From:
Amber
Date: 2001-05-26 03:16:00 UTC
Subject: Mucous poop - comes and goes????
I just found this list and i'm so happy i did. I have 3 ferrets...2
sables,Ferris & Rikki(6 and 4.5yrs.) and a dark eyed white, Nilla (4
yrs). For a little over a year now I have noticed that Nilla has
mucous and birdseed like poop on and off quite frequently. I would
see it for a couple days....then it would disappear for about a
month...then come back again. I've done a lot of reading about
different types of illnesses but nothing seems to match this. I've
witnessed her vomiting on very rare occasions coughing up almost
solid pieces of food. It seems like she's choking rather than
actually vomiting. At first i thought this might be ECE due to the
vomiting,light greenish-yellow runny stool, yellowish "globby" mucous
stool, weight loss...however, she is never really lethargic, always
eats, and neither of my other ferrets have ever shown any signs of
ECE whatsoever. Other than the weightloss and the mucous stool...she
seems perfectly healthy. Her weight goes up and down quite a
bit...going from slightly "chubby" to somewhat "boney". She is also a
very sound sleeper and is often very "ragdoll like" when being picked
up. From what i've read, this is possibly dehydration...however, she
eats and drinks normally. She is very active when she's out playing
with the other ferrets, but i have noticed she seems to be a bit more
clumsey and off balance then the others. She usually gets so excited
it's hard for her to control her movements and frequently falls off
furniture and bumps into things (even walls) and seems to get even
more excited after a tumble like that.
All of my ferrets live in the same cage, play in the same rooms of
the house, have always eaten Iams kitten food (they wont even touch
anything else) so I dont understand why she has these ECE like
symptoms but the others do not. If anyone could give me any
suggestions as to what this could possibly be, it would be grately
appreciated. Thank you so much!