One of my ferrets, Buckwheat, was just diagnosed with eosinophilic gastroenteritis, which I had never heard of before and would like to know more about. In today's fml, Karen posted that her Rinkydink was diagnosed a while back with this. Karen, how is she doing? What sort of treatment was prescribed? Does she still have it, and how do you tell? My Bucky was on the table for adrenal surgery when my vet, Dr. Paul Kim, noticed that his intestines looked congested and the blood vessels around his intestines were enlarged. So he sent a tissue sample of the augmentin out for a biopsy, and this was the diagnosis. I was told that it is caused by a parasite, and so Bucky is also on Ivermectin. But I would like to know what kind of parasite causes this, and how did he get it? Dr. Kim said it is not clear how they get this, and that it is not contagious so my other ferrets are not at risk. But I would love to know more about it, if anyone has any info or references (Dr. Williams?). The only direct reference I've been able to find on the web was a definition (for humans) at: http://chorus.rad.mcw.edu/doc/00903.html. Bucky looks and acts like he's feeling fine (both before and after the surgery, thanks to Dr. Kim!), and other than his hair loss and aggression from the adrenal tumor, I never would have suspected anything was wrong. So I'm also wondering how I can tell if and when he's gotten over the gastroenteritis? Bucky is a Marshall Farms ferret that I got as a baby from a reputable pet shop. I have no way of knowing whether he was weaned too early, but he was eating dry kibble when I got him, and he has always been quite healthy and rambunctious. The only difference with him is that he has always been more sensitive to things than any of my other six. He gets motion sickness, he has always hated having his nails trimmed, and he was the first of my ferrets to have a vaccine reaction. Also, FWIW, he has always had a stronger musky odor than any of my others. Not unpleasant, just stronger. I can often tell when he has walked into the room by his odor (or aroma; it's really not a bad odor at all). Could he also be sensitive to food, and have a food allergy that caused this? All my ferrets are fed Totally Ferret, with raisins and dried cranberries as treats. Speaking of vaccine reactions, one of my other guys, Sprouts, just had the dubious distinction of having the first reaction to Imrab 3 that Dr. Kim had ever seen! Sprouts is about 3 years old, had no previous reactions, and had previously been given Fervac D and Imrab 3 at the same time. This year, all my ferrets had their Fervac D given 3 weeks prior to the rabies shots, at Dr. Kim's recommendation. Sprouts had a cold at the time of his distemper shot, and had a reaction to that, even though he was pre-treated with Benadryl. Dr. Kim thought the cold may have helped bring on the reaction. He was over his cold 3 weeks later when he had the rabies shot, but reacted again. Both reactions were not severe, but not mild either. Dr. Kim advised that Sprouts have no future vaccinations, but I'm not so sure I feel comfortable with that - especially since I regularly have lots of neighbor kids over to play with the ferrets. When he's due again next year, I'm going to discuss other options with Dr. Kim, such as a longer course of pre-treatment with Benadryl, as I've seen mentioned here. Sorry this got so long. If anyone has any input, I'd appreciate it! Nancy and critters [Posted in FML issue 3241]