From:
Jaclyn
Date: 2001-02-26 10:44:00 UTC
Subject: Intro and dilemma
Hello everyone!
I think this list is a great idea. I live in Florida and my name is Jaclyn
Vanderhoef. I have four ferrets, in addition to a cat, dog and a husband,
Shanon! Full house...lol.
Two of my boys are having some medical troubles.
The one with definite adrenal is doing great. The other, though, I am more
concerned with. He's a four and a half year old Marshall Farm male named
Kif. His history is clean, no illnesses since I got him at ten weeks old.
Last fall, though, his fur went thin in "all the right areas." His hips,
tail and spine were very sparse. He got it all back, which I know can
happen. He's losing weight right now, which I'm not sure whether to
attribute to spring or illness. The most unusual thing, though, is his
breath! Normally, it's rather soft and sweet like the other ferrets. In
the last few days, though, it has gotten pungent, to say the least. I don't
know how to describe it, but it's strong and foul. Also, if it helps you at
all...he goes to the litterbox often without urinating. (This could be
attributed to my training. ?? I litter trained him by giving treats and
ever since, he would run to the box and pretend because he thought he'd get
a treat. Perhaps this is a continuation of that.) And...about a month ago,
I began mixing 8in1 Ultimate to their Totally Ferret. Perhaps that has
something to do with his breath. I can't find any information on bad breath
in the critters or I would not bother you with this. I'm not sure if it's a
bad sign or not. My vet here is nice and I believe she's fairly
knowledgeable, but I'm a little worried and want other thoughts.
The other adrenal ferret, Trevor, is approximately 5-7 years old (Marshalls
again) and I got him as a stray in March of 1997. He had insulinoma surgery
in April 1999 and the vet saw minor evidence of right adrenal troubles, but
didn't remove it. He's had minor hair loss and is slightly more aggressive,
though he's always been passive. He's in great shape mostly. Though, twice
now, he's gotten very dark pink. His nose, ears, around his eyes and his
lips would suddenly turn dark red-pink. He'd feel hot, though we couldn't
successfully take his temperature. By the time we got a good reading, the
color was gone and the thermometer read 102. While he was dark, he was a
little listless and would go lay on the tile, as if he felt too hot. It was
gone in the matter of 20 minutes. On both occassions, I found my roommate's
laundry detergent bottle on the floor (where he often leaves it.) It had a
little detergent dried to the side and I wonder if Trevor perhaps licked
this. I can find nothing else around my home that he could have gotten
into. So, either it's this irritant or it's an internal problem.
If anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Thank you very much!! I
know this email is very long, but I just want to be sure to include anything
that could be of help.
Sincerely,
Jaclyn KVRB
"Only pilots live life in all three dimensions."
http://flyingferrets.homestead.com
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