Well, I said that I would tell of my troubles with Christopher once I had a diagnosis. That diagnosis came in over the weekend so here it goes. I'll try to keep it concise. Christopher will be 2yrs old this month. He is a panda wanna-be MF male. He weighed over 3lbs last year when he got his shots. Oh, and he does hear even tho he is a Waardenburg. This all began over a month ago when Chris lost half his weight in a short amount of time. I attributed this to my running out of TF food. Maybe he didn't like Eukanuba alone? I curse myself for not noticing sooner. He was separated and given straight TF, which he ate with gusto, but he was nauseous so he did toss the food now and again. His poops alternated terrible goo and almost normal. He did not gain any weight. The local vet drew blood for testing. Physical exam found nothing unusual. The blood came back severly anemic (hematocrit of 28.4, normal low end is 45 or so). I consulted with Yvonne DeCarlo (BLESS HER!) who was concerned so I rushed him to Dr.Kim of Ridgefield Park who immediately felt a large adrenal tumor but wanted to try Clavamox first for the stomache as well as prozyme to aid digestion and pepcid for nausea(weight 1.6lbs). A week later, no change and Chris had dropped more weight(1.4lbs) so he was put under for an adrenalectomy. Maybe the adrenal tumor was suppressing the bone marrow and causing the nausea or even ulcers. Upon opening, Dr.Kim uttered those horrible words, "Uh oh." Chris' intestines were a brownish color, almost necrotic looking. His blood vessels were congested. There were lumps on the intestines. Biopsies were taken as well as an adrenal tumor the size of a big lima bean. Immediate suspicion was ADV even tho all 12 ferrets tested negative on the United test in February. Orbax now instead of Clavamox. Prognosis not good. Adrenal came back as benign adenoma. One week later and back we go. Chris didn't urinate for 24 hrs (but did once we got in the car, the little brat). Urine dipstick test showed proteins in urine. Kidneys in trouble?(weight 1.5lbs)Add Clavamox to meds. Next week, quick visit and weight back to 1.4lbs. Meds finished and still no change. Back next week because I wanted more tests and retests. Also did saliva test for ADV. CBCSuperchem came back anemic but not as bad (hematocrit 34.6). Urine cytology came back a puzzle. Diagnosis: eosinophilic inflammation. Fine but rare if this were the intestinal biopsy; unheard of for a urine sample. Fecal still pending. Began treatment for eosinophilic gastroenteritis: pred and ivermectin. Also decided to try Tylan, used by some for gastric and diarrhea cases including ECE. ADV test is negative (halleluia!). Intestinal biopsy came back as lymphocytic plasmocytic enteritis. Treatment as above. So. Enteritis is no easy thing to deal with. I understand that this is likely to be a recurring problem. At this point, the meds seem to be working. I don't know if it's the pred or the Tylan or both, but Chris is eating better, drinking more, and his poops have gotten better. He is alert and bright eyed, tho doesn't have much stamina. Still, yesterday he went right back to being sick, bad poops and flat ferret. Today, he's back to being better. It looks like we'll be on this rollercoaster for a while to come. If anyone has any experience with enteritis, I could use all the help I can get. And that's my tale, mostly. It's been hell and it's still not over. I understand Judy's heartache now. The rollercoaster is a painful thing. Anastasia [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 3207]