Message Number: FHL5796 | New FHL Archives Search
From: "FerretMistress"
Date: 2008-08-18 21:34:02 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Weir nail growth problem - insulinomic ferret
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com

our 4 y.o. sprite Valkyra developed weird nail growth about 6 months ago.
she has insulinoma diagnosed in Nov last year and is getting her
methylprednisolone therapy 0.25 mg every 12 hrs with food.
none of her 3 cage mates don't have any similar issues.
we've done micological tests but it haven't shown any funghi.
none of our 11 ferrets do not have nothing similar, nor do we (me & my
husband) have any medical condition that could lead to such problem.
we do not have any other pets, our ferrets do not come out of the
apartment and the do not socialize with other people's ferrets.

well, off to the problem. the growth is dark brown, it looks sort of
crusty and scaly, and it seems that is is somehow attached or growing
from the root of the 4th finger's nail on left paw. about month before
this growth appeared we noticed that her nail is somehow dislocated -
it stood a bit aside, so I straightened it. she haven't show any sign
of discomfort, pain or else. so after about a month later this growth
appeared, first it was kind of yellowish and a bit of fresh blood
could be seen coming on surface of the nail around root. vet checked
it, said we should wash it in 1% iodium solution. after a 15 days
treatment it wasn't improved at all.after that is started to slowly
grow and become darker and crustier. for some time it even looked like
one more nail is starting to grow from the same nail-root, but looking
more like evil ugly twin brother of the healthy nail. when it has
reached half the size of her normal nail, vet decided that it can be a
bit shortened and the specimen sent to micological lab. nothing
happened when we cut a part of it off, it seemed like we just cut
regular (but more soft) nail. since micological test revealed nothing,
we decided to start antibiotic therapy. when we started it, growth
became dark brown (like a crust of dried blood) and it looked more
lumpy, about the size of the nail.

first she was getting antibiotic in tablet (amoxycilin and clavulanic
acid) for 14 day in march. the growth stopped growing but it haven't
disappeared. last two weeks, twice a day I swabbed it with mupirocinum
ointment but it also haven't done any significant improvement there.
today evening when feeding her dinner and pred, I noticed her paw is
swallen, red, and that finger is doubled in size of the pad and
tripled in size of the finger itself. her paw is all red and hot. her
paw definitely wasn't like that in the morning. she is not showing any
signs of discomfort, pain, her temperature is normal, her blood sugar
is normal, everything seems ok but the paw looks horrible.

tomorrow morning 9am we've scheduled at our vet's but I would really
appreciate and thoughts, ideas, experiences - few heads are usually
smarter than only one (especially when this one is being a bit in
panic :) )

I really apologize because of the long post but I tried to give the
best possible specification of the problem because I believe that
someone somewhere have an answer for Valkyra.

thanks a lot in advance

Petra, Alex & Dirty Dozen


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