From:
Nicole Hilliard
Date: 2001-06-10 09:37:00 UTC
Subject: [Ferret-Health-list] orange scaley stuff
Hi. Did anyone reply to this post? I've been looking closely for the last
week. My ferret, ScruffyHead, has the same problem. She hasn't lost any fur
yet ::all fingers and toes crossed:: but I have noticed that she has a LOT
of ear wax too. My vet told me that this orange flaky stuff was a
end-product of over-productive oil glands. So... what do I do? How do I get
it to slow down or even stop? 'Cause, she's the stinkiest ferret by far!
Scruffy doesn't seem to be more itchy than she has always been so the stuff
doesn't seem to bother her, I guess. ScruffyHead is 2.5 years old now and
she's always been the stinkiest!
I am also allergic to ferrets. I have noticed that my reaction to
ScruffyHead is far worse than to my other 2 ferrets. I suppose this makes
sense as the oil glands and the scent glands are related to the allergens
that affect me.
Any ideas would be great. I really don't know what to do. Bathing her once a
month (like my vet suggested) doesn't make much sense to me because.... this
stuff is supposed to be a build-up of oil and I know that the ferret
produces more oil after each bath to keep the coat and skin protected. And
the oil has a strong musky odour. So if I bathe her more, won't she just
produce more stinky oil and not really get better?
Thanks.
Nicole & ScruffyHead
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alexis and Jason" <alexisandjason@y...>
To: "Ferret Health List" <Ferret-Health-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 6:23 PM
>
> my little girl, zoe-pez, so-named for her pez-head,
> has developed several patches of orange crusty stuff
> on her skin. she has lost her fur on these spots.
> they are small and mostly on her chin. there is one
> on her back. also, she has lost the fur on the front
> of both of her front legs. the strips are about 1 1/2
> inch long and 1/2 inch wide. there is no crusty
> stuff
> on her legs. she is in otherwise great health, is
> about 6 months old, and exhibits no pain or reaction
> at all when touching these spots. I did check on
> ferret central and the answer is pretty non-specific
> so I wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas. she
> shares her home with 6 other ferts and none of them
> have this.