From:
JenniferRJ2005@aol.com
Date: 2009-05-07 04:11:37 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: To shed or not to shed . . .
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I have a question. I have a 4 or 5 year old female ferrett and her name is
Sally. Recently within I would say the last year or so she started loosing
her hair completely and then after a about a month or so she grows it back.
She is starting to loose it again and I think she's got bad nerves because is
always scratching but she has no fleas. I thought maybe she had dry skin so
I used a little bit of head and shoulders shampoo on her when I gave her a
bath and it helped for a couple of days but after that she is still
scratching. There a possiblity that she maybe allergic to something or is this
normal for her to shed her whole winter coat and then grow back her summer coat
like this. It worries me because I don't want to lose her she eats good and
she runs around the house with no problem her and my other female ferrett
have full run of the house and they play. I have made the whole bottom of their
cage the litter box with the wood chips that people use in hamstr cages I
think that maybe she might be allergic to it. What do you think?
Jennifer
[Do not use Head and Shoulders for a ferret; there is a
poisoning risk. Do not use cedar and don't use pine chips
since the oils in the first can cause permanent respiratory
damage in mammals and the oils in the second cause allergies
in some ferrets.
That said, this sounds more like the start of a common
ferret health problem: adrenal neoplasia, so off to a
vet who knows ferrets. Learn first in these places to get
started and understand terms:
http://www.miamiferret.org/adrenal.htm
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/aae.html
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/PDF/neoplasia.pdf
Adrenal disease in ferrets is very different from the
Cushings that most mammals get instead, so the vet
MUST know ferrets or be willing to learn, including from
refs like the ones given. See:
http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
Others will say much more to help you further. --Moderator]
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