Anne, please, do write a detailed post to the FHL as you offered to do.
 
If it is pemphigus this is a good time for a refresher which will happen
if the topic comes up, and there certainly may be new autoimmune disease
stuff on ferrets of which I am totally unaware, so your posting would
help us all.
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG513
 
includes:
>While I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was lupus (ferrets have yet
>to be truly diagnosed with lupus) our discussion centered around another
>autoimmune disease, pemphigus.  I think I can speak with authority on
>lupus, as I have written book chapters on the subject, and I have seen a
>number of cases of autoimmune disease in ferrets, and the two are quite
>dissimilar.
>
>However, what the autoimmune diseases share in common is the fact that
>for reasons we don't know, the body begins to produce antibodies against
>normal components.  In pemphigus, it is against the proteins that hold
>the skin together, so it often just comes apart, and you get scab
>formation.
>
>One of the main differences between lupus and pemphigus is that lupus
>is generally a systemic disease affecting many organs, including the
>kidneys and joints, and pemphigus is pretty much restricted to the skin
>and mucus membranes.
>
>With kindest regards,
>
>Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4803]