Message Number: YG2431 | New FHL Archives Search
From: katharine
Date: 2001-04-10 17:07:00 UTC
Subject: Re: ECE

Mike Janke wrote:
<Pet store kits seem to be a major cause of
introducing ECE into households, but I've never
heard of anyone that had a kit that was being
treated for ECE or even diagnosed with ECE.
Because of this, I don't think you can positively
say that Champ never had ECE. Why he wouldn't
have passed it on to your other ferrets when you
brought him home would be one sign that he
didn't.<

I CAN positively say that Champ never had ECE.
Champ is also not a carrier. I know we are on the
verge of beating a dead horse, so I will try to
make this my last comment. Champ did not come
from a pet store. Champ and Blaze came from a
private breeder. I went to the breeder's home,
saw all of the ferrets, the living conditions, and
met their mommy and daddy. I took Champ and Blaze
home with me that day. There was NO ECE evident
at this breeder's home and I saw every single
cage/ferret there. My three ferrets prior to
Champ and Blaze all came from pet stores and there
was never any ECE in my house, kits or adults.
Only when Dillon and Chester arrived did the ECE
come (how's that for a convoluted sentence??).
And, even then, Champ did not get it.

My theory is that Champ was spared so that he
could deal with his second adrenal surgery, UTI,
and kidney failure. All I can say is thank God he
didn't get ECE. He probably would have never
lived through all of his more recent problems.

There is a lot that we don't know about ECE,
probably more than we do know. All we can do is
be vigilant and take the best care of our little
ones that we can.

Katharine