Our ferret rescue group received an urgent message from a couple whose
ferret suddenly became ill (symptomatic) and is currently being seen by a
very good ferret vet, and has had at least 2 transfusions to hold her until
the cause can be found and treated ... meanwhile, here is what she wrote:
 
Runt is a one year old female a little over one pound.  She has always been
very active and playful and has never been sick in any way.  On Friday
evening she was very lethargic, would not eat, and had lost her bright
pink colored nose to a very pale white.  I gave her some formula of which
she drank down and looked a little bit better.  I had already had an
appointment for her to get her shots the next morning so I knew she would
be checked out for her lack in energy.  Saturday came and she was seen by
Dr. C.  He found she had a heart murmur and needed a chest X-ray and blood
work done.
 
He only got as far as the blood work.  She had very little red blood cells
and was going to die very soon.  That's when we got our friend's ferret to
give blood and she will be receiving another transfusion today.
 
My husband and I, along with Dr. C, have been doing research since
yesterday (no sleep here) trying to figure out what could have gotten
her so sick so quick.  Toxins could be a key, but we have looked into
everything that is in our house, even looking up the Material Safety Data
Sheets and speaking to chemical engineers, to try and figure this one out.
Our ferrets are limited to where they can go when they are out, and one
place they have no access to is the kitchen, where all the cleaners and
like are stored.  We do not know for sure if it was a toxin, but until
she gets stronger we are limited in finding out.
 
I am hoping that maybe you or someone you know has heard of this happening
to a ferret and might be able to pass some information of a similar
experience.  One thing that we are looking into right now is that of
chlorine bleach.  I live in an apartment on the second story of an eight
unit building.  There are two apartments downstairs with large patios at
their entrance, the stairwell in the middle that splits to go to the other
two upstairs apartment patios.  On Tuesday morning I was awaken to red
swollen eyes and difficulty in breathing and smelled strong bleach.  Since
it was a nice cool night all of the windows were opened.  It turned out the
apartment complex decided to clean our patios, the stairwell, and sidewalk
using straight chlorine bleach, with no prior notification to us that they
were going to do it.  The windows are on the wall perpendicular to the wall
that the ferrets cage is located, about 5 feet from the windows.  Because
there were no windows opened in my room, the ferrets were breathing the gas
in for longer than I did until it woke me up and shut those windows and
cranked the air and portable fans to try to air the gas out through the
other windows in the back of the apartment.  After running this situation
by a friend that is a chemical engineer, he said the same symptoms that
Runt has is showed in humans after overexposure to chlorine gas.  The
problem is that this happened on Tuesday and Runt did not get sick until
Friday night.
 
So that is where we stand right now.  There are more questions than
answers.  My other ferret is going to be tested today.  Although not
nearly as ill as Runt, PV is starting to exhibit uneasy breathing and
rapid heart rate, along with her already present adrenal disease.
 
Thank you again for all of your help.  And if you should have any
information, please pass it along so we may be able to figure this out
 
before  it is too late.
 
Please forward any replies to me and I will see that the couple and their
vet gets them.
 
Thanks - Joanne
[Posted in FML issue 3263]