Yes, ECE (Epizootic Catarrhal Enteritis) is a virus, a coronavirus. There have been those who think that ECE is easy to go through, partly because some of them have called almost anything ECE (many things cause diarrhea), but ECE itself is contagious for a great many months, and only the symptoms and the secondary infections can be treated. Some other people discount the possibility of ECE too easy with severely ill ones because of differences which can occur with symptoms. Here are some URLs to help you: From the Dr. Bruce Williams, the person who first figured out that it is coronavirus: http://www.afip.org/ferrets/ECE/ECE.html Also from him the type of diet which is easiest on the gastrointestinal tracts of infected ferrets: http://www.afip.org/ferrets/babyfood.html Hydration is essential. Some ferrets with ECE get kidney damage due to dehydration so knowing how to give subcutaneous fluids and getting IV when those are not enough can save some ferrets. Two things to have the treating vet or one of the vet techs there teach you with hands-on demonstrations: 1. How to safely give sub-cu fluids 2. How to safely "force-feed". Done wrong syringe feeding or forced feeding can cause a ferret to inhale the food or fluid and that can cause a very hard to treat case of pneumonia, so learn your techniques from a professional. Mouth pain could be from mouth ulcerations caused by kidney damage or caused by secondary bacterial infections. I do not know if the mouthwash, Listerine, is in your country, but a cotton swab with Listerine on it held for a short while against a mouth ulcer will help it heal much faster. When our vet first told us about that trick I doubted it, but experience soon made me realize that it does help a lot. Here is a write-up which links to four locations, with two of those by veterinarians: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ece.htm Here is how to tell what different appearances of the bowel movements mean: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/poop_chart.htm Dr. Bruce Williams has also mentioned that starches can create more yellow look to the feces. Some useful past posts: http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG1245 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG284 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG13196 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG12815 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG12391 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG12071 [Posted in FML 5463]