Jerome:
 
Regarding your male ferret who is piddling on everything and losing weight --
has he been neutered?  This was the first thing that popped into my head,
especially since you mentioned the overpowering ferret odor.  If he's not
been neutered, I guarantee you'll see a different ferret once you get that
taken care of.
 
If he IS neutered, I would recommend talking about the possibility of
bladder stones to your vet.  An Xray should detect them, although I believe
the vet I went to put a colored dye in Claudia's system.  See, I had the
same problem four years ago -- Claudia seemed to be going constantly and
began making little noises of pain.  We thought it was UTI, but found out
she was loaded up with bladder stones instead.
 
If your treatments for UTI in a neutered male ferret are unsuccessful, I
would go this route.
 
Amy & Dave (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets)
RIP Ian and Elektra
[Posted in FML issue 1613]