Heliocobacter
Helicobacter mustelae is a bacteria that infects the stomach lining of many carnivores. Many veterinarians believe that ferrets and dogs almost all get this at some point in their lives and live with it inside their systems generally without incident. Stress or other illness can throw the body out of equilibrium and allow the bacteria to take over and the symptoms to arise. Ferrets with active bouts of helicobacter usually exhibit black, tarry stools secondary to ulcers caused by the bacterial infection. Other symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, teeth grinding and anorexia. Treatment is usually a combination of supportive feedings and the dreaded 'triple cocktail' of Amoxicillin, Pepto-Bismol, and Flagyl.
UTI
Urinary tract and bladder infections are caused by bacteria and can be brought on by a number of things, including dirty litter boxes. Treatment is usually simple antibiotics. Symptoms include difficulty urinating, obvious pain while urinating, dribbling or odd-looking sometimes bloody urine.
