I don't know whether to be worried about my Moogie's health or not.  Moogie
is a neutered male, and I have no real idea about his age, though the humane
society estimated around 1 & 1/2 yrs.  old.  He was very skinny when we got
him about five or six weeks ago, but he has put on enough weight that you
can't feel his bones so easily, and he's always hungry.  He's much more
playful now, too, and seems to feel good.  He drinks an awful lot of water,
and has always seemed to have regular trips to the litter box.  But
sometimes it seems to me that his back end is less coordinated than his
front, though he runs and plays and climbs; particularly on his left rear.
Thing is, I can't be sure about this, because I've never seen another ferret
walk, run, or play!  so I don't know if his gait is normal or not; it just
looks kind of awkward.  I know that's a sign of adrenal problems, but he
has no hair loss, not even on his tail.  His coat and skin are dry and
itchy, though, even though I supplement his food with Ferretone.  He does
seem to be thirsty an awful lot.  Then, last night, when I let him out of
the cage he came and drank water, then climbed in the little box and
'assumed the position', but nothing came out.  He left the box for a few
moments, then climbed back in and repeated the performance, with the same
result.  He did the same thing about five times.  The last time, there were
a few drops of normal-looking urine in the litter, and he didn't go back
after that, he went and played.  I picked him up and felt of his abdomen
really well to see if anything felt swollen or distended, and he felt
perfectly normal and didn't seem sore.  Then, there's the urine puddle just
outside of the litter box from the evening before that looked like it had
blood in it-- but previous to last night I had attributed this to my male
neutered cat that I suspect has a urinary tract infection (he's been
urinating EVERYWHERE, CONSTANTLY for about three days now, and I'm trying
to find money to get him into the vets office for that).  So, now I don't
know who might have produced the bloody urine.  Does anybody have any ideas
on whether or not it sounds like I have a problem with Moogie, or am I just
looking for trouble?
[Posted in FML issue 2406]