Oliver is about 6 years old, and has never been very sociable.  His
playmate, Rikki, was killed by a cat over 8 months ago (she was
probably close to 7yo).  Rikki was a feisty, fun ferret.  She was easy
and fun to play with - loved to chase me around the house.  Olly
would usually watch us play, then Rikki would goad him into joining
us.  When I wasn't playing with her, she'd attack Olly and make him
exercise.  Now that she's gone, I can't seem to keep Olly busy, and
he's started to gain weight.  I've tried all the old games, and even
switched his food from SD kitten chow to SD cat chow.  Olly just
prefers to lick my hands and look around.
 
Also, last fall, we had a bad flea problem, and Oliver lost the hair on
his tail chomping at them.  We've cleared up the flea problem, but
Olly's fur just won't grow completely back (I give him a drop of
Linatone daily).
 
I've been watching him closely for the last month - trying to make sure
I interact with him daily (its been tough with a new (6 mo) baby in the
house).  In the past week, he's lost some control of his back legs.
When he's walking across our slick oak floor, he can't keep his back
feet under him.  He ends up flat on his tummy, doing a little push-up
with his front legs and swishing his back legs until he moves onto the
carpet.  Once he's on the carpet, he's fine (although he's still a
little slow, and his back doesn't arch like it used to).
 
Poor Olly's just a mess and I'm very concerned.  He has a vet apptmt
next week, but since my vet's in a FFZ, I'm not always confident that
he's able to keep up to date on ferret issues.  Has anyone had a ferret
decline like this?  Is there anything I should/can suggest to the vet?
 
- Worried in CA.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0531]