We have a Ferret he is about 3 - 4 years old. We adopted him from a
shelter about 9'ish months ago. He has a large abdomen and has never
been as active as the other ferrets probably do to an enlarged spleen.
Last fall he went through a phase (a couple weeks long) of decreased
activity (even for him). We took him to our vet who did x-rays and
since he was much more active at the vets office, and the x-rays only
showed an enlarged spleen, we thought that he was over what ever he
had. Since then he's been more active, playing with balls an such. The
problem is now (for the past couple weeks) he's been in another phase
of decreased activity. He is a bit more itchy than the other ferrets.
He'll walk around but then lay down, either by a door, or partially in
a plastic bag (with lots of holes cut in it), or with his head under
a kid's pom pom. The other day another ferret wanted to play with him
while he laid there. He jumped on his back and wrestled some, got off
and laid next to him and rapidly pawed at him and he didn't move. When
I went over and stroked his neck he popped his head up and looked at
me. We took him to the vet who did a physical exam and didn't find
anything wrong with him. He gave him a shot of ivermectin in case he
had mites because he itched more than the other ferrets and we thought
maybe he wasn't getting any sleep having to get up and scratch several
times an hour. Last night he was digging and chewing at a toy. He would
dig or chew for a 10 - 20 seconds and stop for 30 - 60 seconds and then
dig and chew for 10 - 20 seconds and stop again. He rests a lot but
when you interact with him he seems okay, but after you put him down he
takes a few steps and lays down. He will and does walk across the room
or down the hall to another room but lays down when he gets there.

To recap. Our Ferret (Bear) has never been as active as the other
ferrets. We don't know his history but he does have a large spleen.
He has had periods in the past of decreased (even for him) activity.
He seems to be in another period of decreased activity. He doesn't
seem to be exhausted but he doesn't do as much as he use to.

Is it possible that this is just seasonal change as all our ferrets
seem to be going through a coat change as their bodies are getting
ready for spring? It seems to me that his last period of decreased
activity was when their bodies were getting ready for winter.

I would think it was boredom but we rotate their toys and change
bedding every week.

We are planning to take him back to the vet next week but I don't know
what to have them look at. New x-rays to compare to last falls x-rays
but what else can we do?

Thank you

Mike

[Posted in FML 5907]