First topic: drug dosages: I get a lot of questions about various drug dosages, but there's a lot of time wasted because many times people don't quite understand how to express the question. In order to be helpful, I need to know the milligrams of the drug the ferret is getting. Telling me he's taking 0.5 ml of something doesn't tell me anything unless I know how many milligrams (mg) of the drug there is per ml. Please say either 1) he's getting 0.5 ml of a 5mg/ml suspension or 2) he's getting 2.5 mg. To put it simply, a milliliter is just a volume, not a strength. It's also a very good practice to get in the habit of expressing decimals preceded by a zero. In other words, write 0.5 ml instead of .5 ml. This helps clarify that you understand the difference between 5 and .5, and that there's no typographical error. Second topic: coccidia: There sure seems to be more coccidiosis being diagnosed these days. I like to think it's because more people know to look for it. Coccidia are opportunistic parasites. They tend to cause trouble when an animal has undergone physiological stress from some other factor. For example, a juvenile ferret being brought into a new home right after having been shipped by plane and just having gotten adjusted to the pet store. Another example is an elderly ferret who is already immunosuppressed from adrenal disease, ECE, or cancer. Coccidiosis in an adult ferret is definitely a tip-off that there may be some underlying problem. If routine treatment with Albon doesn't get rid of it, there's definitely something else wrong. It is transmitted strictly by fecal-oral contact. Not aerosol. It is a species-specific protozoan. There are coccidia for just about every species of mammal. I don't know of any cases where one species has transmitted its particular coccidia to another species. I wouldn't say it's impossible, though, knowing how critters can mutate. Bleach will not kill it. That's one of the problems with controlling it. Only 10% formaldehyde will kill the spores. Throw out the litterbox and start new. Dr. K. [Posted in FML issue 2413]