From:
moonsweb@moonsweb.com
Date: 2004-08-22 15:31:38 UTC
Subject: Seedy Stools
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6607400.1093188698514.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
I am a lurker on this list and have a question. I have 6 MF kits age 4 to 7 months. The most recent additions have been here since 6/23/04. They almost always have a soft, although formed, seedy stool. Their stools have been the same since each was brought home.
I feed a blend of about equal parts of: (in the order that they were introduced)
marshall farms,
The Ferret Store Superior Choice Original,
Maxximum nutrition chicken and rice kitten,
premium edge kitten,
Felidae Cat & Kitten Formula,
Chicken Soup for the Kitten Lover's Soul,
I also boil and puree chicken legs and thighs blended into a soup with the broth and freeze it into ice cube trays. Every morning they get a chicken ice cube, a scoop of nupro and ground up kibble with enough water to make it a thick soup for breakfast.
They have been on the above blend for about a month, the foods were added one at a time, a couple weeks apart with no noticable change of stool.
For treats I give no more than 2 bandits every few days to the ones who will eat them or ferrevite to those who don't like bandits.
I give ferretone diluted with olive oil on toenail trimming days and they also consider the hairball/vaseline blend a treat which they get at least once usually twice weekly.
Occasionally I will find mucous in the stool but not as a regular thing.
I have brought this up with my vet and he does not seem to think it is a big deal. (My vet is the best in the area for ferrets, but does not have as much experience with ferrets as I would like. Since they are now being sold locally he is getting more experience with them.) Since seedy stool is a sign of malabsorption and could be from almost anything, are there any tests that you would suggest? Since Helicobacter mustelae is such a common thing in ferrets from what I have read could this possibly be the problem? Is there a test for it?
They all share a very large cage, prefering to sleep together (dispite my efforts to allow them a choice of two cages). They have free roam of the living room area 95% of the time the cage is left open and they come and go from it as they please so out of cage time is not an issue.
They do wrestle and play with each other and do not have any major squabbles. No one is being bullied more than the normal ferret rough housing, and I am in the room with them >80% of the time.
There is a 4 pound pomeranion that is in the room with them at times but they pretty much ignore her since she won't play with them.
They are not around other ferrets and only leave the house to visit the vet. I do not take them "shopping at petco" etc. I would love to let them join in ferret play days or taking them for walks but am just to scared of exposure to ADV etc.
I realize that because of the generalness of the problem that the cause may be hard to identify, I would just like suggestions as to possible causes.
Thank you
Candy