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Author wrote:
>A friend of mine called me yesterday and she is very worried about one her
>ferrets, Elwood. He has scabs all over his body and is crusty around the
>mouth. He also has swollen toe pads and she said they look a bit red. He
>also has a reddish nose. She took him to a vet in Portsmouth, NH (sorry,
>I don't remember who)and he really doesn't know what it is and guessed
>lymphoscama(sp)and put him on predisone.
 
Well, the suggestions that have made already are all very valid and
should be strongly considered.  Whenever crusting is seen in a ferret,
especially around the footpads and mouth, distemper should be the first
consideration.  Now Elwood is older, and most of our distemper cases
start with young animals, but the history of exposure to any other
ferrets as well as vaccination should be examined.
 
A rare disease of ferrets, but one that usually presents as scabbing is
pemphigus.  This usually responds to high doses of prednisone, and in
ferrets scabbing of the skin, but not of the oral membranes is the most
common presentation.
 
A third possibility is a disseminated staph infection, but I don't think
that I have ever seen this in ferrets (but there is always a first time.)
 
In these cases, biopsy of fresh lesions (especially any that look like
blisters is very important, especially before lots of different
medications are tried.  It is often a very iffy proposition, as these
ferrets so often scratch the lesions very soon after they develop, and
all you get is a scab to look at.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3849]