I would like to share some interesting information about ECE and the effect
of a good diet.
 
Something interesting happened when Sammy started showing signs of ECE but I
haven't shared it until now because I wanted to watch and see what the
effects have been.  Enough time has passed now so I feel that the following
information is something that should be shared with the ferret community.
If you chose to conclude the same things that I do then that's fine.  If you
think I have been eating too many fermented raisins (which is probably true)
then that is just fine with me also.
 
The first noticeable sign that Sammy had ECE was a neon green stool
explosion that happened while we were visiting Dayna Frazier.  Up to that
time there was no reason to believe that Sammy had been exposed to ECE.
Since Sammy started showing signs when I was at Dayna's all of her kids
became infected with ECE.  I don't remember how many she had at her shelter
at that time but it was around 18 ferrets.
 
I need to stop here for a minute.  There are some evil dragons that are
lurking in their lairs that are reading this.  They want to find anything
that they can to use against Dayna Frazier.  I have only known Dayna for
about 4 months and I can tell you that I have NEVER met anyone that is more
dedicated to the safety and happiness of ferrets.  Now this isn't a praise
Dayna letter BUT I have more then enough stuff to use to make it a praise
letter.  I only mention this so as to make sure that those evil dragons
understand that Dayna DID NOT purposely expose her kids to ECE!!!  In fact,
she put me through the 1st degree to make sure that I wasn't ECE positive.
But as those of you who have experienced ECE, it is a very eluding virus.
 
 
Anyway, It took us about 6 hours to find out who was leaving the green
packages.  By then, everyone was exposed.  Everyone knows how ECE has
impacted Sammy.  Here are some little know facts.  About 2 months before
the ECE ordeal hit, I had changed my kids from Purina Cat Chow to Totally
Ferret.  I was not aware of the injustice that I was doing to my kids until
that time.  That is why I didn't change foods before.  So for 2 months
Doris and Sammy had been on TF.  When ECE hit Doris she only showed signs
for about 24 hours then she was fine.  She has not had another problem with
ECE since.  Buddy was rescued from the pet store cell that he was in on
that same fateful day.  Buddy had been fed a generic cat food until that
day.  He then went onto TF with the rest of the kids.  Buddy fought ECE
severely from about a month and now he still has ECE related problems but
he only had a severe problem for about a month.
 
Here is the interesting part.  Only two of Dayna's kids have EVER shown
signs of ECE and then those two ferrets only had very mild cases of ECE.
The BIG QUESTION, "WHY?" Dayna had (and still has) two critically ill
ferrets but they never showed signs of ECE.  Both of them are old ferrets.
The only change that was evident with all of the ferrets was that they all
suddenly DOUBLED their intake of "Woozel Goo".  Dayna was putting down 2 to
3 times as much goo as normal and everyone was hogging it.  It was almost as
if they could sense that they needed extra vitamins and stuff and so they
all just pigged out on goo.  It has been four months since ECE was
introduced (accidentally!) to Dayna's shelter.  There are no signs of ECE
except for those two short cases.
 
Here is my personal opinion why Dayna saw almost no ECE with her kids and
why Doris only had it for 24 hours.  In one word, "Nutrition".  Dayna feeds
her shelter kids on a diet to TF and Woozel goo (which has a main base of
TF).  Doris had been eating TF for 2 months before ECE hit so she was
extremely healthy when the ECE virus came into her life.  Doris and Buddy
are supposed to be the same age (within a couple of weeks of each other) so
the only difference that I could see would be that Buddy wasn't healthy
because of his poor diet and so he was more susceptible to the virus.  Now
am I saying that TF is a cure for ECE?  Of course not.  Am I relating a
major scientific breakthrough?  Of course not.  This concept of a healthy
ferret being more likely to not get sick is not a new one.  I am just
suggesting that resistance to ECE is a MAJOR reason to consider feeding your
ferrets a healthy diet.  I don't know if TF has something extra special in
it that IAMS Kitten, or similar products, don't.  All I know is what I have
seen and I would have to suggest to those people that want to know what they
can do to keep their ferrets safe from ECE to feed them TF or another high
quality food.
 
Please note: I am NOT implying in any way, shape, or form that this is a
scientific study.  I am not sure that we want any more ferrets purposely
exposed to ECE just to test a hypothesis.  All I am saying is that we should
take all of the information that we do have, look at it, and make our own
conclusions.
 
I wish that they would someday come up with a vaccine that could be given
to all ferrets like distemper.  Because as many people can and have related
that they did everything they could to keep their ferrets safe from ECE but
ECE has a way of sneaking up on you.  I was doing everything possible to
keep ECE away from my kids and it appears that it was caught at a vet.  You
can never know if the vet has had a ferret in there office with ECE.  The
vet might not even be aware of the fact and when you take your kids in for
a checkup they might just check out with it.  So if you aren't already,
please feed your kids a high quality food.  Not only because of ECE but it
will help them live a longer and happier life.
 
Jason, Sammy, Doris, and Buddy
ICQ # 7528859 (Sammy's Dad)
ICQ - www.icq.com
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2279]