My Yoshi has lived with me since she was two months old.  She is now seven
years old and is showing signs of what I would call senility.
 
She is a MF ferret.  She has never shown any signs of adrenal problems.
We were concerned about two years ago over a "strange looking" spleen.  We
did exploratory and found that she had suffered some sort of injury that
had left her spleen very scared.  It had been wounded, folded over on
itself, and healed back.  The vet said that everything seemed to be working
properly so she just left it alone.  I still have no idea how this
happened.  It was found in a routine check-up.
 
Anyway, Yoshi's bathroom habits aren't what they used to be.  She always
used the newspaper religiously (I don't use litter), now she just goes
where ever she sees fit.  She has had soft stools on and off for the past
couple of months, but her stools are always nicely formed.  She eats
Eukanuba kitten food regularly.
 
She is having problems with her feet sliding out from under her.  It would
seem that she is loosing muscle mass around her hind quarters.
 
She is VERY itchy all the time.  I have tried oatmeal shampoo and it seems
to help for the first couple of hours, but then she is back to scratching.
Her skin looks normal.  Her hair may be a bit thin, but I think it is due
to old age and not due to adrenal problems or allergies.  I am concerned
that she has some sort of nerve damage that causes her to "think" she is
itchy when she isn't.  My other three ferrets don't seem to be overly itchy
at the moment.
 
Does this sound familiar to anyone.  Yoshi seems to just walk around in a
confused state most of the time.  There are times when she still plays with
the others, but they won't play back because they know I won't tolerate
them hurting her.  She gets worn out pretty fast anyway.
 
I think I would just like to know that my little buddy isn't the only
geriatric one out there.  If there is anything I can do to better her
quality of life, I would like to know.
 
Thanks,
Britta 27yr, Yoshi 7yr, Necktie 5yr, Quincey 4yr, and Lit Wan 3yr
[Posted in FML issue 2822]