Hi.
I have been asking many questions lately to all the mailing lists about my
ferret Ouzo. Since I got him from the Etobicoke Animal Control (first
fostered for FAST then adopted), it's been an ongoing battle to see that he
gets well. When we first got him, his tail was totally naked and the
Animal Control clerk said she thought he had adrenal gland disease. Ouze
was lethargic and kink of spacey all the time, so we thought insulinoma was
a factor also. Ouzo's first visit to our vets (Derrydale Animal Hospital)
was to check out a skin irritation on his tummy. Our vet prescribed
Hibitane (1%) ointment to clear the irritation. We were to use this
ointment for a week then as needed. The skin irritation went away for a
while but comes back periodically.
We also noticed that Ouzo's scent was stronger than any of our other two
ferrets. We knew he had been fixed and descented because his ears are
tattooed.His feet were very dry and his nails were yellow and brittle. We
thought that this was from eating a poor quality food for a long time. And
since we knew nothing of where he came from, this sounded logical. After
getting some good food into Ouze for more than a month, all of his hair
grew back on his tail. But, Ouze was still lethargic and drank like a
fish. I did as much ferret disease research as I could. In October, Ouzo
got blood and x-rays taken to find out what was going on. I posted the
results to the FML for feedback. When my vet seemed unsure of what to do
for Ouze, we decided to take him to Guelph University's small animal
clinic. Ouzo had exploratory surgery at Guelph. The finding were
interesting.
Ouzo had an enlarged left and right adrenal gland as well an extra right
adrenal gland 1.5 cm away. He also had a nodule on his pancreas, as well
as 2 skin tumors. All of these things were removed and have been sent for
pathology. While I saw the vet at Guelph, I commented on his dry feet.
The vet's diagnosis was a contact allergy. I really questioned this
diagnosis because of the length of time he'd had it (since we got in June
1998), and the fact that he cried when I tried to cut his nails.
When Ouzo was released from Guelph, I was told that they would call me to
tell me when to get the stitches taken out. His surgery was done November
18th. When I hadn't heard from them in almost 2 weeks I took Ouze to my
vet. The stitches came out (luckily) and his hair has started to grow
back. I also asked about his feet again. This time I saw Dr. Zaharchuk
and not my usual Dr. Coghlan. Dr. Zaharchuk actually knew what was wrong
with Ouze's feet (finally!). He said he'd only seen one other case of it.
Ouze's feet have a build up of his skin's oils which has created a kind of
casing around his feet most likely from surviving distemper. The other
ferret he saw who survived distemper had the same kind of feet.
Ouze's skin around his toes look crumbly and the nails are really yellow
and brittle. He also some yellow stuff at the tops of his nails (not sure
what this is). The vet said that when a ferret goes through distemper, the
hormones (making skin oil) are over-produced. These hormones will never go
back to normal. The fact that Ouze doesn't seem really with it all the
time could be an effect of this disease also. The doctor's notes are:
" A single bulbous type lesion on food pad, notable seborrhea and
hyperkeratosis interdigitally on only 4 feet. Suspect possible malassezia.
Also because of unsure history possible sequlae to distemper."
If any one can translate this to English for me, I'd appreciate it.
To treat this problem, Ouzo was prescribed Nizoral foot baths for 2 weeks.
This may have to be done on a regular basis depending on how his feet
develop from now on.
My friend, Cindy, from FAST thought everyone should know about these
finding since it may be very rare that many people have seen this problem,
especially because distemper has a very high mortality rate.
If you have any questions or comments, please write to me.
Ouzo is doing much better now. He's still mostly naked, but he's alive.
Nicole
[Posted in FML issue 2513]
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