Hello again from down under!
 
Septemer has really been a bad month with all kinds of things happening to
us ferret-wise for the first time and I find I'm ageing rapidly!!  Another
query and I would be most grateful if anyone has an answer :-
 
This morning Mash (she's our tiny albino, about 3-4 years old now) was
dooking about the place, playing with her usual gusto.  NO problems
whatsover - she was hooning around, jumping at the cats, racing up our
eldest girl's back and burrowing in her hair, racing down the pipes and
giving the other ferts the usual dose of hass!
 
Then about 10 minutes later I walked down the corridor and noticed her
coming towards me - she was *trying* to walk but her back legs wouldn't
work, in that she kept on flopping over onto her side.  I put her on the bed
and she slithered off but did a roll when she hit the floor, instead of the
usual landing.  I called Philip and Alexia and we watched her - most
definitely she seemed to have poor control over her back legs, and yet when
I held her in my hands, I could feel her trying to jump out and knew that
her back legs were not "paralysed" as I could feel the strength in them.
 
It was only 7:30am so we phoned the ferret vet and found he was on duty at 9
(today's a holiday in West Australia) so that was a relief.  Then, about 15
minutes later, Mash was running around with no apparent symptoms.  We
watched her for quite a while and there was absolutely nothing to show that
she had a "flopping over" problem.
 
We wondered if she had sprained a foot muscle or something - it really has
us totally mystified but I would be very grateful if anyone could email me
if they are aware of something like this being the start of something
sinister.  I don't think it is ear mites, as she didn't rub her head along
the ground and I have checked her ears, no dark wax.
 
Many thanks.
 
A very elderly feeling Nona
The Ferret Centre
[Posted in FML issue 1708]