From:
Dr. Bruce Williams
Date: 2001-03-01 18:59:00 UTC
Subject: Re: mucous poop
Dear Alexis:
One mucusy poop does not an ill ferret make, but it does bear
watching.
Remember that the ferret colon continually makes mucus. Sometimes if
ferrets are not eating frequently, they will poop just mucus.
Not to say that this is always a normal finding. That is why we look
for other symptoms, and we isolate the most likely suspect to see if
it is repeated.
In this particular situation, I would be mindful that the first sign
of ECE, which may be seen after a new introduction is vomit, which is
followed by a green mucousy diarrhea. Once the diarrhea starts,
though, there is usually no question.
If you factor in the history of a bloody mucusy poop, I would
probably also think about proliferative colitis - a disease in which
frequent passage of mucus and blood is the primary clinical sign.
But once again, you see it repeatedly.
My oft-repeated phrase is "Don't be a stoolgazer." You can go nuts
analyzing each poop. Look for repreated abnormal poops, or other
signs - not eating, grinding teeth, weight loss, etc.
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM
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Health-list
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Alexis & Jason Thonen"
<alexisandjason@h...> wrote:
> came home for lunch to find a pile of mucous in an oft-used weasel
bathroom
> corner. we have 2 new boys, and we suspect it is one of these. he
had a
> bloody muscousy poop 2 wks ago and his previous owner took him to
the vet
> where they did blood tests, fecal samples, etc and could find no
cause. now
> he has done another with no blood. we are in the process of
switching from
> iams kitten to iams regular, but with these two we are not sure
what they
> were eating previous to coming here, and this is the only change in
> environment recently. any suggestions?
>
> could be vomit but looks more like poop.
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