From:
Mike Janke
Date: 2001-11-15 18:48:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Can any one help? Smelly ferret poop
I'm terribly sorry to hear of your ferret dying. She no doubt
contracted ECE from the new baby ferret that came into the home.
Your description of her symptoms and the fact that she became ill two
days after the introduction, are classic.
Usually, the baby ferret shows no signs of illness and never does.
They're just the carrier. Had your vet known about this common
disease, the outcome *may* have been different. But in some cases,
the ferret does not survive and nothing can be done.
As for the baby... what kind of food are you feeding him? Marshalls
ferret food has fish as its primary ingredient and it smells real
fishy and causes very smelly poop. Diarrhea can cause a prolapsed
rectum (the pronounced anus)and is a symptom of the diarrhea rather
than a problem of its own. Clear up the diarrhea and the prolapse
will improve. This condition can be treated, but if the diarrhea
continues, the prolapse may too.
Even if the baby does have an active case of ECE, it's usually very
short lived in ferrets that young and they are often hardly
affected. It's not likely that ECE is the problem with him.
mike
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., strawberrypgasus@n... wrote:
> Ok I have a long and comlicated story but I'm going to shorten it
and
> anyone who REALLY wants the whole story can e-mail me.
>
> I just got a new baby ferret about 2 and a half weeks ago. He seems
> very healthy and happy. The only thing wrong is his poop smells
SOOO
> bad. We can't figure out why. His first vet vist went just fine but
> today I noticed that his anus is very pronounced and is now
twitching.
> He had a little bit of diareah this afternoon but is still eating
and
> drinking fine. Now I had a ferret before him and she got sick two
> days after I got this new one and she just passed away yesterday.
I
> spent hundreds of dollars trying to get her to be better (she
wasn't
> eating/drinking, had green slimy poops and was vomiting) and no vet
> could tell me what was wrong. Now I have this problem with the new
> ferret and the REALLY stinky poop. So smelly I can't be in the same
> room with it. I clean his little box right afger he poops and the
> whole house reaks if we leave for a few hours.
>
> I have a vet apointment tomorrow, but I wanted to know if anyone
here
> has had a simialr situation and could help let me know what they
think
> is going on. Thanks