Hi,
I have a question about a possibly sick ferret. I've been
very fortunate with my 3 ferrets - none of them have ever
been more sick than having a cold!
Now, I just got another ferret - a male, and he is 6 months
old. He got neutered about 2 months ago and is up to date
on all of his distemper vaccines (Fromm-D). His last one
was in July. He has never had a rabies vaccination and
supposedly has not been exposed to the green virus. He
is a home-breed ferret (i.e., not Marshall farms). He
is also not descented.
I just got him on Saturday, and today is Monday. I have
experience with my 3 ferrets so I know when things don't seem
quite right. The new one (who doesn't have a name yet), is
large for 6 months, and they said he developed very quickly
(was raised on Mink chow, was eating a mix of totally ferret
and purina something or other when I got him, and I switched
him to a mix of 1/2 Iams adult cat food, and 1/2 Iams kitten
food for the protein). A very knowledgeable friend of mine
looked at him when I picked him up and said he seemed okay
but a bit more fatty than she would have liked (she said he
should have had more muscle tone and mabye they weren't excercising
him enough). Since I've had him home he drinks *a lot* and eats
a fair amount too, and eliminates okay (he is probably about
3.5 pounds but looks like he should be about 4 pounds).
Ok, now to the problems, I hope I've given enough background.
Problem 1) He is *VERY* noisy! This shouldn't be a problem
except that I'm worried maybe he has some respiratory
problems. I can hear him breath when he sleeps. He
also whines *a lot* in his sleep (like he is
dreaming :), and that should be okay too, but when he
drinks, he swallows really loudly! Like his throat
is swollen or something...? He is also coughing a
bit - but he's always chewing on his very thick coat
so maybe he has hairballs.. Maybe he just has a cold.
Problem 2) When he goes to the bathroom it smells A LOT!!! A lot
more than I think it should, and a lot more foul than
any of my other 3 (2 fixed, descented females, 1 fixed
descented male). I can't tell the consistency of his
stool too much since I've been giving him laxitive and
I've switched his food and water, but given all that, it
"looks" okay. The other thing is, when I watched him
go this morning, he shit in the litter box just fine,
but then continued to pee (or drip a lot) while he walked
out of the litter box and across the floor - I'm wondering
if he might have some urinary tract infection... or if
this has anything to do with his neuter 2 months ago...
Right now he is quarantined from my other ferrets, though they have
all been exposed to each other (and didn't get along very well -
at least the 2 males - maybe because the new one has a strong scent,
I suppose because he hasn't run all those hormones through his system
yet).
I also have a vet appointment on Wednesday with a good vet. Please
let me know if any of this sounds like something to you.
Thanks much.
Chris.
email: [log in to unmask]
Thanks,
Chris.
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Chris Haas [log in to unmask]
Computer-Aided Engineering Center 265-2636
Training Coordinator/ Consulting Staff Room 277
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[Posted in FML issue 0992]
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