Ok, I've had too many people email me about Tremor's problems.
 
I had been told by one vet (not a ferret specialist by any means!) that he
had cerebellar hypoplasia, which is a problem that is more likely in cats
during their fetal development.
 
I've heard from at least one person here (I think more, but I'm not sure)
that CH doesn't happen in ferrets.
 
I've heard at least one person tell me that it could be ear mites (his night
terrors, anyway).
 
But I'd like to know what it really might be...if there's a vet or three out
there that might just have a clue as to what these symptoms are:
 
His front paws curl under as if he were crippled, normally, but he *IS* able
to use them in a "normal" way (he grabs things, he walks on them just fine,
etc.).
 
He likes to drag himself (sometimes from the front, sometimes pushing
himself from the back) along anything smooth or "downhill" (like pipes).
 
When he shakes his head (after half way drowning himself in the water when
he drinks), he bumps his head on the floor regularly.
 
He's clumsy.  That's an understatement...he's a total klutz.  He'll try to
run after another ferret, trip, fall, roll, and try again.
 
He shakes all the time, except when he's asleep.  Sometimes it's not so bad;
at other times, it's almost hard to keep a hold on him.  When you lift him,
if it's not "just so" (and "just so" changes daily), he starts *REALLY*
shaking, and sometimes screams...though he's obviously not in pain.
 
When he's asleep, you might as well bury him...he's dead.  But if you
mention "cheese cake", he rises from the dead to mug you for it.
 
He *DOES* have ear mites, or at the very least a killer ear wax that
multiplies if you use miticide in his ears.  I'm serious.  I have to clean
his ears of "ear boogers" twice a day...they flake out, clump out, and the
interior is *LIQUIDY*.  The color changes from reddish/brown to brown to
black, depending on texture, location, etc.  It's mostly in his right
ear...the left ear is almost normal (I only need to clean it every few days
or so, and it's never a "flakey" or "liquidy" or "clumpy" mass).
 
At present, I'm *VERY* low on cash, so I need to know approximately what's
wrong so that I don't have to pay hundreds of dollars on merely
testing...though I'm fairly sure I'll have to do that anyway.
 
Oh, btw, before anyone suggests insulonoma, he has been with me for 1 1/2
years and was like this before I got him.  He'd been brought back to the pet
store twice before I "saved him"...and the estimate on age from the pet
store was that he was born roughly the January before, making him about 2.25
years old.  He could be older, since they got him from yet another owner,
who they said may have mistreated him (they thought the previous owner may
have given him brain damage or something).  Change of diet hasn't done much
in a long-run time period; we had changed from Purina Kitten Chow to Mazuri
Ferret Chow, and it *SEEMED* to help...the tremors went down for a while,
and he got "peppy" (he rarely dooks).  Unfortunately, this didn't last long.
We think it may have been the fact that we'd had to keep them all in cages
during the beginning of that food change, and letting them out got him
peppy...now that they're all out, they're *ALL* much more "laid back" (six
ferrets altogether).
 
Anyway, I'd very much appreciate anyone's opinion.  I haven't seen any other
possible "health problems" in the entire time I've had him, and he's my
personal favorite of the six (but don't tell the other five that!).  He's
certainly the sweetest ferret I've *EVER* met!
 
Hugs!
 
Cheryl Mathison
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(using the account at work till I get a new home phone)
[Posted in FML issue 1879]