From:
Troy Lynn Eckart
Date: 2001-05-29 11:37:00 UTC
Subject: Re: diarrhea, stuffy noses
For diarrhea that doesn't go away or comes back on and off, I take several
samples throughout the day, mix them together, then take them to the vet
to be checked. If they are negative for abnormal bacteria or parasites I
do it again the next day, and the next because some little nasties are
only excreted intermittently and they may not be in the samples I
took. Also a fresh sample is required for some and I keep that sample
separate.
We've been dealing with (yes) diarrhea sinces March 4, 1996. It comes and
goes. Normally when I bring a new family member in, they don't get the
diarrhea but this last week when 3 joined our little family 2 of the three
got diarrhea and 2 of all 3 got dry heaves. It seemed to be a 3 day
affair and they are back to normal. But this tells me it's time to take
in more samples and see what we find.
For the oldsters that have chonic diarrhea but test negative, I've had
good results with Centrine twice a day to control it.
There are many reasons why a ferret may have diarrhea, and if it
happens several times in a day it may be time to visit the vet. Ferrets
go down quickly and diarrhea can cause rapid dehydration. The sooner the
problem is diagnosed the sooner the proper treatment can be started and
the ferret can get well.
For stuffy noses I steam up the bathroom and sit in there with the ferret
for 10-15 minutes. Clears my sinuses too! One caution though, make sure
the ferret doesn't go out into a cold room afterwards and don't leave the
ferret in the bathroom alone.
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/