My little Pichu has a problem with her nails.  At first I thought they
were just dirty from stepping in poop or food, but upon closer inspection
it looks like there is a crusty crowth close to her cuticles.  Almost like
dried blood, but I never saw her nails bleeding.  I never cut her nails
too short, either.  It also looks like the part of her nail close to the
cuticles is cracked.  It's on almost all her fingers on her front paws,
and it's starting to show on her back paws.  I can touch her paws and they
don't seem to hurt.  I've never noticed her chewing on them or anything.
Other than this she seems healthy - she plays, eats, sleeps and poops
like normal.
 
I brought her to the vet today, who gave me antibiotics to feed Pichu
twice a day.  I'm going to bring her back in a week to see how she is
doing.  The vet didn't know what it was, although she saidit was an
inflammation.  She asked if I had introduced anything new to the ferrets,
and the only thing I can think of is that I started using pine litter one
to two months ago.  The doctor suggested I switch back to her old litter
(recycled newspaper pellets), and that maybe she is allergic to the pine.
Pichu's nails look ok, I can still see the pink vein.  I have no idea what
this is or where it came from.
 
Has anyone encountered this before?  My ferrets never go outside.  They
either stay in their cage, which is fairly clean, or roam around my room.
My other two ferrets don't have any problems, except one looks like she
might be starting to get a growth (if that's what is is) one one of her
front nails too.
 
Please help!
 
Gladys, Pichu, Sam & Toby
[Posted in FML issue 3699]