Helicobacter and ECE

[hezzera]

Hi all. I have 3 ferrets currently, and they're all having small, seedy, watery, loose, or mucousy stools.
A little bit of history...the bad poops started when I brought my 2nd ferret home. I believe he had ECE and gave it to my first ferret.
The third ferret most likely picked it up just from being around them.
I brought them all to the vet to try and get the poops under control. A fecal test showed helicobacter and corona virus. She gave me Amoxicillin and Metronidazole to give them for 2 wks, 2 times daily.
When on these meds, their poops improved about 95%. Their appetites also improved.
When the meds ended...their poops went back to exactly what they were before the meds. Loose, seedy, small...so disappointing. I tried following up the antibiotics with Bene bac to get some probiotics in them...but it's clearly not having any effect.
Can someone suggest what I do at this point? Is putting them BACK on antibiotics really the next step? Is there something natural I can give them...like coconut oil...to so the their tummies or is this beyond that? I just hate putting them on something AGAIN.
I just cant seem to solve these poop issues that have stuck around since my second ferret.
When a ferret gets ECE...wouldn't a fecal test always show Corona virus..since they basically become a carrier for life?
Their poops arent really green...so I wonder if the issue is the Helicobacter.

I'd appreciate any advice here. I'm a fairly new ferret mom and dont know all the tips and tricks to helping these guys feel better. And I'd hate for my lack of knowledge to hurt them in the end. So discouraged.

[abbeytheferret6]

I Wished I could help you, but I have not had a ferret with Ece as yet.
I bumped this up---maybe some one can answer you.
Do hope everybody gets to feeling better and let us know how they are doing.


My boy was on met---diarrhea afterwards still---yeah it is disappointing when an antibiotic doesn't seem to get it.(my male had a bunch of hairballs--but he also may have ibs ---I am watching)


Reading post below---if vet suspect ulcers with it--- my vet recommended a sliver off of the 10 mg pepcid ac.tablet(probably 1/4 which is hard to do with such a tiny pill). I had a ferret with ulcers in back of her throat---probably in stomach as well, but I would talk to vet about that.

[Heather]

You must repeat your meds. Dealing with ECE has caused the outbreak of the helicobacter and corona virus....unfortunately, we do not have a test for ECE, I believe they do have a test in the UK. ECE will continue to affect your ferrets for 6 to 9 months and in some cases affect them for the rest of their lives often causing ulcers, IBD/IBS, heart issues. You presently are treating an active case of ECE, so though the standard is 14 days of antibiotics, the last time I treated ECE, I was treating symptoms off and on for about 9 weeks. I used Clavamox instead of metro, so had to use it longer but it's not as foul tasting.
ciao