From:
jennjohanson@aol.com
Date: 2004-02-05 17:26:13 UTC
Subject: extreme lethargy
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <7148396.1076001973381.JavaMail.root@indium.smartgroups.com>
I am a first time ferret owner (and a new member of the list!) and have had=
my Oscar for only a few months. He is 7 mos old and originated at Marshal=
l Farms. Two weeks ago my husband and I left to go on vacation. Our ferre=
t-loving neighbors (who aren't familiar with his "typical" behavior) kept h=
im. As soon as we returned, we saw a big difference in his attitude. He i=
s acting much more tired than usual. Before, he would look for us to get u=
p in the morning, or return home from work, and be waiting to be let out an=
d played with. While he has always been mellow, he certainly played with f=
avorite toys, enjoyed burrowing, scrambled out of our arms almost immediate=
ly in order to do fun stuff. Now, we have to wake him and pull him out of =
the hammock. He ignores his favorite toys and spends most of his time out =
itching and scratching (no hair loss or scaliness, no fleas, veterinarian s=
aid it could be dry weather). After a few minutes of being up and out of h=
is cage, he finds a place to go to sleep. He now allows us to hold him for=
long periods of time. He's is very lethargic, it's like he can't keep his=
eyes open for longer than a few minutes. =
Additionally, his appetite has progressively decreased. He routinely gets=
dry food- Marshall Farms Premium diet. A few days ago, I notice no feces =
in his box after hours. I immediately started feeding him chicken baby foo=
d and gruel made from soaking his nuggets. He is very interested in eating=
this and licks willingly off of fingers although he doesn't seeking it out=
in his cage (too busy sleeping!). Now that he's back on food, he has norm=
al sized/colored feces. No noticebly improvement in his lethargy. =
He has no other symptoms. No hair loss, he has bright eyes, no coughing o=
r other apparent respiratory ailment, his belly does not seem bloated. I t=
ook him to the vet last Friday for the lethargy (and for green urine which =
was hypothesized to be too much Ferretone) and he told me that I have a per=
fectly healthy and happy ferret who is fine. I have another appointment tom=
orrow because I know Oscar doesn't feel well, although he's got a great att=
itude and is sweet and bright-eyed. I'm terribly worried and am so new to =
the ferret world. Do anyone have any suggestions? Is it possible he is go=
ing through some sort of seasonal adjustment? Could he simply have a cold?=
Is it possible he consumed something at the petsitter's house which is ca=
using him internal distress? I hate to see him going through this and it's=
been going on for between 12-20 days.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Jen =
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