From:
williamsdvm@comcast.net
Date: 2004-01-18 04:21:40 UTC
Subject: RE: Regarding yellow, seedy poop--diagnosis
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8150037.1074399700089.JavaMail.root@indium.smartgroups.com>
Author wrote:
> Sent 3 ferrets to the vet yesterday. One for her Lupron injection, Cody for
> dark puddle poop & Charlie for his yellow seedy poop. Charlie & Cody both
> had fecals done & the results was that they both have Clostridium. Thinking
> about this they all have had this before but I just never thought of it.
> Naturally if the 2 tested have it, the other 23 have it.
Dear Lynn:
I'm not a fan of diagnosing Clostridium in feces. Robust bacilli are always present in ferret feces, and there is no way to tell if they are pathogenic Clostridium or not. It is a common and valid test in birds, but not really in ferrets.
Add this to the fact that clostridiosis is a rare disease in ferrets (once diagnosed in a group of blackfooted ferrets as the cause of gastric bloat), and I have to be a bit circumspect about this diagnosis.
With kidnest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM