I bought a 6-week old ex-male ferret (Zappa: my second) about a week
ago.  At first he seemed perfectly normal, but two days ago when he
woke up his front paws did not work properly.  He was unable to support
his body weight on his front paws most of the time, and often pushed
himself along the ground with his hind legs, with his fore legs just at
his side.  At times he falls off of things (he looks like he's drunk),
or just suddenly lies on his belly, unable to get up.  In the past two
days he's missed the litter box frequently, even though he never missed
it during the first 3 days he was here (yeah, I know you can't expect
to train them in just a few days, but he really had it figured right
from the start, and now he's messing all over the place).  When he does
walk, his gate is tentative, and he never runs or hops [any more].
He's still happy, alert, and spunky, but I definitely think there is a
problem here.
 
I was concerned that perhaps my first ferret (Bobongida: 6 months old)
had bitten Zappa and caused this injury (they play very aggressively),
but 1) there is no blood, scab, or swelling, 2) he shows no signs of
any pain if I stroke his neck, chest or paws, and 3) the problem seems
to be with both front paws, not just one; so I guess trauma is
unlikely.
 
I took him to the Vet yesterday.  The vet says Zappa is "knuckling
under" and that it looks like a neurological problem.  She gives him a
50/50 chance that he'll get better spontaneously, but also a 50/50
chance he'll never recover.  She saw no other signs of illness or
trauma.  She gave me an anti-inflamatory drug, which seems to be doing
a little good (too early to tell for sure).  The biggest problem is
that even if he gets better, I'll not be sure, for months, whether
he'll be "normal" or not in the long term.  A stressfull situation...
 
Has anyone seen this kind of thing before?  I'd like to know what the
prognosis is: I may have to make a tough decision in a week or so, and
while I don't have any problem keeping him around in a less-than-
perfect state, I'm not sure I want to keep him if he is certain to
deteriorate, be unable to be litter trained, etc...
 
Any comments would be appreciated!
 
                Jon   ([log in to unmask])
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 ~ SPEED 1.4i #1419 ~   I come from Alabama with a QWK packet on my knee...
 
[Posted in FML issue 0693]