Hi all,
We have a BEW female ferret that is approximately 3-4 years old (we have
had her for a little over a year now and were told she was 2-3 years old
when we rescued her).  Over the last 2-3 days she has started to pull her
hair off her back right above and to the rear of her shoulder blades.  We
noticed an area of hairless skin yesterday (Monday) on her back and at
first we thought she had gotten caught in the recliner (we found a small
amount of hair just under the recliner) but today we noticed the patch was
bigger and she keeps biting and scratching around the bald spot.  Her skin
is (the bald spot) very smooth and pinkish white and doesn't appear to have
a rash or anything else wrong with it that we can see.  We have had a small
problem with flees, but no more than we usually do at this time of year.
All together we have five ferrets (3 males, 2 females) and the others all
seem to be fine except for her.  We gave them all a bath tonight with
baby shampoo in case it was itching due to flees but she is continuing to
scratch and bite behind her shoulder blades.  She has no hair loss anywhere
else and acts totally normal in every other aspect.  The rest of her coat
is shiny and glossy and appears fine, she has had her winter coat for a
long time and it could possibly be time for her to loose it; however, I've
never seen a ferret get bald like this when loosing a winter coat.
 
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions about Sheeba please email us
directly as we are trying to get ready to move later this month to Texas
and we don't always have time to read the entire ferret newsletter.
 
Thanks everyone
and Happy Ferreting !!!
 
Damon, Pennie, Emily
and the Five Terrors:=20
Peppin  (WOW can I BITE!!),
Sheeba  (I want some strawberry Licorice !!),
Grendel (I'm a monster- Grrrr!!),
Moose  (Where is Squirrel??),
and
Oz  (I'm a magician-I'll make yer favorite things disappear- POOF!!)
[Posted in FML issue 3440]