Message Number: YG2944 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-04-25 14:56:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Is this normal or a problem sign???

--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Kris McDevitt" <ashflax@m...> wrote:
> I've had 7 ferrets over the past 10 years and only 1 ever did
this. From the time I got him he would suddenly stop while out
playing and running around, completely flatten out his body with all
4 legs spread out, and just lie there for a few minutes. The first
time he did it was a week or so after I got him. I thought something
was wrong but when I went to grab him he jumped up and started
playing again. He repeated the action on a daily basis. None of my
others ever did this. Has anyone else had a ferret like this or is
it a sign of somethings wrong??

As you describe it, I don't that it necessarily means that there is
something wrong. I have often attributed it to a ferret wanting
to "scope out the territory" which is difficult to do while going at
a hundred miles an hour.

This is just my opinion and not backed up by any medical research,
because it just didn't seem fair to sweep them up and take blood at
the time....


With kindest regards,

Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
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