We found the cause of Hubble's intermittent diarrhea: stashed pieces
of soap he had snacked on. He cleared right up as soon as we got all
of those. Now, if only we hadn't found another bar missing... (Yes,
we are searching for it.)

Some health problems ferrets have are due to human behavior and
choices, or not listening to vets. At least we listen to our vets. In
our home taking our own behavior into account partly means finding
harder and harder to reach places to put soap because of a ferret who
climbs and jumps. Maybe eventually the soap dishes will need to be
inside sealed containers... (Yes, we do sigh about this, well, I do,
at least, and Steve chuckles but shakes his head.)

After their Spring injections of Lupron depot for possible adrenal
disease prevention, Whizbang's vulva swelled badly again. We already
know that all or part of that problem is that Telemna fights dirty and
repeatedly bites her there. (She has also bitten some on their anuses
during fights as well as biting vulvas.) Cleaning Whizbang up I did
find a puncture wound -- again -- and some stuck pine litter.

So, to be safest for her we are skipping that litter for a while. It
could be that when rubbing after using the litter box already-present
inflammation causes litter to get stuck, but maybe alternatively she
has a dermal sensitivity to pine. Pine allergies, and sometimes serious
ones, have occurred in some ferrets whereas cedar is just plain toxic
due to some of the types of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) it puts
out. If she has a sensitivity to the pine that might cause her to swell
making it an easy target for Telemna when they get into a fight. Both
might be involved.

Just trying to cover the bases and see what happens.

We are not completely discounting the possibility of an adrenal
problem, but so far the up and down repeated nature of the swelling,
the timing, and wounds and debris present just don't fit for that.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5914]