Hi everyone,
 
One of my ferrets has been acting strange and I desperately need some
input.  Annie is about 6 months old.  She's always very energetic and
playful.
 
Usually when we come home from work, the ferrets (we have 4) are let out
to run the house for 2-3 hours in the evening before we go to bed.
Typically they eventually fall asleep in our kitchen drawers and cupboards
by the time we gather them for bed.  Last night, I think they had been out
for about an hour and I found Annie curled up in the middle of the kitchen
floor.  She is deaf so she is always hard to stir out of a sleep, but
still she seemed disoriented when I finally woke her up.  I got one of her
favorite toys out and she took an interest, but within 10 minutes she was
back on the kitchen floor curled up asleep.  When we went to bed we put
her in a "sick cage"; a single cage we have separet from the multi-level
we have for the group.  She instantly fell asleep.  She looks kind of
bleary-eyed.  And she fell asleep on my partner's chest for like 15
minutes (she rarely even lets us hold her b/c she's so energetic).
 
Anyway, we've checked on her multiple times during the night and she's
breathing.  She got up and drank some water this morning.  I cant tell
whether or not shes eating yet.  I want to keep her separate from the
others until I see that she's better.  I went through a ferret book I have
last night to look at all the possible illnesses.  She's so young that I
wouldnt think insulinoma, but the major sign for that is lethargy.  Then
I was thinking about influenza--my partner and I have both felt under the
weather for at least the last week, and I wonder if she's caught that from
us.  But the book says she's have runny eyes and nose and I havent seen
that yet.  She has been sneezing occasionally but I didnt really think
that was unusual; it's not unusual for the ferrets to get dust in their
nose, from being so low to the ground and sneezing.
 
Any ideas out there?  Sorry this is so long but I wanted to adequately
explain the situation.  Thanks!
 
Becky
[Posted in FML issue 3591]