>Tonight I noticed that JC has blood leaking out of her vulva.  Is this
>common among ferrets with her illnesses or is this something entirely
>different?  She also has several spots that look like blood blisters on
>her skin.  The spots are not raised and about the diameter of a pencil
>eraser.
>
>Have any of you ever seen anything like this before?  Our vet is out of
>town until next Monday.  I honestly do not know how concerned I should be
>about her.  I'm wondering if I'm being selfish by not having her put out
>of her misery--though she doesn't act as if she is having any discomfort
>at all).  Internal bleeding?  Ruptured something?  Near death?
 
This is something to be concerned about, and I would recommend getting her
looked at as soon as you can.
 
She may have a bleeding disorder, or it may be something entirely
different, but even though she is acting normally, this is something
that should be checked out.
 
Dr. Ruth
*****************************************
Save lives - spay or neuter your pet.
 
---
 
It is difficult to tell precisely what is going on, but it is likely to be
one of these two scenarios, and both attendant on the adrenal disease:
 
1) We are seeing a vaginitis/stump pyometra from the effects of the
estrogen, which would explain a vaginal discharge.  Small rapidly
disappearing bruises are often seen in ferrets with adrenal disease,
and are round and in the size range which you describe.
 
2) The second, and more serious possibility is that we are starting to
see bone marrow toxicity, an uncommon problem in adrenal ferrets, and it
is manifesting as a lack of platelets.  Skin hemorrhage and hemorrhage
in other organs may be seen in this case - a platelet level in the blood
would readily identify this problem, but only effective adrenal surgery
would cure it.
 
I'm hoping for the first, but it still requires adrenal treatment to clear
it up.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3699]