>I'm wondering about Bandito here: He's a 2 year old male Marshall kid.
 
>He came here about 8 months ago with fleas.  He had lots of bald red spots
>and tons of scabs.  He weighed in at about 1.8 pounds.  Got rid of the
>fleas, and with a skin scraping realized he also had a staph infection.
>Got rid of all that.  And he was still scabby.  When I say scabs, they
>were covering his whole body, pads of his feet, in his eyelids, nose,
>ears everywhere.  He was also very thin...basically a very scrappy,
>uncomfortable looking little guy.  Several skin scraps later we realized
>it was an allergy, most likely to the fleas.  So he got a cortisone
>injection.  Within days the scabbing was gone and he was finally feeling
>good.  Just so there isn't any confusion..he came from the valley where
>fleas exist, I'm in the high desert where there are no fleas.  (lucky us)
>
>If he doesnt recieve a cortisone injection he goes back to being scabby.
>(about 4-6 weeks between) We've been giving him benedryl and I'm not sure,
>but I think that the scabbing might be lessened since doing so.  He's now
>super fat boy, I'm sure the steroids have to do with that.  He also has
>all his hair back and wieghs just a hair over 3 pounds.  He's a gorgeous
>kid, with the best personality.
>
>What I'm wondering though...I know it's darn rare for a ferret to have
>a thyroid condition, but being they have one, I figure it could happen.
>But being that he the steriods make the condition go away is it pretty
>unlikely that would be the cause?
 
Dear    :
 
Definitely not thyroid.  Thyroid disease in ferrets - only seen one case,
does not appear to manifest as skin - it is more a combination of heart
disease and lethargy.  Plus, thyroid would not be impacted at all by
cortisone, only thyroxine.
 
Allergies - possibly - some food allergies can be manifested in cutaneous
lesions.
 
But....based on what you are saying, the global distribution of scabs
(especially mucus membranes and paw pads) and the response to cortisone, my
first thought would be an autoimmune disease, such as pemphigus.  Have only
seen several cases, and all respond to long-term steroids.  In autoimmune
disease, the scabs actually start as intraepidermal blisters or pustules,
and are quickly ripped off by the scratching ferret.  Diagnosis can be
achieved by examining a blister or very recently ulcerated area for the
presence of characteristic information.
 
Pemphigus requires lont-term prednisone - no way around that - I would
prefer oral dosing at the lowest possible dose.  Should complications
arise, you can always stop giving the oral med, but you can't pull an
injection back out - you can only wait for it to wear off.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
P.S.  - You don't have any pictures of him in his scabby phase, do you -
I'd really love one.
[Posted in FML issue 3266]