To Terry and Fester
 
>My other problem is my little Fester.  I noticed that he developed a bad
>odor around his face and finally pinpointed it to his ears.  His ears are
>full of reddish-brown wax.  I clean them daily, but by the next day they are
>full of wax again.  I'm pretty sure that he does not have ear mites ...  to
 
I don't think that you can tell whether a ferret has an ear infection
without looking at a sample of the wax under the microscope.  Ferrets often
have ear mite infections without scratching their ears - in facts, that's
the general rule.  If the wax is building up daily - that means that there
is chronic irritation there, and it very well may be due to mites.  However,
neither mites nor bacterial infections generally have a bad odor.
 
I would suggest a trip to the vet and have him take a look.  If there are
mites, he can prescribe a miticide and a ceruminolytic (something to
dissolve wax).  If there are no mites, then he can check for infection, and
at least, you'll walk away with a qualified opinion, and a couple of bottles
of ceruminolytic.....
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
Dept. of Veterinary Pathology               [log in to unmask]
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
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[Posted in FML issue 1704]