To Paula:
 
>From the tip of his tail to about the middle it is sparse and skinny
>looking.  If it were at the base of his tail, where it attached to his
>posterior, I would think adrenal disease, but it is from the middle to the
>tip!  Another docent mentioned noticing him chewing on it.  Slinky ...
>weight and generally be in ill health over the summer.  At that time they
>were seperated and are still in seperate cages even though Fearless is
>better now.  Hunter is much younger at 7 months and is aggressive toward
>the other two, and has been caged alone since he has been at the zoo.
 
    Paula - while unsightly, this isn't a serious problem.  Ferrets lose
their tail hair when sick, stressed, or often during the shedding cycle.
It generally grows bak, unless caused by a systemic illness.  Bob, our
5-year-old with cardiomyopathy, has the same problem, but we not even
thinking about it - the heart problem is far more serious.
 
    I would suggest putting Slinky and Fearless back together and see what
hapens - that may relieve the stress and put him back on the road to
recovery....
--
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Department of Veterinary Pathology
[log in to unmask]                       Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
(202) 782-2600/2602                     Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1335]