I'm a little late on responding to this - I actually posted about
my DMK ferret on Rocky's Ferret & Rescue page on Facebook a few days
ago, so the timing is really good. I was trying to find out about what
illness are cropping up with them. I know a lot of the older ones died
within 1 year or so of the rescue.

My DMK is one of the last (if not the last, second-to-last) of the ones
brought back to FerretsFirst shelter in VA. Chops was just a baby (I
believe we actually got about 6 babies) and, yes, he's 5 now. And like
most of what I'm hearing about the DMK ferrets, Chops (Chompy) was a
really bad biter. He is now an angel who puts up with kisses until he
finally just turns & puts his paw on your face when he's had enough.

He was in a group of 7, which went down to just him in 1 1/2 really
really bad years (for both of us). We lost Izzy in November & Butters
in January, so it has just been me & Chomp for the last few months.

The reason why I originally posted on FB is because I remember a year
or so back that all the DMKs were starting to die at about 4-5 years
old & I was worried about Chompy. After losing all of his companions
(and he does NOT get along with any of my other ferrets at all) - he
started getting what I call "old man" face, where he just looks older
around the eyes & muzzle. Most of my ferrets get that about age 8 or 9.

He has also drastically slowed down & has become more & more lethargic.
I tried getting him some friends and instead of chasing & attacking
them like he does to every other ferret of mine he doesn't like, he
hid & snapped & screamed at them. He then let my mother hold him for
over 30 minutes. He has never made noise before - he has that breathy
laugh/chuckle when he is excited, but he never dooked/etc. The scream
startled me & I thought at first it was one of the new ferrets. He
also let my mother hold him for about 20 minutes - this is a ferret
that wiggles even when getting Ferretone, so that worried me as well.

I took him to the vets on Thursday & he got a full blood panel done,
as well as a checkup. He is in good health & his liver values are a
little high, so he is on Amoxy for two weeks. Other than that, no
problems. Which both relieved me as he didn't have any dire illnesses,
and worried me as I didn't have anything to attribute his bizarre and
drastic personality changes. He hasn't had any tooth problems - he gets
a dental once a year like all the others (until they hit 8 or so & then
it is on a case-by-case basis). He's even been to the AFA Ferret Shows
on the East Coast for the last two years.

And luckily, he has been perking up in the last day or so - he has
been running around, playing in his dig box, and begging for N-Bones
anytime anyone comes near him (he goes up on his hind legs & just looks
pathetic). So I am optimistic that if he was feeling a little run down
because of his liver, the Amoxy is working & he is going back to his
old self.

And he does seem to be quite content with just me, so I'm not going to
rock the boat.

Thanks!
Anna Marie

[Posted in FML 7390]