I have a 6 year old sable ferret (neutered MF) that has exhibited similar
symptoms for the last 4 years.  It appears to be a seasonal thing, or at
least cyclical.  For about six months from April to Sept she will have a
swollen vulva and undergo gradual hair loss from her shoulders, front feet &
head.  Some discharge is evident.  The vet I consulted for this problem 4
years ago just put her on Ampicillin.  After a month of antibiotics with no
improvement, I discontinued usage and waited.  After another month went by,
she grew her pelt back & her vulva shrunk back to normal.  This cycle has
been repeated (without antibiotics) every year since then.  She has been
otherwise healthy & playful... so I decided not to have a vet cut her open
and go looking for trouble.  My understanding is major surgery on ferrets
is fairly dangerous.  I think the symptoms indicate a partial neuter... but
I'm not an expert.  It seems like even the experts are not always so expert
when it comes to ferrets.  It seemed to me that having only one (or a piece
of one) ovary might not result in the deadly consequences associated with
unneutered females in heat.  The large number of people reporting cyclical
hair loss and vulval swelling in factory breeder ferrets leads me to
believe these factories are getting sloppy with their neutering production
line.  Gotta ship those units, right?  My $ 0.02.
 
[WL]
[Posted in FML issue 2450]