted in FML issue 1636]