>From: Lara Carver <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re weenie licker >Could he possibly have a urinary tract infection causing him discomfort? >It sounds like something there is bothering him for him to lick himself >until he has a scab. Several things can cause this to such a degree. It typically indicates pain, or severe itching. The problem may vary from being as mild as a urinary tract infection (Hey, those HURT.), to grains in the bladder, to urinary troubles secondary to adrenal disease (which typically means that the prostate is inflamed secondary to the adrenal disease which can become dangerous if not corrected, but which fortunately tends to respond beautifully to corrective adrenal surgery), to some forms of tumors (some of which really need to be treated rapidly). The response by the vet a few days ago (Dr. Ruth Heller responded if memory serves) was excellent, and the back files at BOTH http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list will allow access to posts in which vets have discussed some of the types of tumors which can exist there and what is viable. Please, recall that the vet response was an FHL cross-post carried to the FML. These periodically bring information to the FML for the files so that the most ferrets possible can be helped, and so that the information is readily available to ferret folks in multiple places in case one loses data. Carrying responses back in the other direction is impossible; my time constraints simply do not permit it. It is not possible to make everyone happy in how such things are handled, but if the most ferrets and people can be helped then something important has been accomplished. (BTW, I think that most of the known world knows that I'm not a vet, but the cross-posts almost always are responses from multiple respected ferret-expert vets to questions posed on the FHL.) [Posted in FML issue 3557]