From:
Shirley Hewett
Date: 2001-11-14 17:33:00 UTC
Subject: Phantom Pregnancy Weight Gain
I sent the following on the 8th November but it appears not
to have gone through, so I'm sending it again; this time with
an attached pic of my little blimp even though it does not
quite capture her extreme obesity.
Samantha is an aprox 10 month old rescue. A couple of weeks
after arriving here she came in to season. Because she was so
tiny and rather frail, I opted for her to have a hormone
injection rather than put her with a vasectomized hob. She
responded well. Her vulval swelling disappeared and she
gained weight....and more weight.....and even more weight.
After 6 weeks, she now has a phantom litter and "cares" for
any group of sleeping ferrets she can find. However, her
weight continues to increase and she is an absolute Blimp
weighing in at over 3 pounds despite her small frame! She is
free range (house and large back yard) with the other 15
ferrets and apart from her obesity is a picture of health.
Other ferrets in my care who have received the "jill jab" have
never reacted in this extreme way. A couple who came to adopt
another ferret saw her and asked if she was disabled because
of the way she was waddling around on her short legs
I don't know if I should be really worried at this stage or
not. Can any other FHLer, having experience with entire
females, offer advice, hope or suggestions?
Love & Dooks
Shirley
Attachment 183k (image/jpeg) Dcp_0004.jpg