ferret sick

Question
i have had ferrets for over two yrs now. i bought litter mates and one of them died. he was sick for three weeks. had him to the vet, vet couldn't figure it out. anyway , replaced the ferret with another one 3 months after. that was last summer.  now this one is having the same symptoms.  these are the symptoms. kezzie, the sick ferret is about 1 1/2 yrs old.  the other had just turned a year when he died.
1. seemed to lick my skin alot , unusual for kezzie to do this as he is more prone to nip.
2. next day, would walk a few steps and lay to the floor for awhile.  walk a few more, lay to the floor.
3. stools are less than half what it was before.
4. sometimes brown, yesterday stools were black. today brown, still watching.
5. he backs up to pee still but his legs spread far enough out for him to be laying on the floor trying to do it. his belly is soaked when he moves with darkish yellow urine.
as i said , i have been to the vet before with all this in the last ferret and he couldn't help.  i am not looking for a diagnosis, as i am already expecting the worst. and this ferret has also been to vet who doesn't know. has him on antibiotics, but that didn't help with last one either.
and thoughts? suggestions? thank you for your time.

Answer
Hello Mitzi,

I am so very sorry that you're having troubles with your little ones. It is always tough to go through that. The first thing I want to address is the black stool. Black (fresh) stool is generally indicative of digested blood, which means your little one may be bleeding internally. That is a serious problem that must be addressed as soon as possible if that is what it is. The dark urine could mean that he is dehydrated. Has he been drinking water normally? When you scruff his neck, (gently grab the excess skin at the back of the neck) does it stay tented for a bit or does it snap right back? If it stays tented, this means that he is severely dehydrated and the only thing that will help at this point is fluids delivered via IV under the skin by a vet. Your vet sounds like he/she might not be that experienced with ferrets? Are they a licensed exotics vet? Are there other vets in the area where you could get a second opinion? If you need help finding a ferret friendly vet in your area, please let me know and I will do the best I can, because I would want a second opinion if I were you.

I hope this helps and I hope everything works out. If you have any other questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews