From:
tpettis@uoguelph.ca
Date: 2003-07-02 14:06:53 UTC
Subject: What is making my ferret itchy?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4027515.1057154813395.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Hi,
Pippin is a very itchy ferret, he will sit and scratch or chew himself for =
up to 5 continuous minutes, these fits occur at any time and for no apparen=
t reason. He will be walking, or sleeping and suddenly he'll stop whatever=
he's doing and go nuts scratching himself all over, I've seen him do a som=
mersault he was scratching so hard. He's been on Advantage for almost 2 we=
eks, and his diet is now completely changed over to a ferret formula based =
on chicken and rice, no corn (been on all new food for about a week), we al=
so give him a little Ferretone every day or so. We had seen some change in=
his behaviour immediately after the application of Advantage, but his itch=
ing is gradually increasing. If it's not fleas, a corn allergy or dry skin=
what could be causing his itching? Other than being itchy and runty he's =
active, bright, alert and eats well. Could it be a nervous twitch that's m=
aking him itch? (my parents' cat has a nervous itchy twitch) Our vet didn't=
have any other suggestions as to his itching when we went to get the Advan=
tage dosed, so I'm not sure whether this is normal behaviour or if this is =
something obscure she hasn't seen before. She only told us that if he star=
ted losing hair or wounding himself to bring him in for more tests. Is the=
re anything we can do at home to help him stop itching, or am I just a para=
noid first furry mom?
Any thoughts are much appreciated,
Terri and an itchy Pippin
=
=