>From:    Lara Carver <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re weenie licker
>Could he possibly have a urinary tract infection causing him discomfort?
>It sounds like something there is bothering him for him to lick himself
>until he has a scab.
 
Several things can cause this to such a degree.  It typically indicates
pain, or severe itching.  The problem may vary from being as mild as a
urinary tract infection (Hey, those HURT.), to grains in the bladder, to
urinary troubles secondary to adrenal disease (which typically means that
the prostate is inflamed secondary to the adrenal disease which can
become dangerous if not corrected, but which fortunately tends to respond
beautifully to corrective adrenal surgery), to some forms of tumors (some
of which really need to be treated rapidly).  The response by the vet a
few days ago (Dr. Ruth Heller responded if memory serves) was excellent,
and the back files at BOTH
http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html
 and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list
will allow access to posts in which vets have discussed some of the types
of tumors which can exist there and what is viable.
 
Please, recall that the vet response was an FHL cross-post carried to the
FML.  These periodically bring information to the FML for the files so
that the most ferrets possible can be helped, and so that the information
is readily available to ferret folks in multiple places in case one loses
data.  Carrying responses back in the other direction is impossible; my
time constraints simply do not permit it.  It is not possible to make
everyone happy in how such things are handled, but if the most ferrets
and people can be helped then something important has been accomplished.
 
(BTW, I think that most of the known world knows that I'm not a vet, but
the cross-posts almost always are responses from multiple respected
ferret-expert vets to questions posed on the FHL.)
[Posted in FML issue 3557]