Dear Sharon:
 
>Just a quick question: my 3 year old male Toby has another sore on his
>abdomen this week.  He had a tiny sore last week that crusted over.  I
>showed it to our vet when I brought Echo and Tally in for their post
>vaccine reaction check, and the vet said it was probably a slight staph
>infection that would clear itself up.  Now he has another one.  He is
>playing and eating and drinking and pooping great.  Can ferrets get
>impetigo?  Thanks in advance for any input.
 
Now here's a question which would really benefit by a picture.
 
Ferrets can get superficial staph infections of the skin (impetigo is not
a term that is used in veterinary medicine), but it is very difficult to
rule in or out staph versus a number of causes here.  Ulcerative dermatitis
can be from any number of causes - bacterial, auto-immune (pemphigus),
neoplastic (cutaneous manifestations of adrenal disease, in which small
round bruise-like hemorrhages appear singly and disapper within days, or
mast cell tumors), even mild fungal infections (ringworm.)
 
If it is not responding to topical antibiotic or antifungal creams, which
are generally the first line of defense in vet practice, then I would
suggest a scriaping for fungus, a skin culture, and ultimately, a skin
biopsy.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3269]