>From:    Georgia Bambaci <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Possible Adrenal?
>I have a 4 year old ferret that I am concerned about.  He has some hair
>loss but only on the tail.  It is a stringy tail, not bald anywhere, but
>I also see blackheads.  I believe they are causing the hair loss.
 
Very likely.  Ferrets have a condition that most of us call "rat tail"
which shows as a balding of the tail with blackheads and often excess
skin secretions.  The old treatment was acne products containing Benzoyl
Peroxide or Salicilic Acid.  It didn't work very well.  I found a new
product in the acne products section of Wal-Mart by Johnson & Johnson
called Clean & Clear.  It will flat naturally cure this problem.  I scrub
the tail with it and a soft toothbrush daily and use a toothpick to scratch
out any remaining blackheads.  Do that until the tail stays nice and pink,
about a week, then back off to once or twice a week.  Booger had it last
spring and the treatment stopped the loss of hair, but his hair didn't grow
back until the fall shed.  Clyde had it last fall and his hair grew back
within a month and a half.  Several others on APF have tried it and
reported good results on their ferrets, too.
 
>This ferret has his own cage and has free play alone because he doesn't
>like the other ferrets.  He will try to attack them if they are loose
>together.  I have heard that one of the signs of adrenal is aggressive
>behavior.  For the past couple of days, I have noticed his private is
>alittle red.  I would like to take him to the vet to get tested.  What
>test should they be doing?  One vet recommends an ultrasound at $200 and
>the other one I spoke to says to do an adrenal palette at $150.  Both of
>these tests are expensive.  Is there any others that are somewhat cheaper?
>Which of these would be the most effective at diagnosing a problem?
 
It's precisely because of the high cost of testing that adrenal is
usually diagnosed by just the symptoms.  If you have a balding body with
agressiveness in the male annd a swollen vulva in the female, you do
exploratory surgery.  If the adrenals have tumors, they can be removed
and at the same time the liver, pancreas and spleen can be examined.  The
cost of the surgery should not be any greater than the cost of the test
would be.
 
Russ, Booger, Bonnie & CLyde
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>From:    Laura Horovitz <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: rat tail
>My Barret has begun to lose hair on her tail.  I took her to my vet (Whom
>is great with Ferrets and knows them well) and she said was not any early
>signs of Adrenal gland tumor, but foliculitious???  She recommended washing
>the tail with benzoil wash.  I am afraid this may burn her or hurt her but
>her tail is covered in black heads.  Any suggestions??
 
Your vet is right, adrenal disease causes baldness on the body, not the
tail.  Hair loss on the tail with blackheads is a condition that most of
us call "rat tail".  See the previous post for instructions for treating
it with Johnson & Johnson Clean & Clear.
 
Russ, Booger, Bonnie & Clyde
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[Posted in FML issue 3406]