A week and a half ago I took my ferrets to the vet for a routine shots and
check up visit - all went well, they charmed people in the waiting room and
made the rather stern vet giggle with lickings.  Our youngest, Fathead,
received a half of a distemper shot (the vet only had one to split between
them, but he said that it should be sufficient, being a live culture) and a
rabies shot.  Fathead is only 7 months or so, about 2.5 lbs and very
energetic.  Why I'm posting is that in the past 3 days or so about half the
fur on his back and belly has fallen out.  He hasn't been especially
stressed, hasn't had food changes, the weather has been pretty constant - I
know that baldness can be a sign of adrenal disease, but 3 days seems kinda
drastic.  We did switch to wood pellet litter instead of alfalfa a few weeks
ago - wouldn't an allergy have shown up earlier?  There are shorter dark
hairs under the (mostly gone) white fluffy hairs and longer darker guard
hairs - I don't remember if they were always there or if they might be a new
coat coming in very suddenly.  I gave him his first bath in quite awhile
today with an itch relief shampoo and think I saw pink (but not raw) spots
under what fur is left.  He did have one flea, but he's never reacted to
them so strongly before, and I think that it just came in on the cat.  He
seems pretty healthy otherwise, alert and bouncy.  Has anyone seen this
sudden of a hair loss?
[Posted in FML issue 2212]