Message Number: SG14895 | New FHL Archives Search
From: sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-08-03 19:17:36 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Weight loss
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <3984541.1123096656703.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>

Cardiomyopathy, especially hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (the harder type to find because the thickness of the walls rather than the size of the heart is changing until it is pronounced), can also cause unexplained weight loss. In fact, over time it can become extreme. It is not in the least unusual for the associated weight loss to begin before other symptoms.

More common in the prime of life years of 2 into 4 than cardiomyopathy is a common and usually treatable cause of weight *re-distribution*: a non-malignant adrenal growth, where the ferret may even be termed as "getting thinner" by someone noticing the thorax and "getting fatter" by someone noticing the abdomen.

Unexplained weight loss always calls for having the vet check it out.