Dear Jen
 
>My oldest is Newton, she's seven, and although she has always been the
>healthiest little animal I have ever seen, I have noticed she has started
>to wheeze when she wakes up in the morning.  You can hear a bit of a
>rumble in her lungs when she does this.  I am confident this isn't due
>to a cold or flu... I think it might be her age but if there is something
>that can be done about it I would do it in an instant.
 
Assuming that there is environmental dust control and the humidity isn't
like a desert in her room, then there is something you can do.  Schedule
for a physical with your vet and make sure to include a chest X-ray.  While
it may simply be again changes in the respiratory tract (yes, we all can
get a bit raspy as we get older), I think at her age it is cost-effective
to make sure it is not something that is best treated aggressively and
early, such as early heart disease.
 
The #2 sign of heart disease is coughing, especially around bedtime or at
waking.  (#1 is lethargy, but it can be a little bit of a tricky ID in an
older ferret.) Heart disease increases in prevalence with age, so it is not
unreasonable to expect to see this every once in a while in your household.
So let's be proactive and take a look.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3286]