Hello all.
 
I have a question about a ferret that was turned into the shelter Saturday.
He is a 3yr old male sable, supposedly a Marshall Farms ferret that lived
the first year of his life at a laboratory as a research ferret.  What he
was used for research for, I have no idea.  The people who had him didn't
know.  However, what is unusual about him is that he is covered in what seem
to be almost like warts.  These are not a regular skin tumor, I have seen
those before.  He has the growths on his eyelids, ears, foot pads, skin
around the rectum, and one inside of his mouth.  I would estimate probably
about 30 of these growths on him.  He does not seem to be in any pain,
although when I was probing at the growths on his ears, he was not really
happy about it.  He is slightly overweight, weighing in at 4lbs.  He is not
very energetic, but I attribute that partly to his size.  The growths do not
seem to be contagious, his cage mate does not have anything on him.  His
stools are a little loose, but that could be due to the stress of a new home
too.
 
My vet looked at him this morning, she thought it was something that was
probably induced from the lab, nothing natural.  She said it almost reminded
her of a herpes virus.  I am taking him back Wednesday to have one of the
growths removed and a histopath done on it.  If anyone has any idea on what
these could be, I would really appreciate hearing back from you.  You can
e-mail me at [log in to unmask] or reply to the fml.
 
Thank you!
 
Dooks and kisses to your fuzzies,
Shelley Knudsen
Legion of Superferrets of Nebraska Ferret Shelter
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[Posted in FML issue 2178]