Hi all.  After a month of no FML, I'm back.  I took a break for my
honeymoon and then to catch up on work at work.  Now I have a problem.
 
     Nibbles (my ferret, obviously) is starting to worry us.  When we went
away, we put her in the capable hands of Kathy's sorority sister, Kelly.
Kelly had owned ferrets before and knew about their needs and such.  We
left her with food, ferretone and blankets that she slept in.  Her cage
is too large to transport easily, so we opted to have her stay in a cage
that kelly had used for her ferrets.  She didn't go there directly (there
was a layover at my mothers house for during our wedding rehearsal and
rehearsal dinner), then she made it to Kelly's.  Kelly said that Nibbles
was not a happy camper during the two weeks she had her and bit her
several times.  She usually nips, but doesn't bite.  When we got her
home, we realized that she looked thinner (She didn't eat the first two
days that Kelly had her.  Even ferretone didn't help, then Kelly started
feeding her by hand and after that she started eating.) and she was
shedding again.  She had already shed in the spring, but now she's
shedding again.  I figured that it was the stress, but she is still
shedding and it's been 3 weeks.  Now we have noticed that she has started
to turn blue.  Actually, the hairs on her back have started to get a blue
tint to them.
 
    I've read about changes in food causing color change due to dyes in the
food, but it's the same type we've been feeding her since we got her and
the same bag since before the wedding.  Does anyone know what could be
causing this?  She doesn't have any bald spots.  It seems to be a general
loss of hair.  She's only 7 months old and I've read that Adrenal
problems are rare in young ferrets.  I'm planning on taking her to the
vet, but funds are tight right now (as in, absolutely minimal money to
spare) and if the vet wants to do any expensive tests we will have to
decline them.  Is this anything we should really have to worry about?
 
Jim Makowski and Nibbles("Hey, what do I look like, a smurf?  Ooops, I
DO!!!!")
[Posted in FML issue 1252]