Fellow FMLers,
 
I am in desperate need of some advice.  I have three ferrets - one of which
has to be let out separately.  She is five years old and I got her this past
July.  She was an only ferret and WOULD NOT integrate with my other two.
She has wiggled her way into my heart and sleeps with me every night.
However I am very worried about her.  After bringing her into my home in
July she proceeded to lose all of the fur on her tail - she is completely
bald there except for a little tuft on the end.  I know this is caused from
the stress of leaving her owner of five years plus being around other
ferrets which absolutely TERRIFIES her to no end.
 
After a couple of months, I gave up on trying to integrate her.  Since then
she has been one happy little ferret!  She dooks continuously the whole time
she is out, she runs to me for affection all the time, she curls up and has
to be touching me when she sleeps, etc.  Yet her tail hair has not grown
back; in fact, it has gotten red and scaly and seems to be rather sore to
the touch.  I am rather desperate at this point because I don't know what to
do.  The place where I work only pays us once per month!!!  and being right
after Christmas, I certainly won't have any funds for the vet for awhile.
I've been putting a little polysporin on it over the last few days and her
tail marginally improved.
 
She certainly doesn't have the same stressors in her life compared to when I
first brought her home, and she is not losing any additional hair anywhere
else on her body, so why isn't it growing back?  Also, the redness and
flakiness on her tail really only came to my attention recently.  I am
writing from Nova Scotia and it is damned cold up here (-15 degrees C),
could this be causing it?  She hasn't been outside except for the drive down
to my parents for Christmas (1 1/2 hrs.), but the heat has been cranked so
the apartment is probably drier - forced air.  Any ideas, suggestions,
solutions?  This doesn't seem like normal stress-related hair loss to me,
originally yes, but not anymore.  HELP.
 
If you could e-mail me directly I would appreciate it.  I just got on a new
server before Christmas so all my old mail had to be transferred and I have
a lot of catching up to do (I could never get on the other server).  Thanks
in advance.
 
Gail (a VERY worried mom)
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[Posted in FML issue 1434]