To Valerie Darling: >My male, age six months, is very ill. Sunday 8/6 I found a puddle of blood, >mixed with a clear, mucus-y liquid on our bathroom floor. Valerie - the two most common problems which may result in strainng and producing blood mixed with the stool are gastrointestinal foreign bodies and proliferative colitis. I always suspect a foeign body first in such a young ferret. They can do a lot of damage as they pass through. Even the best ferret-proofed house will yield a foreign body or two if the ferret is diligent enough. I would suggest some radiographs, a barium series, and careful palpation to look for this. And if the tests are negative, it still doesn't rule it out. Proliferative colitis is a disease caused by a bacteria called Desulfovibrio which is seen in young male ferrets. It is also characterized by frequent small painful bloody stools. The only way to diagnose it is to do a colonic biopsy. Your vet may want to try this, followed by several weeks on Chloramphenicol, or until a negative pathology report comes back on the sample. Proliferative colitis is not really a totally curable disease, though. Good management will lessen preiodic stress-related occurrences and give an affected ferret a reasonably comfortable life. Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP [log in to unmask] OR Chief Pathologist, AccuPath [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1285]