To Anonymous Poster:
 
>I got my first ferret in 1985; she and I were together for three years,
>until she developed an ultimately fatal illness that I would like try to
>identify now.  The first symptoms of her illness were the loss of control
>of her rear legs; thereafter, her stool began to darken and she could not
>eat anything solid.  She eventually lost control of her front legs and
>began to go into small, horrible seizures.
 
It seems like the most likely casue of death inyour ferret was insulinoma,
an insulin-secrting neoplasm that is very common in ferrets.  Excessive
secretion f insulin by this tumor causes the animals to become hypoglycemic,
which results in a wide variety of neurologic signs including stupor,
lethargy, difficulty in walking, and in severe episodes, seizures.  The
darkened stool suggests the possibility of a concurrent bleeding gastric
ulcer, which are also common, especially in ferrets under stress.  If you
ever see any of these signs in your new ferret, find a good ferret vet.  We
know a lot more about ferrets than we did five years ago - I think you
ferret's chances of making it are far higher today than back then.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask]  OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1419]