Just wanted to update the group about Baby and his strange hair loss behind
his ears, between his shoulder blades, on his tail, and neck.  I took him
to the vet last week and the vet examined him and said that he had ear
mites.  This means that the other 30 ferrets also have ear mites.  He gave
me a bottle of Frontline which is for dog and cat fleas.  He told me to put
2 drops in each ear once every ten days for a month.  He also said that
Baby didn't show signs of the typical Adrenal Disease and that he thought
that Baby more than likely had mange.  Where on earth would my ferret get
mange from?  I also told him that I had two other ferrets that have the
same hair loss and have had it for quite some time and that they both had
the Adrenal Disease.  The vet said that the other two just probably had
mange also.  Why would he say that?  He is a top ferret vet around here and
is well known for his work with ferrets so why is he saying all of this
crap?  He also said that if it wasn't mange that was causing the ferrets
hair loss that it was probably just from the ear mites.  Would ear mites
chew on a ferrets tail and make it loose it's hair?  It just doesn't make
sense.  He said that if he ran a test to confirm mange that it would cost
over $200 just for the one test.  Now mind you that these 3 ferrets with
the hair loss are all in different cages so if they really had mange all
of this time then why don't the other ferrets that live in these three
separate cages with them have hair loss and mange also.  I am at a loss.
Can anyone out there fill me in on this mystery?  I also wanted to ask
another question about this Frontline flea spray for dogs and cats.  If the
ferrets have ear mites and if the ear mites are traveling all over their
bodies and making them lose hair then shouldn't I spray this stuff on their
bodies?  Is it safe?  The vet never mentioned treating their bodies with
the spray just their ears.  Does anyone know?  I also wanted to add that
the day that I took Baby to this new experienced ferret vet I only had $50
and I called them and told them this in advance because they don't give any
credit at all.  It's pay here up front or no deal.  Well the lady there
told me that $50 should cover everything and that if I didn't have enough
we would discuss that when I got ready to pay for my visit.  Anyway Baby
had a small blister on his butt and so I had the vet check it out while I
was there.  The vet prescribed some cream to put on the blister when we got
ready to leave.  When I got ready to pay the bill it came to $56.  I only
had the $50.  Do you know that they refused to give me the ferret medicine
because I was $6 short.  Even after I called in advance and explained to
that lady my situation they still refused me.  So I ended up taking Baby to
this vet and paying out $50 for nothing.  I got nothing.  I was so pissed
off I could have had a stroke.  That will be my last visit to that vet!!
Someone please fill me in if you have the answers.
 
Michelle
[Posted in FML issue 3160]