Hello to you all, BEtween losing Ada in late March and losing Artie two days ago, we lost Robert, my first and much-loved ferret. I can't even bear to describe him now. I would just cry a long loud time, and am not ready for it. My next post will be a copy of an email I wrote to my friend Wendy as I was going through the ordeal. As with Artie, I was sure we had saved him at one point. Has anyone had this experience w coccidia -- great progress followed by an unremitting reversal? We are now gathering as much info as we can about the disease to protect our remaining ferrets. Of course we are encountering conflicting opinions, but plesaase send us your experiences and advice. Artie's autopsy indicates coccidia. His lower intestine was full of digested tarry blood from his colon to his duodenum. We also think it's coccidia since we had a general infestation at one point and cleared it up w sulfa. That recovery was spectacular -- after 1 day of treatment, their stools were back to normal. We continued treating for abt 10 days. We've decided to give a prophylactic course to the remaining ferrets. What is your advice for that? Drugs, dosage, frequency, duration. Anything else? What's your opinion on the organism's survivability. It appears to be tenacious. Will sunlight kill it, and if so how long does that take? Do you agree that killing it requires mechanial action, rather than or in addition to chemical disinfection? Is there a way to clear it from soil? Is there a way to test for it in soil?? These are all the questions I can think of, but probably some of you have info for us in different areas. I am focusing hard on the future, but this has been a terrible experience. On top of the grief and sorrow is the misery of knowing that if I had left them behind in the US they would probably still be alive. I do remind myself that they would have had a terrible shock if I had left them behind, and that they all had a great time here, and were happier than they had been in Calif, and that, of course, I thought all would continue so happily, but, well, you can imagine. A slender silver lining: I'm not a religious person per se, but did get some early bible training. Do you remember Rachel who "would not be consoled"? I never could figure out why she should have been condemned for that, and in fact still don't agree w condemnation anyway, but now I see the problem/solution/whatever. I have found it in myself to mourn and grieve, go numb, and yet get joy in between. Yesterday was Palm Sunday/Hosannah here. Lovely customs are connected with it, including a church ceremony with gorgeously decorated donkeys carrying palm fronds, people dressing in white, and making and wearing crowns, bands, and rings of palm. I am determined to get pix for you all. [Posted in FML 5950]