From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-06-11 12:07:00 UTC
Subject: Re: 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!
So your vet has examined the ferret, has done a skin scraping,
eliminated possible contributing health factors, and decided that it
is seborrhea? Okay, individuals vary a decent bit, just as humans
vary in their skin health (says the old lady with bad skin...).
We have encountered seborrhea on a trunk only in individuals with
underlying medical problems ourselves so I don't have any experienced
advice on that aspect. Sorry. When the tail alone has been affected
then we have had some individuals which responded well to treatment
with a peroxide cleaner the vet provided followed by moisturizing,
and some who responded very well to increased fats in their diet.
On to stink... Now, here's where you may find something unexpected:
ferrets are often stinkier if they are bathed too much. Some folks
have found that bathing the individuals less often but washing the
bedding more often had fine results.
Be careful about what you launder it in. I have read of skin
reactions to some detergents and fabric softeners. We use the ones
for people with allergies and haven't encountered that problem
ourselves.
Finally, I don't how good they are, but there are some sprays out
there which claim to reduce allergic reactions to certain pets.
Anyone know if they work, or just a lot of hooey?
In the Ferret Mailing List archives there is information on a skin
test that is specifically for ferrets. Some people certainly are
allergic to them and there is one case that made a lot of noise
because the reaction was an anaphylactic one, but sometimes allergies
associated with pets are actually to shampoos, liters, or other pet
products.