From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2003-05-09 14:51:33 UTC
Subject: RE: Paralyzed ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4839123.1052491893992.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
The only young one we've personally had or encountered with inability to walk had Juvenile Lymphoma, but she did not present like that. Her JL came on very fast and she went from acting fine one to barely being able to walk the next, then was gone in something like 2 weeks. There was nothing long term about it and from your description it sounds like this has been going on for some time.
In a quick look through the complete archives I didn't spot other early difficulty walking post, though, I might have missed searching on something useful ro stopped too soon. The causes I found were injury, variations of lyphoma, and thromboses with the clots affecting the brain or thrown to a leg.
Anyway, just in case it might help your friend you may want to see if your own check of the Archives finds more.
I hadn't thought of the low calcium aspect mentioned by Dr. Karin, but it's certainly soemthing to consider. She jogged my memory. Many years ago, when their first iteration of a kibble was being made (different from the current one and I would expect with a different manufacturer) Path Valley wound up with that first manufacturer accidentally reversing the ratios of calcium and something else and they did wind up with mobility problems and then death, with problems from the error on both sides. I don't know how your friend is feeding the ferret but if it is home-made food without added calcium or the needed tbalanced nutrition to utilize it that could cause calcium problems, or if a single kibble is used and the manufacturer wound up with a similar problem to that one of the past a person could imagine similar results.