Hi,
I am fairly new to this subscription, and have posted once or twice
previously. I have been contemplating whether to post this or not. I am
concerned, however, with my Alexander the Ferret. Perhaps I should explain.
(Please excuse the length.)
Around November, I noticed that he was scratching a lot more than usual.
This concerned me, but I figured that it was because he had not had a bath
in about a month. So I bathed him (Baby shampoo), and cleaned his cage,
etc. The next morning, he was still itching. Finally, I took him to the
vet. We have a very good and kind vet and he recognizes her immediately
(even though he doesn't like her very much because of the shots he gets once
a year. Have you ever heard a ferret scream? I have!!!!)
She looked him over and noticed a bald spot on his back, right above his
tail. She said that bald spots were typical for Cushing's Disease, but
they normally started at the top. Since this was at the same spot he was
itching, she wasn't too concerned. He might have done it to himself.
She also said that it could be one of three possibilities:
1) Fleas (which we saw no sign of)
2) Allergies (which he was treated for)
3) Cushing's Disease (which almost gave me a heart attack)
She gave us Prednisone to give him and said that he was probably allergic to
something and that hay fever was real intense here (Southern Illinois). I
started giving him the medicine, which seemed to help a little. (The bald
spot went away and no others have appeared to this day) One day, I noticed
him hanging from his cage (weird cage dimensions so this is possible) and
rubbing his head on the floor underneath! When he saw me, he gave me these
sad eyes like 'Please make it stop!' I called my husband, then the vet and
took him in. My usual vet was not in, but another one was. She recommended
that I have him tested for the Cushing's Disease, but I decided against it
because I had not seen any new bald spots and, quite frankly, her laid back
'I don't really care, I just want $150 just to poke around in your animal'
attitude really irritated me. That was the impression I got from her.
Finally she broke down and said it was possible that it was allergies, and
she gave me some Benadryl to give him. She also gave me some shampoo,
because the air was so dry, he could have dry skin.
After about a week or two I noticed he wasn't itching as much. I became
less concerned, figuring the medicine was working. Early January, the
Prednisone ran out and so did the Benadryl. To this day he is still
itching, but not wanting to keep him on medication forever, I did not refill
it. I tried the shampoo, but it was very hard to leave it on for 5 minutes
to soak in, since Alexander hates water. (He gets scared and, well, leave
things floating in the tub, if you know what I mean)
After all that, my main questions are these:
1) Could he be allergic to the beding? (we had Pine but ran out, now we
use Cedar. The pet store said these were okay, and the reaction hasn't
changed for either of them.)
2) Could it be dry skin? We tried the shampoo again, and this time he
didn't itch for 3-4 days.
3) I am petrified that it is something else. I have the money, but I don't
want him put through surgery needlessly.
4) He doesn't get to play as much as before, because our house isn't
ferret-proofed and before when he got to roam, he accidentally got his
head caught between the trunk and wall and was there for at least 10
minutes before we found him. I am afraid of a repeat performance since
the trunk would go totally against the wall. (Okay, okay, I know I'm a
worry-wart. I just can't help myself. My husband and I have no children
yet, so he is our baby.)
5) I am thinking about getting another ferret, this time from the
Humane Shelter, since Alexander has been bored lately and doesn't get to
play as much, I thought a companion would help, plus maybe save another
from destruction, or worse, a bad home. Do you think this would help any?
Please let me know what you think on this. And, again, I apologize for
the length.
[Posted in FML issue 1480]
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