Hi all,
 
I'm hoping someone can help me out with this.  My 3 1/2-year old female
ferret has had swollen genitals--both her vulva and her anus-- twice in the
past month, each time lasting for about 2 days.  They look very sore and
red.  I have one other ferret (male, neutered as a kit) and they play rough
a bit.  When I took her to the vet, he said it was possible she didn't have
all of her ovarian tissue removed when she was spayed as a kit and so she's
going into heat a bit.  But he said it should last longer than a couple days
and I've never noticed this till now.  He said it might be possible she has
some hormonal problems (like Adrenaline), but she's pretty young for that
and she seems completely fine, energetic, not losing hair, etc.  One
interesting thing is that she kind of has a cough along with the swollen
genitals--both times.  In fact it was actually the cough i brought her into
the vet for because her genitals had gone almost back to normal by the time
i was able to take her in on a Monday (I noticed it on a Sat.  night).
Anyway that was a week and a half ago that I brought her in for the first
occurrence, and I've been checking her everyday since, and i noticed last
night that they are swollen again and she's also kind of wheezing again.
One other tidbit is that I just moved into this new apartment a month ago
and her favorite place to sleep is underneath the dishwasher, which I don't
like but it's hard to keep her out of there.  (Believe me I never run it
unless she's in her cage.) Anyway, you know how they always wipe their
bottom on the floor after they go to the bathroom, well, I thought maybe
there was something on the ground underneath the dishwasher that is
irritating her.  But on the other hand the male doesn't have this problem
and he sleeps there with her .  My vet and I thought it was very strange
though that it was both her vulva and her anus that were red and
swollen--kind of eliminating a bladder infection or bowel problems.  Anyway,
I'm going to keep her away from the kitchen for a long time and see if it
doesn't come back.  And I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow if she's
still swollen to check her bladder, hormones, etc.
 
There's only me, the two ferrets, and two cats in the household.  I'm kind
of at a loss over what can be causing this.  Have any of you seen or heard
of this before?  Any suggestions?
 
Thanks,
Chris
Alex (more raisins mommy please!)
Tabby (ouch my underside's sore but I still love to PLAY)
 
J. Christen  .  Jenkon International, Inc.  .  http:\\www.jenkon.com  .
360-256-4400x2537
[Posted in FML issue 1906]