Dear X: I think that you would need to have a pathologist confirm the
presence of emphysema here.  Emphysema is the breakdown of the alveolar
walls - the walls between the little grape-like clusters of the air sacs.
 
We can actually see this finding in animals that breathe very heavily
prior to death, or those with long-term bad coughs, as you mention here.
I have seen many ferrets who belonged to smokers, and they do indeed have
excess carbon material in their lungs, but emphysema is not a finding.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
P.S.  A good gross post is still not as good as a routine microscopic
analysis!
[Posted in FML issue 3680]