WhyNot? Ferrets got hit with a Bug in Y2K. Not the pooter.... the
ferrets. :-(
Early January, I took in a ferret from another shelter. Followed standard
quarantine procedures for 3 weeks, but within 3 days of taking Tiki (TK)
out of quarantine, other ferrets began showing signs of diarrhea.
At first, I attributed this to a relapse of the cold/flu we d dealt with
earlier... but ferrets were also vomiting. After a couple days, the
diarrhea developed a very strong, necrotic odor... every ferret except
Tiki has been affected.
Charlie-girl was fine one night, the next morning almost comatose from
bloody diarrhea. She had a parvo smell in addition to the diarrhea. 2
days at the clinic saved her life. Within the week, we lost Elke to bloody
diarrhea... couldn t pull her through. (They re the only 2 out of 35 with
bloody diarrhea.) The next night, I lost Bandit, an older ferret under
treatment for insulinoma and adrenal.... a couple days later I lost Finn,
an elderly personal ferret, who also had insulinoma. 3 days after that
we lost Daisy, an older shelter girl. Got one more staying at the clinic
right now. Siobhan is a 5 year old sprite who developed the diarrhea late
& I guess decided not to fight after her best buddy Finn died. Well, we
ain t lettin go of her without a fight on our side. I ve lost too many
already.
When Elke died, I asked the clinic to have a *full* necropsy done. I had a
feeling I knew what we were dealing with, but since we ve never had a case
of ECE confirmed in El Paso, I wanted to make sure. Her body was sent off
to TVMDL in Amarillo, TX. We also screened for giardia, coccidia, and
anything else we could think of (everything came back negative).... and
gave as much supportive care as we could without knowing for sure yet
what we were dealing with. Antibiotics, fluids (both oral and sub-Q where
necessary), hand feedings, and lots of disinfecting..... problem is, there
are a number of older and/or immuno-compromised ferrets here right now &
this has complicated things. (I have a lot of respect for others who ve
gone through this, and managed to do it without losing any of the
ferrets....)
We got back the preliminary report on Friday, Feb. 18. Pending further
testing, they reported that the lesions are consistent with an
enterocolonic infection. A viral etiology such as Epizootic Catarrhal
Enteritis (ECE) is suspected. An updated report came in on Tuesday, Feb.
22. I sent it off to Dr. Bruce Williams, who very kindly read it and
confirmed our suspicions. My vet is completely satisfied that ECE is
what we re dealing with. (sounds strange, doesn t it? <sigh>)
The shelter that sent Tiki to me insists they ve never had ECE. They do,
however, have a problem with coccidia in the soil there, and it's
impossible to completely eradicate. I m wondering whether that, and the
fact that the shelter there treated every incoming ferret for exposure and
diarrhea, could have possibly masked the ECE symptoms. (I ve spoken with
their vet, and she allows the possibility - she s going to be doing some
research herself now.) But if I remember right, the supportive care for
a severe case of coccidia is similar to supportive care for ECE.... so it
looks like ECE is now officially in the southern NM/west TX area. (Neither
our own testing, nor TVMDL s testing, has found any trace of coccidia in
any of the ferrets here as of this time.)
Being a shelter, I knew I d probably get hit eventually - it s a wonder it
didn t happen earlier. I ve contacted the other local vets, and given my
vet permission to share anything from my file dealing with ECE to any other
vet who asks for information. I have placed WhyNot? Ferrets under
quarantine and we will remain so until further notice.
Many MANY thanks to those of you that contacted me with advice and
encouragement during this time. Especial thanks to Rick & Candi, Lisa,
Judy, Sam, Pat McD, & Matthew.
Anyway, this is why I haven t been in contact with anyone about The Tao of
sPooF lately... I do have a page set up on my website, but haven t had a
chance to really work on it. If you have an insight as to why ferrets do
what they do (doesn t matter if it s totally specious, as long as it
*sounds* like good science LOL - after all, that s what quackery is all
about) or if you already sent something to the FML and want it included on
the page, please resend it to me with Tao of sPoof in the heading. You can
preview the page at http://www.whynotferrets.com/Tao.html - it s not live
yet, but I ll work on it as I can.
Carla Smith <><
WhyNot? Ferrets
http://www.whynotferrets.com
ICQ: 29478475
member, Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club, El Paso, TX
"Every pet deserves to be loved, and to have someone cry over them when
they're gone."
[Posted in FML issue 2973]
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