My ferret, Graham, appears to be allergic to something.  When I adopted him
this Fall he was fine, but shortly thereafter he started chewing the fur off
of his sides and tail.  Soon his tail was completely bald and he had two big
bald spots on his sides.  Per the vet's suggestion I put him on Benadryl
(.75 CC 2x a day).  His fur has completly grown back on his tail, and mostly
on his sides.  I just spoke with the vet about it again, and she is somewhat
stumped.  She has never experienced allergies with ferrets.  Her only
suggestion is to continue with the Benadryl and try to narrow down what he
is allergic to.
 
What types of allergies are common in ferrets?  There are just too many
things that it COULD be, I would like to narrow it down a little.  Changing
everything at once is impossible.  Especially since he doesn't really do it
when we are around, we just see the results.  I was thinking that food and
laundry chemicals would be the most likely.  We feed Totally Ferret and use
Cheer & Bounce for laundry.  Also, we use Maxx Cat clumping litter.
 
If anyone from Pet Pals reads this, what do you use at the shelter?  (Graham
is a sable male ~2-3 years old that was found on Graham road.  Adopted at
the LOS show.)
 
Also, is there anything better than Benadryl to use?  He's still chewing his
sides a bit, so it hasn't completely solved the problem.
 
Note: He is definately chewing it off.  It is cropped, not falling out.
 
Thanks,
 
- Nancy
 
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Nancy Stephens                                  [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1456]