From:
"Joanne D'Amico"
Date: 2004-04-17 14:35:23 UTC
Subject: RE: Metallic Smelling Poop
To: "Ferret Health Digest" <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <003f01c42489$37b3db70$230110ac@OFFICE>
Two things come to mind, (1) as a lab tech (human laboratory, not vetinary)=
I can say that when there is blood in (human) stool, it can smell "coppery=
". However, if the stools are normal, not black, then I would discount that=
possibility. In people, I would suggest a quick occult blood check, but wi=
th ferrets high protein/vitamin rich diet, it might give a false positive .=
... I am sure your vet has already ruled this out, but if some stools look =
black, then I would save one of the black-looking ones for the vet to check=
... if all are on the same diet, and only one ferret's smells this way, th=
en it should not be due to the fish in the diet - unless the GI system is i=
rritated, and the food/stools are being moved along faster in this one (the=
n the stools should be looser than the others) ... when mine had ECE (and a=
long time after) their stools smelled "fishy" - a mild fishy smell smells =
kind of metallic to me - this does not imply yours have ECE - only that whe=
n something increases the motility of the GI tract, the stools tend to be m=
ore "odiferous" .... the stool appearance is the best clue - normal or not=
?