It occurred to me today that for those of us who have white ferrets, it
is imperative that when we look them over, we pay particular attention to
the colour of the skin.
 
Last year, we had a foster mom who had a ferret go into liver failure.
The skin was yellow, but much easier to see on a sable ferret as the
yellow was in contrast to the fur colour.  Some of our white ferrets are
not perfectly white all the time, and at certain times of the year, I
find my white ferrets' fur turns a shade of yellow.  It is important to
look closely at these ferrets for seeing the skin turn yellow will not
be as easy to spot as it could be on the non-white ferrets.
 
Yellow fur on the other hand, is not symptomatic of anything of concern.
Some people feel that the food you feed your ferret affects the colouring.
I don't agree with this as my grey ferrets or other ferrets that have
white fur, don't turn yellow like the albino's or DEW's do and they all
eat the same foods.  I think it has more to do with what oils the ferret
secrets to coat the hairs but I could be wrong.
 
Just a word of caution... yellowing of the skin, the mouth, the rim of
the eyes, the nose, or the ears is not a good sign and should your ferret
exhibit these signs, be sure to see a veterinarian immediately.
 
betty and her blur o'fur
for the love of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 3709]