From:
"Roger Vaughn"
Date: 2003-03-14 05:53:25 UTC
Subject: Trembling Legs/Mounting Behavior/Bare Tails
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <1844.192.168.132.37.1047621205.squirrel@mail.seaconinc.com>
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?
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 by FNA.) 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