From:
Sharon Janics
Date: 2008-12-20 22:59:07 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Lethal, Hot Strain of ECE
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Ok, I don't now if this is what is going on for me... but... Garret who is =
never particularly chubby, suddenly got sick on Thurs/Friday.=A0 A few week=
s ago we lost Flower to Liver Cancer - suddenly and out of the blue she wen=
t from fine and healthy to the next day lethargic, so jaundiced you'd think=
we'd dipped her in iodine, extreme weight loss and dehydration.=A0 It was =
a Sunday and we found a exotics vet with an open clinic in the=A0city next =
over from us and he was pretty upfront saying he felt it was Liver Cancer, =
and that he didn't think she'd even make it long enough to get the testing =
done to confirm and that if he was right he didn't think she'd be treatable=
.=A0 We decided to euthanize.=A0 Since then Garret has been depressed and l=
osing some weight, as I said she never had a lot of weight on her to begin =
with so we started getting worried.=A0 We just got Jayda last weekend. She =
is not quite 3 months old. We bought her from a lady about a 45 minute
drive away.=A0 This lady said she only had her for about a week, and that =
she had bought her in a local pet store.=A0 So we've been introducing Garre=
t and Jayda slowly, figured she'd be healthy and not too worried about her =
carrying anything and giving it to Garret - just wanted to try to cheer Gar=
ret up some and thought the new friend would help.=A0 Thursday they were ou=
t and played together, having a ball - Garret still seemed thin but they ch=
ased and chased and chased each other and just had a complete ball with eac=
h other playing so nice together.=A0 Friday, Garret is even thinner and now=
dehydrated and suddenly had diarrhoea.=A0 I called my exotics vet and made=
an appt to take her in.=A0 Her weight is definately down, she was skinny l=
ast vet appt, but had put on some weight, so now she's even less than the l=
ast time, dehydrated, they gave her injections of fluid under her skin? I t=
ook in some poop samples for the vet, the vet said the stool was greenish
and a bit mucousy, but not like I've seem pictures of the ECE green poo, t=
o me I didn't think it was that Green, maybe a bit greenish but not really =
green.=A0 So we're treating her with Metronidazole and Amoxiciilin, and the=
y gave me some canned cat food they thought she might eat and some "Complet=
e Care" powder to feed her.=A0 I can't get=A0 the foods into her at all, ex=
cept by watering down the Complete Care and syringe force feeding it, she d=
oesn't seem to like it. She's definately getting mad at me for scruffing he=
r to stuff pills down her throat and food down her throat.=A0 She is starti=
ng to eat on her own some, not a lot but some kibble, and Marshalls "Bandit=
" treats".. she'll eat them. Vet said it could be ECE or it could be wastin=
g away disease and that the stress of the new ferret just upset her balance=
so she took a turn for the worse.=A0 As of yesterday she had started to im=
prove in her appearance anyway, brighter eyes, and more energetic, and
some eating on her own, so we're just playing it day by day and hoping the=
antibiotics are going to clear things up, but I have to wonder now if she =
may have contacted this new strain of ECE via the pet store ferret.=A0 I li=
ve in Ontario Canada, and the pet store where she came from was in Hamilton=
, kind of between Toronto and Niagara Falls. We are further north and west =
of Hamilton. Like the note below her description is:
Color of feces IS sometimes green/black, & slimy.Color ranges from med gree=
n to olive green to black, now today though it is more brownish. Sometimes =
watery, sometimes
slimy. There is little to no vomiting, no fever,no appetite and of course t=
he dehydration. So I don't know if she has this or something else, but we'l=
l keep medicating her and force feeding her and monitoring what she's eatin=
g on her own and hope that day by day she keeps getting better. The new fer=
t seems to be doing fine.
Wish us luck.
Sharon
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/