Rachel, I don't think there's anything wrong with your question.  We see
rough coats on a lot of ferrets, and itchy skin, and most of the time the
reason is a diet too low in fatty acids and proteins.  Itchy skin can also
indicate allergies, skin conditions, or adrenal disease, but it's a rare
vet who wants to cut open a ferret because it's itchy.  Anyway, most of
the time, the coat should improve dramatically within a month or two.
At the very least, after the next coat change, although we often see
improvement somewhat sooner than that.  The first change we note is that
the orange-yellow stripe down the spine of many ferrets fed cheap foods
begins to fade.  Then the coat softens.  Ferretone helps, of course--and so
would cod liver oil. :-)  Good food is the most important thing, though.
I'm sure whatever Illura's eating should do the trick. :-)
 
Some ferrets have naturally coarser coats, as well.  Our chocolate Tess is
silky and soft, while silver mitt Figaro has a rougher, coarser coat.
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
http://home.maine.rr.com/tesseract
[Posted in FML issue 3132]