Nancy- I had a similar problem with Elliott about 6 months after I got him - he was about a year then, a rescue, and was eating ferret chow - I switched him over to my blend at the time which were all, good quality kitten/cat foods - chicken based. He had teeny tiny little 'spots' on his skin, he was scratching all the time, his fur got rough and started thinning out. First we did a skin scrape to look for bugs, but it was negative. We tried steroids but that didn't help at all. We tried antibiotics but that didn't help. I switched from Tide to Ivory and used perfure-free, dye-free fabric softeners (which I still use today), but that didn't help. Then my vet thought it might be a chicken allergy, so I switched him to Proplan Turkey and Barley cat food. He said it would take about 3 weeks before I would see any difference. Well, Elliott was a different ferret after the food switch! He gained weight, his fur grew back in, it got soft and shiny again, the spots disappeared, and he stopped scratching! So now he eats Proplan Turkey/Barley and Iams Lamb and Rice - both high protein, high fat cat foods - naturally preserved - and is doing great. I have another ferret who recently developed similar symptoms, and I'm trying this first. I moved him in with Elliott so they're eating the same food now, and hopefully it will something simple like a food allergy. It's worth a try if nothing else has worked so far and your vet is stumped. (BTW, has your vet done a skin scrape to look for litle bugs?) Debbie Riccio WNYFLFA Western New York and Finger Lakes Ferret Association Rochester, NY [Posted in FML issue 1457]