From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-04-19 17:46:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Itchy,Scrathy...Dry skin?
>Hi there, I am hoping someone can tell me if Pearls (1yr old)
>intense scratching should be a concern? She will be sleeping in her
>bed and all of a sudden she will come out and down her tunnel like a
>bat out of hell, then scratch like crazy. We have had a very long
>winter here in Ontario, Canada.Could this be just a bad case of dry
>skin? or should I be aware of any conditions? I have only seen very
>small signs of flakes which might not have even been flakes of
>skin(could have been corncob dust).I cut her baths down to 1 or 2
>times a month and have been using Tea Tree Oil shampoo (8in1) for
>dry skin as well as Apple White cream rinse (ppp)this seems to only
>help a little.I got her at 12 weeks and she will be 1 in May.As far
>as I know she is a Hagen girl. I have noticed this itchy sratchy
>problem in the fall after the heat was turned on. She loves her
>linatone, and gets here vitamins, any ideas?We had a problem with
>food, she refused all of the ferret food I could find, She loved her
>housemates food though(Royal Canin Cat senior and light mix), the
>light has a 38 percent chicken protien level and then senior has
>extra vitamins like C & E. I finally got her to eat ferret food by
>weaning it into her cat food kibbles.(is cat food really bad for
>them if it has better ingredients then the ferret (8in1 and
>Marshalls) she seems to like variety.I just feel for her when she
>scratches so intensly. I know I could use a anti-itch myself!!!!
>Also what is the scoop on corn cob, I use it in the bottom of her
>cage to help will litter box misses(it happens) and leaky bottles,
>can it harm my precious little girl? I have never seen it eaten
>or"ejected"Thanks Tamara and Pearl
> Tamthezookeeper@h...
They can get dry skin if they are bathed too often so you might be
seeing that, but you might also be seeing itching form seasonal
shedding and fur re-growth which happen in the Autumn and Spring.
Try combing her to remove excess loose fur, providing more fats in
her diet right now (saturated or monosaturated rather than
polyunsaturated), and giving her furball medication like Laxatone to
help her pass the fur she ingests.