From:
"Roger Vaughn"
Date: 2003-03-14 17:47:30 UTC
Subject: Trembling Legs/Mounting Behavior/Bare Tails
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <6418703.1047670242222.JavaMail.nobody@chromium>
Is SmartGroups acting up again? I sent this last night. Not only did
it not go through, but I seem to have stopped receiving new posts. My
membership IS active. Well, here goes again....
I have three questions tonight.
First, one of our little boys has a rear leg that has been trembling
for the past couple of days. He's approaching 2 years old and has
no medical problems we're aware of. At first I wasn't sure if this
trembling was just him shivering like they all do, but now I can see
it's isolated to the one leg. It appears to me like an involuntary
muscle twitch, kind of like a nervous tic. He sometimes appears to
be limping almost imperceptibly, like he's favoring the leg.
Otherwise he doesn't seem to be having any pain or difficulty, and
shows no sign of contact pain - at least not to my untrained
groping. This is our little daredevil boy - he climbs anything and
everything he can. He could very well have jumped or fallen from
somewhere and twisted, sprained, strained, or even broken the leg, but
I can't see anything acute. Is there anything else that could cause
this sort of thing?
Update: Radiography shows what appears to be a displastic hip on his
left side. His left calf is also slightly atrophied. Is it safe to
use glucosamine/chondroitin (Cosequin) with these guys? Also, are
there any non-steriodal anti-inflammatories safe to use with them?
Second, we have another little guy who seems to trying to mount
another one of our...guys. I have only seen him do this to the one
other ferret. This kid is about a year old and doesn't show any
adrenal symptoms, though he has always had more oil production than
most. What could we be looking at here? Adrenal problems come to
mind first, but perhaps a botched neuter, or just behavioral
problems, or something else?
And finally, one of our little girls has had thin fur on her tail
for the past 4-5 months. She's about 4 years old. She does not
have blackheads, and does not show a swollen vulva or other obvious
adrenal symptoms - nor is the hair loss progressing. An ultrasound
did not show enlarged adrenal glands, though we did catch an
enlarged lymph node and adjacent cyst. (Lymphocytes proved normal.)
She also has a slightly enlarged spleen exhibiting extramedullary
hematopoiesis but otherwise normal. (Biopsied.) The tail
doesn't seem to itch, and she doesn't seem to be grooming the fur
off. It just simply isn't growing back in. Since adrenal problems
and blackheads do not seem to be the cause here, are there any other
common causes we could look at?
Thanks.
roger & the wolverine wannabees
missing bear