I'm sorry to hear about Uwe--Max Holmquist's ferret--passing away.  Max was
trying to find some answers about why his year-and-a-half-old ferret had
died so suddenly:
 
>The vet said he has had cases like this before, where a ferret dies
>suddenly from something a weakened immune system could not fight off...
 
and
 
>Is it possible I just got a bad ferret from [Marshall Farms]?
 
First, did Uwe have a known immune problem, or did the vet just suppose that
must have been the case because the ferret died so suddenly and so young?
There are tests that can determine whether an animal has a suppressed immune
system.  Were these done, or was the diagnosis of immune suppression based
on observational evidence only?  The reason I ask is that animals with
suppressed immune systems often don't die suddenly but usually go through a
period of decline and increasing illness before passing on.  And animals
that are born with serious immune dysfunction die *very* young--weeks old.
 
As for a connection to Marshall Farms, or any other breeder for that matter,
immune function can be inherited and it's theoretically possible for ferrets
from one breeder to be more robust than others, but as I suggest above, the
evidence doesn't necessarily indicate that this *was* immune related unless
Max can tell us more.  What we do know about ferrets is that they are very
susceptible to respiratory infections and this was known around the turn of
the century--long before there ever was a Marshall Farms.  Infectious
diseases like influenza don't care where the ferret came from.  They will
attack any susceptible host.  Uwe may not have needed to have an immune
problem to get pneumonia.  It may have just happened.
 
Finally, Anatole Mori posted info from Mary Van Dahn on the use of Pepcid to
treat ulcers in ferrets with ECE.  Sounds like good advice, and Pepcid has a
low risk for toxicity, too, so it's not likely to do any harm.  I did want
to add a word of caution about the use of Imodium (loperamide HCl) for ECE.
Please be *very* careful with this drug for your ferrets and consult your
vet about proper dosing.  First, loperamide is an opium derivative (no, you
can't get stoned from it) and *very* potent.  The dosage for adult humans is
only 2 mg.  Second, be absolutely certain that the infection is *NOT* a
bacteria or parasite if you use this drug.  Some intestinal bacteria and
parasites damage the gut by producing toxins.  This is how cholera, shigella
and E.  coli cause such acute illness.  (The toxic strain of E.  coli, known
as "O157,H7," was the culprit in Jack-in-the-Box hamburger poisonings and
the recent Odwalla juice contamination in Western North America.) The body's
response to these toxins is to flush them from the gut--i.e., the severe
diarrhea.  BUT, loperamide inhibits the ability of the gut to move and all
of the toxins can get trapped where they continue to do their damage.  This
is not a concern with viruses that causes enteritis.  These are not known to
produce toxins on their own.  So, for any ferret with symptoms of ECE,
please make certain that you have ruled out bacterial or parasitic infection
before using Imodium/loperamide.  You could make things worse if your ferret
is infected with a toxin-producing bug, rather than the ECE virus.
 
--Jeff Johnston ([log in to unmask])
[Posted in FML issue 1748]