From:
"frogfone102"
Date: 2009-08-13 19:38:45 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Mystery death and chronic diarrhoea
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
1 month ago I boarded my friend's 8 ferrets for one week. They had stayed before so wasn't expecting anything other than a lot more poop to scoop. However, she had just got 2 new kits who had "funny looking poo".
Within 2 days all my ferrets were lethargic and most had diarrhoea. Some of the holidaying ferrets had diarrhoea too.
As it turned out I had a routine vet appointment on the Wednesday so they all got their temperature checked (normal), weight checked and I was given some pro-kaolin to put in their food.
The youngsters all perked up and only 3 of the older ferrets continued to show symptoms. They were off their food, only eating duck soup if hand fed and the poo was green/yellow slime.
The boarders went home and I went back to the vet. A faecal sample showed the presence of isopora sp. Protozoan parasites, although not at high levels. There was no evidence of bacterial food poisoning or bacterial overgrowth.
One week after the boarders had gone home we found one of the younger ferrets (4 years old) who other than the earlier lethargy, appeared to be healthy (Good appetite, good energy levels, normal poo) having a seizure. He fitted for about 5 minutes and was wobbly afterwards but seemed fine a few hours later (eating and running about). We found him the next day collapsed and after 24h on a drip and antibiotics at the vet he had to be pts. His blood glucose was 95 and he had raised levels of globulin but everything else was normal.
We had a PM done and there were no major findings other than enteritis. All the bacterial tests came back negative and there were no parasites detected.
The 3 oldies are now on the mend, although are still only eating raw chicken and duck soup.
I'm really at a loss here, I don't know if the youngster dying is just one of those things, I can't understand how it could kill him and not the older, more vulnerable ones. I am still no further forward in finding out what has caused this despite P.M.s and faecal samples being carried out. The three oldies are not out of the woods yet either.
My vet does not want to treat for coccidiosis as it is usually only present if other stress factors are involved and usually sorts itself out. If it is viral there is very little we can do but support the ferrets that are ill. I however, really need to know what could have caused this. Is there any further tests that can help determine whether this was down to the coccidiosis or a virus? I am club secretary for the Scottish Ferret Club and have commitments to attend events in the near future. I feel I need to know what this is so that I don't go spreading it through our community. It has been incredibly hard nursing these ferrets and losing a perfectly healthy ferret to unknown causes is not an experience I would wish on anyone...
I am in the UK and probably don't have access to the many of the tests available in the US.
TIA
Sharon
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