>We took him to the vet for shots and a checkup and brought this to his
>attention.  He took xrays, blood work, and tried to open Bartleby's mouth
>while he was under sedation.  He couldn't get the jaw open but maybe 1/2
>and inch.  He thought it could've been Miositosis or Lock jaw.  So, he put
>him on prednisone and sent me to another vet for a second opinon.  She
>said it was neighter of those 2 things b/c of the xrays and the fact that
>he hadn't lost any muscle tone around his scull.  She suggested sending
>the med records and xrays to an exotic animal radiology specialist in
>California so he could review it and see if maybe there is a bone tumor
>or something.  That is where we are at now.
>
>The prednisone has helped a bit.  His mouth will open further now than it
>used to when he yawns, but not totally open like the rest do.  We really
>don't know what to expect here and don't know what, if anything can be
>done about this.  Has anyone seen this type of problem in ferrets before?
>Any ideas as to what may be wrong or in what direction we should go?  Any
>help here
 
Dear X - This is an interesting and unique case, and one that I haven't
heard about previously in ferrets.  We can first rule out the possibility
of "lockjaw" - the old name for tetanus, as this condition affects all of
the muscles and severe ambulatory deficits precede any involvement of the
face.
 
The possibility of myositis is also one that has not yet been seen in
ferrets - it is a disease of dogs that does hit the muscles that control
chewing - the top of the head does generally lose most of the muscle
covering.
 
Usually, a bone tumor of this area would be pretty obvious, but the
consultation wouldn't hurt.  Some form of defect in the temporomandibular
joint is probably at the top of my list - rarely this joint in dogs can be
deformed so that it does not open properly.  The correct radiographs to
demonstrate any defect here would probably need to be taken at a referral
radiology practice - as the TMJ of a ferret is very small - the detail
that is available at most practices may not be sufficient to fully evaluate
in detail.
 
I wish I could be of more help, but form a distance, this is probably the
best I can do.  I am interested to hear if anyone else has seen a case
like this and what the final outcome of this particular case will be.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3481]