October 26th late afternoon I received a call from a former co-worker.
She was cooking and what she thought was a rat tried to get into her
house. Her roommate came running to her screams and discovered the
"rat" was actually a ferret! He captured it, put it in a cat carrier
and they called me.

They live on the beachside peninsula of Daytona Beach,Fl. She told me
on the phone the ferret was "missing some fur and was skinny", which
didn't quite prepare me for the site I saw when I arrived.

I brought the ferret home - it was a male, with the familiar double
dot tattoo of a Marshall's ferret on one ear.

On the way home I christened him "Kosmo" because the comos had brought
him to me. This was Kosmo that first night:
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo102609c_sm.jpg>
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo102609h_sm.jpg>

Being as Kosmo was found on the beachside all I can do is surmise what
kind of living arrangements he had and what his diet was. Beachside
houses are designed to draw in and enhance natural sunlight, beachside
dwellers on the average seem to enjoy this - so it is likely he was
housed in a very bright area. The area where he was found is
predominantly rental houses and when I went to pick him up there were
all sorts of "FOR RENT" signs visible. He may have been turned loose
when rentors moved out. No one knows. 24 hours later he shows evidence
of at least a full belly and better hydration:
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_102709_sm.jpg>

Took Kosmo to a vet a few days after being found; that vet wanted to do
surgery immediately - "if I was willing to roll the dice" - I was NOT -
I felt that if Kosmo was to undergo surgery he certainly needed more
weight on him! That vet had never heard of Lupron and Melatonin
approaches for adrenal problems - so I made an appointment with another
vet to investigate this approach until Kosmo was healthy enough to
undergo surgery.

16 days later he is still improving:
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_11_09_09.jpg>

That's how Kosmo looked when he was seen by the second vet. She did an
initial exam. Projected his age to be 5 years old. Exclaimed he was
a good example of living anatomy.She suggested blood work to get a
baseline and I was all for it until she revealed her fees for this
baseline test. I opted to wait on the blood work, talked with her about
the combined approach of Melatonin and Lupron as suggested by friends
with ferrets suffering already from adrenal problems. She said she
normally only did one or the other but not both. So we set another date
for a second visit and blood work But Kosmo was still not on any meds
to combat his adrenal.

Some online research revealed an interesting parallel for Kosmo's
outward appearance:
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Diet/VegetarianFerrets_sm.jpg>

Its quite likely that Kosmo IS definitely suffering from an adrenal
issue - this type of hair loss is common with adrenal problems. But I'm
not certain that such a recovery is common among adrenal ferrets when
the ONLY thing that has changed for the ferret is diet and housing.

22 days later Kosmo still showing strong improvement:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_11_20_09a.jpg

1 month later Kosmo is well on the way to looking like a regular
ferret. He is also adding raw items to his diet - turkey heart, chicken
wings, Cornish Game Hen, minced rat pup. His energy level is much
improved.
<http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/?action=view&current=Kosmo_Carnivore_112709.flv>
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_11_27_09.jpg>

40 days after being found naked and starving Kosmo looks like this:
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_120609.jpg>

4 days after the above photo, Dec. 10th, he went back to the vet's, but
after considering his age, I've pretty much ruled out surgery. On- line
research indicated that blood work done to pinpoint adrenal problems is
basically a moot point - especially if the ferret is already exhibiting
external indications; also the test can come back with indeterminate
information. So I insisted he receive a Melatonin Implant and a Lupron
injection. The vet was amazed at his transformation saying "He doesn't
look like the same ferret!" I described his diet which is almost an all
natural diet and she agreed that diet is very improtant to the over all
health of a ferret. When I talked to her about the vetgetarian ferret
described in the vet book - she was familiar with the book and
mentioned that even kibble is basically a vegetarian food and ferets
are definitely NOT vegetarians! Finally a vet with a handle on the
needs of ferrets! He cried when he was injected with Lupron in his
thigh, but didn't seem bothered at all being harpooned with the
Melatonin implant! She used tissue glue to close up the wound and we
went on our way!

This photo was taken 5 days after the implant:
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_121509a.jpg>
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_121509.jpg>

Kosmo still has a ways to go before he looks normal and is of a normal
weight, but the evidence of the influence of a the power of a good diet
is indisputable! High meat source protein and high fat diets are what
ferrets do best with! Kosmo lives with Mimzy - another rescued ferret
that was starving and in need of a good diet. She too is a confirmed
raw/natural eater and is showing the proof of the power of a good diet!
<http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/Vanityferret/Kosmo/Kosmo_121609.jpg>

[Posted in FML 6552]