Hi everybody!  I haven't posted in a really long time (and haven't read the
FML in really long time either, except for the last two issues, sorry:).
Anyway, I've obtained quite an interesting little ferret two weeks ago.
During finals week, one of my classmates announced that she knew of a baby
female ferret with a broken leg that needed a home.  I really don't know
what I was thinking at the time, but I gave her my phone number to give to
the person looking for a home for the ferret.  When the ferret arrived, it
was extremely depressed, lethargic and nonresponsive.  It was also covered
in feces and urine.  After shoving some baby food and pedialyte down it (it
almost ate a whole jar in one sitting), I gave it a much needed bath and
discovered it was not a baby girl ferret, but a baby boy, with severe urine
scalding of his ventral abdomen.  About two days after I got him, he started
to act like a normal baby ferret (of course it was also the day I brought
him to the vet) except for severe ataxia (incoordination).  The vets here at
Washington State University didn't think it was infectious (rabies,
distemper) and seemed to think it was more of a structural problem in his
brain.  I do believe he is a carrier of ECE as all my three ferrets broke
with diarrhea and vomiting three days after I got him.  (All three are doing
fine.) I was able to get some more information from the third party that
brought me the ferret (as I am unable to contact the previous owner): the
ferret had been ataxic ever since the previous owner got him six weeks
earlier and the ferret had fallen from a second floor apartment.  Now, two
weeks after acquiring this ferret, he is doing very well.  He is growing
like a weed and eating me out of house and home.  He is normal in all
respects except for his ataxia.  My biggest problem right now is trying to
get him to use the litter box.  He is mobile, but doesn't walk very far very
fast.  He tries sometimes, but his hind end goes too fast for his front end.
It really looks like cerebellar hypoplasia or some type of cerebellar
disease.  Unfortunately I don't know the history of his littermates or even
if it was congenital.
 
I was wondering if this is some rare anomaly or if it occurs more frequently
than I think.  I've never heard of it in ferrets before.  If anyone knows
anything I'd appreciate it if you could send me e-mail at
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(Feel free to e-mail the FML as well, I just usually don't have enough time
to read it).
 
                                Thank you,
                                Lisa and
                                        Squirt
                                        Daisy
                                        Snowflake
                                        Thomas (neurologic boy)
[Posted in FML issue 1943]