To Glen Miller and Morgan:
 
    Glen, I know you are about to get a flood of replies on this one.
The rules of having an intact female ferret are simple - if you aren't
going to breed it then you spay it, and you don't wait around.
 
    The swelling of the vulva that you see is a sure sign of heat in an
unaltered female.  During this time, the ovaries are giving off estrogen,
preparing the uterus for implantation and pregnany.  The problem is, with
ferret, it doesn't shut off again until there is penetration by the male.
So the ferret goes into persistent estrus (or heat) until it is either
bred or spayed.
 
    Estrogens, in the amounts seen in females in heat also cause
depression of the bone marrow, and depress all cell lines produced
there - RBC's, WBC's and platelets.  So these animals get progressively
more anemic until they die.  They can look just fine until they hit a
critical threshold, and then crash.
 
    Morgan can be well on her way there now.  50% of unspayed females will
undergo this syndrome, and you can't tell which ones just by looking at them.
 
    Moral of the story - get her spayed and don't wait.  Which Washington
are you located in - D.C.  or state (and if state, where?) We can find
you a vet, but you'd better get this done, pronto.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1173]