From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2004-01-19 17:15:56 UTC
Subject: RE: Home remedies for ear ache?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <2149548.1074532556834.JavaMail.root@indium.smartgroups.com>
Fungal infections of the ear can become serious enough to eat away at the bone. There is mention of this in _Ferret Husbandry, Medicine & Surgery_. Years ago an FML encountered just such a situation (her ferret but the ferret was boarding long term with a friend) and she said that the infection ate right through into the brain.
BTW, we have only rarely seen fungal infections over a space of 21 and 1/2 years. When we have seen them they almost always were in conjunction with ear mites having gotten into our ferret family. The one exception was a little girl who had such a tendency toward reoccuring fungal infections of the ear (without mites being present) that the vet finally provided a bottle of meds to use whenever he gave permission by phone.
As you can guess, it doesn't really pay to not look at fungal infections of the ear in a serious way. Luckily, *IF* our experience generalizes, they are not particularly common. When they occur they are handled differently than a plain old mite infection, though.