Hello everybody,
 
Thanks so much for all the advice you sent me regarding the mark on
Jitterbug (which turned out to be a simple bug bite - it disappeared in 24
hours).  Jitterbug is back to her old self again.  Unfortunately she has
always had a problem with dry itchy skin and this summer looks to be drier
than ever.  I have put a humidifyier in her room, but she is still
scratching like crazy.  She absolutely does not have fleas (She has had
this dry skin thing for years and she has been checked for fleas).  I
repeat: SHE DOES NOT HAVE FLEAS.  Does anyone know how to help a ferret
with dry skin?  It doesn't seem possible to use a moisturizer on her
because of all the hair, but she itches so badly she sometimes breaks the
skin.  I love her dearly and don't want her to be uncomfortable.  I have
thought of bathing her with a couple of drops of Canola oil in the water -
but in general I hardly ever bathe her to avoid drying out her skin any
worse.  If anyone has any suggestions for the dry skin please e- mail me
directly at [log in to unmask]
 
As a little background, Jitterbug is an adrenal ferret.  She has not had
surgery to remove her adrenal gland for several reasons.  She is probably 5
years old (I got her as a rescue) and has gone through unnecessary surgery
before (they thought she had a blockage - nothing was there) and had an
unusually hard time recovering.  She had to be hand feed for months and I
swear she gave up her will to live.  Anyway I don't want to put her through
that again.  There are also unfortunate financial considerations which would
make it impossible for me to pay for surgery right now.  All that combined
with the seeming lack of qualified ferret vets in Los Angeles have led to
my decision not to get her the surgery.  I don't know if this is possibly
connected to her dry skin, but I thought I should mention it.
 
As for the vet in Los Angeles - I still have not found one.  All the lists
and webb sites listing vets seem to have outdated information for Los
Angeles.  Many on the vets are no longer at the clinics as listed or are
specialists (such as Dr. Lavac who is a heart specialist and does not see
ferrets for general office visits).  The few vets I have found seem woefully
inexperienced.  Oh, how I miss New York!
 
Thanks again to everyone who cared enough to e-mail me.  If I did not reply
to you individually a few of my e-mails were sent back to me (I am not sure
why).  But I appreciated all the advice.
 
Sincerely,
Rebecca
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[Posted in FML issue 2285]