I don't know if this will help much at all, but 2 years ago in august our
Fezzik seemed to have paralyzed hindquarters.  Unlike friday though, w/
Fezzy it happened abruptly.  We were devastated.  He couldn't move either of
his back feet and he couldn't take care of his bladder or bowel functions.
It made us cry just trying to help him out.  I'd have to gently squeeze out
the poopies, and wipe him off when the pee came out.  Unfortunately, the
vets in this area don't know much about ferrets.  Our vet studied up on it
as much as he could and he felt that Fezzy had injured his back. . .
According to him Fezzy probably injured a disk in his back.  He prescribed
prednisone and told us to come back in a couple of days.
 
Then a couple of days later we noticed that one of his rear feet was
starting to move just a bit as he dragged himself around w/ his front paws.
(Those little muscles were probably tired and sore from having to drag
around the rest of him.)
 
After about a week his left foot seemed about back to normal, but his right
foot still dragged behind him, and his back didn't slump quite as badly as
it did at first.  After 2 more weeks, his right foot was moving as well, but
he couldn't seem to get the bottom of his right foot on the floor.  He was
walking on the knuckels of his right foot and rubbing it raw on the carpet.
We put a little pink band-aid over his sore spot, but we thought the fur
would never grow back where he'd so badly rubbed it off and made it all
scabby.  Eventually his right foot recovered completely and the fur even
grew back.
 
I'm pretty sure that Fezzy's problem was diet related.  We were feeding him
and Bela Purina kitten chow (we were dumb.) I've heard that vitamin b
deficiency will cause hind quarters weakness.  Vets will need to confirm,
but I've that a shot of B-12 will make a big difference.  Consider what
Friday has been eating, consult a vet that knows about the B-12 thing and
see if that may help your little pal.  We understand how hard it is to watch
a sweet little creature become debilitated like that.
 
Best wishes for you and your fuzzy.
 
Jon, Mitsy
& the "chickens"
 
<(^  )
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[Posted in FML issue 1857]