>From Matthew Madison Strauch, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 
I have to female ferrets, each about two.  My sable, named weasel (I
know...) has developed a bald spot on her hind quarters, right above where
her tail joins her body.  This spot is oval shaped (about an inch and a half
wide and three-quarters of an inch high) and totally bald.  Weasel has not
developed any symptoms of being sick, she eats and drinks a normal amount,
and is just as active as ever.  This bald spot is not discolored and does
not appear to be sore as I can pet or hold her and she takes no notice.  She
does not lick or gnaw at this (or anywhere elese) either.  As far as I can
tell, She does not even know it is there.  At first I thought it may be due
to the HOT summer and that this was a normal, perhaps shedding.  I am
beginging to become concerned as it has been a while.  My other ferret
(slinky) has no problems at all and lives in very close quarters with
weasel.  Has anyone seen this problem before?
 
As for all the potty training questions, I can tell you that the litter (or
suddenly changing brands) is very important.  I used to use a brand that was
made up of 1/2 inch long newspaper pellets.  This was great, it was
recycled, absorbed great, didn't scatter (too much) or track everywhere, and
was flushable.  Unable to find that particular litter anymore, I switched to
a pine pellet litter.  I figured "Well same size pellets, same ease of
cleaning, and it repels odor better.... I'll go for it".  Needless to say I
just made them a nice play area where they could root around.  They began to
use a different corner (why mess up a nice play box).  After blocking off
their "new" corner toilet, and a lot watching, I got Weasel to use the new
litter on a regular basis.  Slinky is just now using it on occaision (she
likes to keep one small spot clean to play in).  Changing litter brands can
be a pain, and now I am going to change again (which will probably be a
mistake, and I'll be back to square one) because these pine pellets turn to
what is best described as wet saw-dust when used and scooping is difficult.
Bottom line is I wished I had not gone straight into a new litter, perhaps I
should have mixed the new with the old and made it easy for them to figure
out what was going on, oh well hind-sight is 20-20.  :) MATT MADISON STRAUCH
[Posted in FML issue 1640]