>From:    Gladys Arbiol <[log in to unmask]>
>
>My little Pichu has a problem with her nails.  At first I thought they
>were just dirty from stepping in poop or food, but upon closer inspection
>it looks like there is a crusty crowth close to her cuticles.  Almost like
>dried blood, but I never saw her nails bleeding.  I never cut her nails
>too short, either.  It also looks like the part of her nail close to the
>cuticles is cracked.  It's on almost all her fingers on her front paws,
>and it's starting to show on her back paws.  I can touch her paws and they
>don't seem to hurt.  I've never noticed her chewing on them or anything.
>Other than this she seems healthy - she plays, eats, sleeps and poops
>like normal.
 
To me, that sounds just like the description Dr. Purcell gives in her
book, "Essentials of Ferrets", of an infestation of sarcoptic mange mites.
In Hillyer & Quesenberry's book, Ferrets, Rabits and Rodents", they
describe two types of sarcoptes infestation.  THe second one is the "foot
rot" which sounds just like what you have.  Ask your vet to look at one
of these books and see what he thinks.
 
--
Russ, Booger, Bonnie & Clyde
[log in to unmask]
 
URA Redneck if you've stood outside a john and heckled someone inside.
[Posted in FML issue 3700]