Please note: Some information may be a little graphic. I want Jako's ordeal to benefit those who face a similar situation. This all started the first week of October. Rikki passed away to unknown causes. Since no autopsy was done, we brought her home for the others to say good-bye. A few days later, Jako had green loose stools and would not eat. We took him in immediately where he was diagnosed (without and blood work) with ECE. Amoxcil was prescribed and then a little later prednisone. During this whole time, Jako would only eat the chicken gravy. Eventually he seemed to get better January into March passed without incident. Then all the same symptoms came back. We took him in, he was diagnosed with the same thing, and the same treatment was started. This time he did not respond. We went back in and I was hit with a huge list of various tests we could run, at great expense, and there was always the possibility of not finding the problem. I then found this message board and was led to a ferret specialist. By this time, Jako had the tell-tale signs of adrenal with hair loss on his hind quarters, but he was still not eating and was losing weight. We started on Augmentin (Amoxcil with an additive to prevent bacterial immunity), Biaxin, and Carafate (to help coat and rebuild stomach and intestines). Jako went up and down, sometimes eating on his own, but mostly needed it from a syringe. His stool was sometimes black and tar-like, other time it was yellow and "seedy". During the bulk of this time he would still get out and run around, just was not very social. Then, Tuesday night, Jako took a turn for the worse. His belly felt a bit swollen, and I mistook that for being normal weight gain. He was also vomiting and pawing at his face. By the next morning, he could not get into his box and had soiled his bedding. His nose also had a yellowy look, not it's normal pink. I took him to the vet as soon as they opened. There was an examination then we left him for observation. At 11 am, things got worse and by 1 pm he had left us. The vet did an autopsy and found the cause of death was an intestine ruptured in two places. The affected portion is being sent to a lab to see what exactly caused the weakening. I feel terribly sad, but I know that there was very little that could have been done. The problem was all in soft tissue so X-rays and sonograms would have been ineffective. Surgery might, but it is unlikely since we were not looking for it. I hope that if other fuzzies exhibit similar symptoms, quicker action can be taken. James, Melissa & Kassidy Loving: Bebe, Riley Missing: Wheezer, Pym, Rikki, Jako [Posted in FML issue 4156]