From:
"honoralexandria"
Date: 2008-02-22 03:59:13 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Orange/Yellow Bald Spot?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hello all :)
So this is my first time posting here and I apologize for not making a
proper introduction, but I figured who wants to hear about me when
there's ferret problems to solve?
Right, so on to my question.
Some history first, so we're all coming from the same place:
2-3 year old ferret (he was adopted, so not entirely sure). Silver
male, with suspected (but not clinically verified) inflammatory bowel.
The reason I say suspected is because him and his cagemate have both
had on/off diarrhea since we had gotten them, replete with birdseed
and mucous appearances. I had them on a variety of foods, trying to
get them the highest protein, closest to "natural" diet possible. I
don't like feeding kibble because of the carbs, but they never
imprinted on meat so it's our only choice. Once I (rather
accidentally) switched them to a single kibble, with less animal
protein, they both almost instantly got better and had stool of normal
color and consistancy. I had taken them to a vet where he put them on
antibotics for two weeks (amox)and wanted to change them a diabetic
cat kibble, which I did NOT like. "High' in protein (although the evo
they were on at the time was higher actually) but made of almost
eclusively plant proteins: wheat, soy, corn. I didn't try it but
fiddled with their diet on my own until I made the above mentioned
discovery. That vet never even mentioned IBD or did a fecal and we
didn't go back. I took them to another vet who did a fecal, ruled out
parasites, but also told me I overreacting. Ever since the food change
(Zupreem Ferret) they've been fairly "normal" with only a few episodes.
The reason I mention this IBD is because I suspect it may have
something to do with my real question:
I've had him for almost 10 months now, and at about 5 months after we
had him, still dealing/figuring out the IBD-type thing I noticed he
had a medium sized patch on his side that had gone bald, and was
exceptionally organish/yellow. There were also little red dots on the
skin, that made me think they were tiny capillaries that had broken
from irritation.
Now I know whenever a ferret starts to lose fur, we all think "Adrenal
disease", but I'm not sure if it's that.
BECAUSE:
-When I looked at the spot closely it wasn't completely bald, but
rather looked like it had been chewed at- the hair pieces were there
by very very short/broken looking. I have a dog w/ flea allergies, and
the spot looked the same
-Before the spot appeared I noticed he had been rather itchy, but also
read/heard that ferrets seem excessively itchy to humans, which can be
normal for them, and I had given him quite a few baths recently, so
figured it was due to that.
-I know that they can get really itchy if bathed too much, but figured
that should affect the whole body, not just a random spot on his side.
-This started about 5 months ago, and the spot resolved itself (grew
back) - but I can't tell if it coincided w/ the bowel resolution. It's
kinda "iffy" now. There's some hair there, but it's noticable as a
"strange" patch.
-He has and continues to show no other signs of adrenal disease. He's
alert, happy, dooky, eats and drinks well, completely normal in all
other aspects. His weight is completely normal, if not a touch over
because I haven't let him out as much lately.
I remember reading something in a recent ferret magazine by the
famous Dr. Williams about immune-mediated skin disorders and
wondered if maybe this could be something similar, given the
(possible) inflammatory bowel which is also immune mediated. I don't
remember the article in it's entirety though and haven't been able to
find much information on this on the 'net.
Has anyone had any experience like this? A single bald patch on a male
that's *not* adrenal disease? What are the chances? or possibilities?
Sorry for the length of this. I didn't want to leave out anything that
might help.
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