Okay well the first due date passed without incident, but because she did not appear to ovulate after the first mating, she'd had a second pairing a few days later. New due date is June 6-8, so keep an eye out! http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/NorthAmerica/default.cfm?cam=BFF 40 kits have been born so far at the National Zoo's Front Royal facility, with 39 surviving. Linda [Posted in FML 7448] -========================================================================= Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 08:55:57 -0400 From: Ferrets at Heart -- Ask A Ferret <[log in to unmask]> Subject: ECE breakout at Ferrets at Heart rescue Let me give you the short version, because, as a resident staff of one with occasional volunteers, I'm exhausted. The last 17 days have been awful. You can't quarantine ECE; the definitive literature and shelter testimonies bears this out. All of our ferrets are "special needs" or "permanent residents" right now (Each shelter calls the aged and adrenal/insulinoma something different.). We thought it was just "shelter shock" at first. Then, our established ferrets began to take ill. First the mucus-like green poop, followed by the odorous black tar poop a few days later. Then, they stopped eating and the body mass dropped visibly. We had Egyptian ferret mummies. With soup, Nutri-Cal, Pepto-Bismol, Pedialyte, and prayer, most are through the ECE. One of the virus vectors (We narrowed it down to a pair) was relapsing, but he is again willingly eating soup on his own and not having to be force-fed anymore. The other lingering case accepted his soup from a spoon yesterday for the first time, instead of the syringe method we both abhor. Two females have yet to exhibit the "greenies" -- an almost 8-yr. DMK with adrenal, insulinoma, and renal failure, and a 2.5-yr. who had successful adrenal surgery in May 2011 and dealt with Helicobacter this late winter and early spring. They show softened stool and are a bit tired, but the gals are still eating and drinking well. ECE is 100% contagious, so they will succumb eventually. The DMK... We'll just pray very hard. The ECE lab test involves putting a ferret under anesthesia and sending a scraping of the intestine to Michigan State for a culture. A negative result does not mean that the ferret does not have ECE, but just that the ferret isn't shedding the virus at the moment. Considering the evidence already established by the symptoms and the stress and risk of infection this surgery would put the ferrets through, we don't feel the ECE lab test is truly necessary, nor does our vet. Our vet is as sure as he can be from our description that this is ECE, as are the ferret-knowledgeable folk with whom we've consulted. If you are a rescue and have any spare supplies you can send, please contact us. Helping you to overnight such with a cold pack can be managed, but our vet fund doesn't extend to taking these remaining cases to our clinic and paying for individual exam fees and individual medication fees (Everything is tied up with an order of adrenal implants from Peptech). Please also feel free to call us with any advice. From what we've read and been told, the virus is contagious for up to six months, so there won't be any Buckeye Bash for us this year, and we won't be seeing any of our friends who have ferrets in the family for quite some time. If you aren't a shelter and would like to help, please consider donating by PayPal to [log in to unmask] (or by the donation button on our website). Though ECE has a very low mortality rate when the ferret is kept properly hydrated and nourished, this takes supplies, and there can develop secondary bacterial infections requiring antibiotics, be a need for more potent nausea/diarrhea drugs, and, in the most serious cases, be ferrets who must have subcutaneous fluids. I've been providing soup every two hours by day and every four at night for the last two weeks to whichever ferrets were not eating kibble well at that time. Our plan was to take in these six previously-quarantined ferrets, order the adrenal implants, and get another fundraiser going. Well, two of the ferrets had not been quarantined. I was told Monday that they'd only been housed there for 2.5 days. That is as specific as I want to get in this public venue, because mistakes are easily made, as are miscommunications between shelters. As previously mentioned, quarantining would not have stopped the ECE, but it would have identified it. Instead, the implants were ordered in anticipation of the influx of ferrets, and we have almost no money ($35?) with which to battle this illness. Please keep us, our ferrets -- and our sanity -- in your prayers. All this is why the website hasn't been updated in some time. With respect, Lori of Ferrets at Heart Huron, Ohio (419)433-6016 http://ferretsatheart.com/ [Posted in FML 7449]