The final results of the fecal exam revealed an over-population of Clostridium; probably a secondary infection brought on by an over-lying viral infection. They've been on Chloramphenicol for a couple of weeks which has apparently cleared up the Clostridium but left them with an intestinal yeast problem. They're on an anti-fungal drug now and we're hoping this will clear it up for good. The consensus is that the initial infection was caused by a cold passed on from a human, probably combined with the stress of introducing a new ferret to the bunch. For those of you whose ferrets have been suffering from green diarrhea, please have a bacterial culture examined to see if Clostridium might be the culprit. From what I understand, the antibiotics used to treat ECE are quite different from those used to treat Clostridium. If your ferrets are relatively active, chances are it's not ECE. For now I'm cutting back on the duck soup and monitoring their weight closely. We should see results within a week. Thank you to everyone kind enough to send me their thoughts on feeding duck soup, taking care of sick ferrets, and treatment options. Special thank you to those who sent warm thoughts and friendly letters! I've never nursed a needy ferret before and this has been very trying. -mel P.S. This Thanksgiving I am most thankful for sick ferrets who still remember to use the litter box. [Posted in FML issue 2491]