From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-01-26 23:49:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Fur barbering
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Roger Vaughn" <rvaughn@p...> wrote:
> My ferret Digger has been biting the fur off of his flanks on both
> sides of his body just above and forward of his hind legs. The
guard
> hairs are still in place, but he seems to be chewing off much of his
> undercoat there. It's obvious from the short and uneven hairs left
> that he is chewing - this is not balding. He may also be chewing
raw
> spots on his belly.
Roger - although you don't mention how old Digger is, it can still be
adrenal disease. In most cases, the hair falls out on its own, but a
minority of ferret cases show what we can puritis - but most people
just call itchiness. This causes them to chew raw spots, or
sometimes just chew until hair falls out. Actuallly, they will
continue to chew whether there is hair there or not.
I'll bet you were hoping that barbering was going to start somewhere
other than adrenals - weren't you? while you do still need to check
on fleas, etc., adrenal is still the most likely possibility here.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM