From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2006-02-25 22:35:20 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: frustrated about abnormal poops
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Okay, I am going to be very careful to stay extremely tightly on topic here because this could lead to a side topic that tends to get out of hand.
Your description sounds like there might not be only one cause going on there. The presentations really vary, but that also could be level of disease.
Remember that multiple fecal checks may be needed.
Consider running a culture.
In case this is some types of raw food infections in one or more of the ferrets:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG11178
(Among other things notice treatment for ferrets from Dr; Jerry Murray:
>Now to clear up the aminoglycoside antibiotic(gentomicin, neomycin,
>streptomycin, amikacin, tobramycin,and kanamycin) questions.
>You can add Amikacin and Tobramycin to that list of aminoglycoside
>antibiotics. Tobramycin can be used for eye drops, but you do not
>want to use Amikacin or Tobramycin by injection unless there is no
>other choice. In general, aminoglycoside antibiotics are used for gram
>negative bacterial infection (ie E. coli, Salmonella, Pseudomonas,etc).
>Ferrets seem to be prone to kidney (and hearing) damage when amino-
>glycosides are used. Dehydration {and/or using a cephalosporin (Cefa drops,
>Keflex drops)} will increase the risk of kidney damage, so you do not
>want to use aminoglycosides for cases of ECE.
>In ferrets, we generally use Baytril (enrofloxacin), a fluoroquinolone
>antibiotic, for gram negative bacteria. Another choice would be Cipro
>(ciprofloxacin). Plus there are 3 other veterinary fluoroquinolone antibiotics.
I do not know if there is more recent info on treating those.
Also, there are past vet posts talking about some intestinal parasite infections being more common with raw feeding, but i do NOT know what is currently recommended for treating those, nor do I know which or how easily any can be passed from ferret to ferret in a communal setting.
Have the ferret done any drinking from an aquarium or water outdoor from which they could have gotten giardia?
Are there any spoiled food stashes?
See some further notes inserted among your questions below
Author wrote:
> I have five ferrets, 3 older and two about 9 months old. The 3 older ones eat >kibble, the 2 young ones eat raw.
> One of the older girls had some seedy yellow runny poop.
Seedy tends to mean that fat is not being digested well. This can happen with a diet that is too high in fat, or with inflammation of the small intestine, as happens withh ECE and a range of other illnesses. I do not know where you are located. Here is a wonderful resource on ECE:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/ECE/ECE.html
An older ferret with yellow diarrhea of butterscotch pudding looking diarrhea shoul be check for insulinoma
>The vet put her on antibiotics for a week. Did not help much. I have been feeding >her A/D, chicken baby food and some duck soup to see if possibly the problem >was IBD.
IBD is sometimes a cache pot category. It is pretty much where anything that doesn't fit the other known categories winds up dumped.
>
>One day her poops look okay, the next the seedy yellow and once in a while >greenish poop, or half brown half yellow.Vet has her on pediapred to possibly rule
Green is the most rap[id transit.
>out IBD. Only been a couple of days, so the jury is still out on that one.
> Now the other older girl has the horrible yellow seedy liquidy poops. He put her >on antibiotics for 7 days. I have been feeding her the soup mix too because she is >not eating much kibbble.She is on day 4 of the meds and I am not seeing anything >good yet.
> I have been suspicious of the poop of one of the young boys. When they eat raw, >especially something like liver, the colour reflects that, but his poop seems seedy >and a lighter colour than his brother's. Now this morning his poop was quite the >shade of green. I put it in a jar to take to the vet on Monday when I have my >appointment for him and his brother.
Do multiple fecals on these ferrets!
> I read that sometimes green can be caused by other things, but could there >possibly be some ECE going on here since three of them are showing signs of >abnormal poop?
Maybe, but it doesn't really sound tightly like that.
> Any thoughts about this? Also does 7 days seem like a short time to be on >antibiotics?
It will depend on what the cause is.
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