There is a ferret at one of our shelters who has very strange-looking toes. He's about 4 years old, probably Marshall Farms. He's missing one toe. The rest on all four paws look deformed. The nails seem to be growing straight up. The toe pads seem bulbous and swollen, but that appearance could just be because of the way the nails are growing. The ends of each toe are blue on top, and darkest blue right around the nail beds and that last knuckle. The injuries are old. There is no infection. The ferret walks and plays normally and doesn't seem to be in pain. The shelter's vet, who is experienced with ferrets, has never seen anything like this and has no idea what could have caused this. I'm wondering if this little guy was a victim of a do-it-yourself declawing--if someone tried to cut his nails off at the root when he was young and they just never grew back right. Except for the missing toe, the toes themselves seem to be intact, so it wasn't a professional job (which would have taken off the last segment of the toes). Has anyone ever seen this? Do you know what it could be? -- Lee, one of the Massachusetts Ferret Friends Contact MaFF at [log in to unmask] Hotline: (617) 782-4712 Visit our web page at http://www.maferrets.org [Posted in FML issue 2076]