From:
ifixrex2000
Date: 2002-02-20 09:29:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Stiff Ferret
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "nlchipman" <nicole@m...> wrote:
> Does anyone have an explanation for a 2 1/2 year old male ferret
who
> acts like he has arthritis? He is very stiff and can't bring his
> hind leg all the way up to scratch his ear.
We had a VERY small (1 lb or less) little girl who was born fairly
normal but at about 1.5 yrs one of her legs would "lock up,
especially if she tried to scratch. Looking back, we realized 1) she
had to stay with her mother 2 wks longer than the rest of her litter
because she was developing more slowly and 2) all her life, when she
would run she would move her front two feet at once, then the back
two, and so on. Her stiffness in one leg eventually became severe
and then the other rear leg became affected. This would be
especailly noticeable if she was stressed by another one of our pets
(she wasn't fond of another one of our ferrets and the sight of him
would cause a lock up). Our vet tested and she could feel pain in the
feet and her reflexes would cause her feet to push back when you
pushed down on them. One theory was neurological damage from a
vaccine. We never solved this mystery though. She lived to nearly 4
years old, but of course quality of life was very questionable. We
loved her as she was though.
I am always interested to hear from others who've experienced
anything similar to this to try to figure out what might have
happened. I don't know if this sounds anything like what you're
seeing or not...
Good luck