From:
Troy Lynn Eckart
Date: 2001-04-05 17:48:00 UTC
Subject: Re: disinfecting
We were ECE contagious for 1 yr and 9 months before I finally figured out
where the problem was. Our front bedroom was the worst hit and it had
carpeting (cleaned with a strong bleach solution several times and
thoroughly then air/fan dried). Once the carpeting was removed in that
room no new additions contracted ECE. The incoming were spaced at several
month intervals to be able to see if we were ECE free yet. The house was
not thoroughly disinfected at the time the carpet was removed on purpose
to be able to figure out if it really was the carpet. We were hit in
March 1996, our first ECE free incoming in May 1998. The last
infected was October 1997. The carpet was removed early 1998.
I was told by Dr. Kemmerer that bleach will not kill coccidia.
I'm a stickler for clean litter boxes and papers (in areas where boxes
won't fit or ferrets will move them). I clean them at least twice daily
and during ECE and Coccidia it was every time someone used them when I was
there. I'm sure the ferrets got tired of me standing there waiting for
them to finish so I could grab the papers and toss them. Come to think of
it I did get some disgusting looks at the time....
When we got hit with Coccidia we treated them with albon for 7 days (they
didn't do well with the albon so we discontinued). During this time I
cleaned everything with bleach in hopes to kill the coccidia. Nope. It
was another several months before I got that under control.
I switched to vinegar as it was the safest cleaner to use around the
ferrets that supposedly has disinfecting properties. It does make the
ferrets sneeze though when they walk over the freshly mopped floor before
I get it dried with paper towels. :-) I use 1/4 to 1 gallon of water. I
also spray the carpets and furniture lightly between cleanings. It
absorbs odors, or so it seems, and leaves a fresh scent as long as the
mixture isn't too strong.
I've been adding Oxyclean to the cleaning mixture recently to add extra
cleaning power.
Hugs to all. tle
Troy Lynn Eckart
Ferret Family Services
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/