Hello and many happy dooks to all the fuzzbutts! Love and warm wishes to those who are sick or unhappy. I'm writing today because Jerry and I just got back from the vet. We're seeing an increasing amount of hairloss on the back, underside, and tail, as well as decreased skin elasticity. The skin on his underside almost hangs. It folds and sags and when I pinch it, it doesn't snap back like it should. We're looking towards the removal of three small skin tumors in the near future, but we don't think that's the major problem here. They're probably just a few mast cell tumors and they don't seem to be causing any discomfort or itchiness (aside from the normal bouts where Jerry darts out of his hidey hole like a bat out of hell for an urgent itch attack. That's pretty normal, as far as I've seen.) His hairloss is not symmetrical, so it doesn't look like the hairloss associated with adrenal tumors, unless it's adrenal problems with an unassociated skin problem. The skin, where the hair is gone, is dry and somewhat flakey, with a bit of scabbing. As I said, it doesn't seem to be overly itchy. We did a medicated shampoo treatment for three weeks, and now we're scheduling surgery to remove the skin tumors and to do a skin biopsy. Hopefully this will yield some answers. Jerry has been having some trouble using the bathroom, but his hit rate on the litter box is up to almost 95%.:0) !!! He has also been acting more agressively towards Stimy lately, with the biting and the rough play...He tends to use his weight to pin poor Stimy to the floor! I guess its just an advantage of being fat. Did I mention he's fat? Jerry is a fat ferret...not particularly large, just fat. But he has lost almost 100g since our last vet visit, almost 3 weeks ago. I write this because I'm looking for some advice. Of course we're going through with the surgery soon and hopefully I'll know more when the biopsies come back from the lab. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Does anyone know anything about skin allergies in ferrets? Anyone who may have advice or comments, please e-mail me at [log in to unmask] Any references to articles I can research or people I can talk to would be appreciated. Hug all your carpet-diggers extra tight tonight for me. Especially the older ones. The time you have with them is so precious and wonderful, but nothing lasts forever. I fear for my Jerry. Dooks to the fuzzies! Kim and Jerry, Stimy, Kashmir, Peggy, Maggie ([log in to unmask]) [Posted in FML issue 3182]