Hello all,
 
I have a little panda girl named Crockett who will be 6 years old in
September.  She has always been on the pudgy side, but all of a sudden in
the last week she has become a skinny ferret.  Normally my first thought
would be "blockage!", however she is not showing any other signs.  She is
hyper-active, not lethargic and is still having normal (slightly smaller)
poops.  None of my ferrets usually do the seasonal weight-gain-weight-loss
thing, but we have had a sudden onset of warmer weather.  The other weird
thing she is doing is attacking the boys in the cage.  I have been
hearing strange squeeking noises after returning them to their cage after
playtime.  This morning I watched as Crockett was pacing back and forth
in the cage (not her normal routine) and Conan came downstairs to use the
litter box.  Crockett jumped over and attacked him, squeeking madly; she
was trying to do an alligator roll on him, but he is much too strong for
her.  Conan went back upstairs looking very puzzled, shook it off and them
went back down and used the box while she was trying to claw her way out
of the door.  She has NEVER done anything like this before (at least not
since Conan got big enough to kick her butt).
 
I can't figure out what she is doing - is this some form of ferret
menopause?  She is not acting like a blocked ferret and the sudden
behavior change is not normally associated with seasonal weight-loss,
is it?
 
I would appreciate any of your insights, especially if you think this is
a need-to-see-the-vet-right-away sort of thing.
 
Dooks to all,
Serena and the Wrecking Crew:
Conan, Crockett & Elvis
[Posted in FML issue 3740]