From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-10-27 16:38:59 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Strange wasteing illness,
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Within this post I have including things that are not typically found
just in individuals since you say multiple ones have the problem but
use the FHL Archives to learn more including individual things:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
I am so sorry for your loss and hope that you can avoid further deaths
Your vet has done a necropsy with pathology on this latest one to
try to learn what can save the rest of your ferrets, right? A
pathology lab that is used to ferret specimens is essential as if rapid
necropsy since the evidence from the GI tract is lost rapidly.
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG10682
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG3835
It is really important to have pathology work done to find out what
type of infection it is. Given the symptoms and their diet (plus the
amount of time you said that the uncooked poultry remains out I think
that avian mycobacteria should rank among the possibilities since
it is typically a GI infection, unlike some other mycobacteria and
it is among the infections for which the symptoms fit. Usually
ferrets are not at their best health-wise when they get this from
the environment but raw poultry can sometimes introduce too high
a load of the bacterium. We lost Tandy to what was later thought
to be this back about 26 years ago or so. Her intestines were so
damaged by her infection that the vet at first thought that she had
parvo which ferrets don't get.
Are these ferrets having especially pungent diarrhea that is mucusy
and may be green? If so, read:
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/ECE/ECE.html
and I think that these also would be of use to your vet and you:
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/PDF/Ferret_GI_path_reports.pdf
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/Clin_Path/ClinPath.html
as will others there
Be sure that you vet finds a pathology lab that is used to running tests
on ferret specimens
SEE:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL1285
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL1316
The following may help with matching some symptoms to possible
causative diseases but check in ferret vet texts and the FHL Archives
for info on other possibilities:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL1006
Some of the other possibilities might include
Clostridium
Campylobacter
There are some things that were skipped over with too little detail
in that past post since they were not a match FOR THAT OTHER
PERSON'S NEEDS, so I will trust you to go through it and search
more for what fits since I lack the time to do so:
BEGIN QUOTED PAST POST ON SOME OF THE INFECTIONS FERRETS GET
From _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, 2nd ed._
All of these are known diseases in ferrets
start pg 321
Actinomycosis (lumpy jaw)
rarely reported
immunosuppressed ferrets mentioned as possibly having
increased risk
entry through oral injuries from bone or damaged oral mucuosa,
may also be swallowed or inhaled
sinus tracts with thick, green-yellow material, lung nodules,
swollen nodes w granules on cut surface, abscesses, etc.
Can be fatal
start page 322
Botulism
documented in many fur farms with about 90% death rate
Ferret deaths in England from wild birds with botulism
documented (both in Vet Rec, '69 and '73, with ducks
involved in one case but other not clear from title; also
mention of cases in midwestern U.S.
uncooked or contaminated w soil increases risk rates
Ferrets highly susceptible to A,B,C types
starting page 323
Clostridium perfringens, Type A
not closely studied at that time
marked abdominal distension, excessive gas, diffuse
mucosal necrosis, highly fatal
"organism ubiquitous" "management of diet essential"
start page 324
Campylobacteriosis
linked to diarrhea in ferret (and a number of other animals)
The disease in humans is linked to pets having
undiscovered infections, or poor hygiene when infection is
known
maybe asymptomatic but still present, proliferative colitis,
diarrhea which may be bile streaked, mucus laden, watery,
bloody at times, rectal prolapses, miscarriage by the pregnant,
fecal-oral route, contaminated meat (esp. poultry) and
unpasteurized milk, uncooked poultry
We'll skip Helicobacter as not related to the conversation.
Ditto Lawsonia.
Start page 339
Salmonellosis
I think that this one has been very well covered so will skip it
and trust people to check the archives.
Start page 342
Leptospirosis
passed through rodent urine
contaminated food and immunosuppression mentioned
Start page 343
Mycobacteria
TB, bovine and avian mycobacteria caught from raw foods and
unpasteurized milk esp if ferret immunosuppressed, and M.
kansasii have been mentioned in past FHLs so in the archives
Starting page 347
Yersinia pestis
Not studied in domestic ferrets but it appears that at least some
BFFs can get plague from eating infected prairie dogs and likely
other infected rodents
We'll skip bacterial pneumonia.
We'll skip abscesses.
We'll skip Chlamydia; little know except that it occurs when book
was written.
In viruses it doesn't look like rotaviruses (very nasty in ferrets) is
from food, but
Starting page 370
at the time of that book being written one ferret documented case
of Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus from raw tripe
Okay, on to the Parasitic Diseases chapter
We'll skip Coccidia
Start page 380
Toxoplasma can be skipped.
Start page 381
Sarcocystic
from eating infected mice or their fecal contamination, asymptomatic
Start page 382
Cryptosporisiosis
infrequent and inconsequential according to text, raw beef can give it,
sounds like immunosuppression may play a role
Giardia can be skipped
Ectoparasites can be skipped
Start page 388
Helminths
The ones that can infect ferrets include nematodes, 2 round worms
(Toxascaris leonia and T. cati), hookworms (Ancylostoma), cestodes,
tapeworms (Mesocestoides, Ariotaenia procyonis, Dipylidium caninum),
flukes, lung worms (Filarioides martes) and occasionally Spiroptera
nasicola in the frontal sinuses. The intestinal ones can cause diarrhea
but may be silent.
We can skip heart worms but all should read about those in the archives.
Start page 389
Trichinosis
They encyst in the ferret's muscles, esp. the diaphram and are caught
from raw or undercooked infected meats.
END QUOTE
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG7627
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