Hello,
My name is Corrie I am owned by six ferrets and have been a ferret owner
since 1985.
 
First a short history on Podo.  I purchased him in The beginning of this
May at a garage sale.  He was not well kept and the owners weren't even
sure of his name they thought it was either Kodo or Podo so I just call him
Podo.
 
Well anyway when I got Podo he was missing a patch of fur from his lower
back about an inch about the tail.  There were some red scrape like marks
on it.  The owners said they would let him out in the back yard and he was
attacked by crows once so I though maybe this was the reason for the hair
loss.
 
I noticed several days ago That there is now some hair loss,just slightly,
between the shoulder blades.  Oh Podo is around 2 or 3 years we guess.  But
what really concerns me is that he has little red/orange marks all over his
body.  They just showed up the other day.  He doesn't seem itchy.  The
marks just seem like they are comming from his pores.  They make me think
of rat tail.  Podo is a free roam ferret (actually in only one room) and I
just shampood (sp?) the carpet the other day.  I was wondering if it was a
possibly reaction to the shampoo, he likes to sleep on the floor in an old
sweat shirt in the corner.
 
I took him to see Dr. Beeber in Rutherford,NJ on Thursday and he said he
would re-check ina month and if there was more hair loss he would do an
ultrasound to check for adrenal.  I thought this wasn't an accurate way
to diagnose adrenal.  If there was no more hair loss he would do a skin
biopsy.
 
Since I've had Podo he has been on a diet of Totally Ferret.  He has begun
sleeping more the last week but is not agressive.  I have moved him in with
my mothers ferrets where there is no carpet to see if the skin condition
goes away (the vet didn't fell it was contagious)Also as an added on note I
have two ferrets with adrenal tumors who are on Lupron and doing well.
Because they are 6 1/2 years old I opted to not do surgery.
 
Has anyone experienced this or have any suggestion.
 
Corrie
The Ferrets: Satchmo,Band-Aid,Flea,Garbonzetta,Zoey,Podo
The Cat: Misty
Visit us at http://www.geocities.com/~loveferrets.indexo.html
Visit my favorite Shelter at http://www.kistaferret.com
Visit and Join Ferret Lovers of New Jersey http://www.lma.com/flnj
[Posted in FML issue 3099]