From:
fmd409
Date: 2002-02-25 18:34:00 UTC
Subject: Re: new member -mystery ferret
Keep in mind, that if she's not eating much, she's not going to poop
much or have much energy.
Blood (fresh, red) in the stool means there's something going on in
the intestinal tract. Could be ECE or could be IBD... treatments are
very similar & I'd let the vet call it. ECE generally occurs within a
week after contact with other ferrets.
For all practical purposes, though, she MUST eat. There's an article
in the files section on feeding and a more complete discussing of
feeding & what to feed, how much is necessary, when, and why and...
most importantly HOW to feed a ferret that doesn't want to eat at
http://www.geocities.com/ferretsfirst/feeding.html
Ferrets will virtually STARVE THEMSELVES TO DEATH just over an upset
stomach.
For this case, I'd go with plain baby food without additives. That's
because with an intestinal inflammation, you could have nutritional
absorption problems and difficulty digesting food. Baby food is more
easily digestible than kibble or other types of soup.
Don't mix the flagyl in the food... you'll never get it down her. I
give the flagyl 0.5ml at a time over a 30 minute period AFTER they've
eaten. They all hate it. You'd think it's poison.
IBD isn't contagious (that I know of) and ECE is so conatagious it's
not practical to quarrantine for. (If others were going to get it,
they'd already have it.)