Spiney Norman,
 
There are several diseases that can cause a ferret to drink and urinate more
then normal.These include diabetes, kidney infection, kidney failure, liver
disease/failure, kidney or liver cancer.
Since there are so many potential causes and some are serious it is
important to do some lab tests rather then the "shot gun "approach.  It
would also help to know how old she is (in older ferrets we are more
concerned about kidney failure or cancer).  I would strongly recommend
bloodwork and a urinalysis at the least to help diagnose and therefore
properly treat your companion.  With diabetes there is glucose in the urine
and the blood glucose is greater then 160.  This is treatable with insulin
shots.  There are also oral medications for diabetes; unfortunatele they
are ineffective to treat dogs with diabetes and there have not been studies
in ferrets (to the best of my knowledge).
 
Good Luck
Dr Weiss
301-299-4142
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[Posted in FML issue 1148]