Message Number: YG144 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Ulrike:-)
Date: 2001-02-25 06:41:00 UTC
Subject: Reason for not moulting?

Hi everybody

Why would a ferret not moult at all? My ferret Jilly has been on pred for 1
1/2 years and I don't think she moulted at all while she was on pred. I
weaned her off it and she moulted a week or two later. That was last
August. She didn't moult after that and I doubt she'll moult in spring...

I have another ferret, Jack, who didn't moult last winter... Are there any
illnesses that make the ferret hang onto his coat and not shed it and grow a
new one? His coat is so thin and coarse and dry, the base of the tail is
bald and the rest of the tail is sparingly covered with hairs. He is so
thin on his ribs and back and you can feel the bones through the skin, he
hasn't got any covering of fat at all, all the fat has accumulated in his
tummy which is huge. The coat is nice though on his head and neck, it's
just the rest of his body that looks really scruffy. I also noticed that
some of the other ferrets in the group don't respect Jack anymore. He was
always top dog and nobody dared touch him. He's not very interested in
playing with other ferrets and if the younger ferrets bit him/ invited him
to play, he would tell them off. This morning I noticed 2 of the boys
biting Jack, they didn't want to hurt him but play with him but Jack didn't
do anything, didn't even tell them off... It's like the others know
something is wrong with Jack and they're pushing him off the top position...
He'll be 6 years old in June BTW...

I know this sounds like adrenal disease but he's not more aggressive and
adrenal ferrets moult, don't they? Could it be anything else? Do ferrets
get thyroid problems at all?

Any help is appreciated...

Best wishes from
Ulrike
and Jilly, Jack, Bella, Tom, Mason, Baby, Dana, Fox, Reno, Rose, Jasmine,
Barney, Spike, Hobo and Gremlin

Missing Angel, Hope and Igor

West Wales Ferret Welfare
E-mail: ferretlove@n...
http://www.ferretlove.freeserve.co.uk
Last update 23/02/01

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