Need Help With Two Older Ferrets I Adopted, Are There Any Vets Here That Can Answer These Questions?
Posted by adminI just adopted two older Ferrets. The male is 6-7 yrs old and the female is 5 yrs old. The male ferret has a large tumor on the right side of his neck under his chin. It is an open sore and bleeds if he brushes it against anything. It doesn’t seem to hurt him, but it bothers me that it is like this. The lady I got the ferrets from said she took him to the vet and they said it is not uncommon for ferrets to get tumors like this and he is fine and that nothing could be done. The female ferret is almost completely bald. Again the lady said the vet said that it is from eating food that is not ferret food and it’s common. Yet, when I picked them up they were both eating cat food. I have changed them to ferret food and am making sure that they are sleeping in a warm, dry place so their problems will not get worse. Also, the male ferret has fleas and is starting to lose hair on his tail. The female has flea bites as well, but no hair for them to hide in. Is there anything that I can use on them for the fleas, and is there anything I can do for her baldness and his tumor? They are both very sweet ferrets and they just don’t deserve to be like this. I am wondering if any of their problems could be caused by age. I am going to make them an appointment with our vet, but I am wondering if there is anything I can do to start to help them. Thank you
I’m not a vet, but my vets give me Frontline Plus for cats to use on my ferrets. Split one container between the both of them (apply like for a cat), as long as there is no sores or raw skin on the area it’s being applied.
Good luck.
The tumor? No vet would leave it like that. Sure, it CAN be benign or difficult to remove, but no one would see it oozing and say “oh, well”–honestly, I don’t think the lady was being that truthful. She might have been saying what you wanted to hear (that she sought care; that it’s not important, etc).
The hair loss and stuff could be from fleas, from shedding trouble (rat tail, etc) or from another illness associated with age (adrenal, usually). If his tail appears oily or dirty, you can swipe it with some witch hazel. If it has black heads on it, you’re going to have to bathe JUST the tail in a shampoo containing benzole peroxide (acne stuff), every day until the blackheads clear up. For my older girl I use a product called Avixx Parrot Spray. You can google it and find it online. It’s wonderful for ferret coats, and the itchies (another product prescribed by my vet).
You can also boost their protein intake by offering some chicken/turkey babyfood each day. It’s easy to digest and meat based and is wonderful for the older guys.
Hope they check out alright at your vets
I’m sorry, but the ‘lady’ lied her *ss off to you, probably to get you to take them off her hands.
NO vet would say to leave an open, weeping tumor on an animal. No vet would fail to recognize Adrenal or Aleutians disease when they see it either (which is what your bald ferrets have). This is NOT a flea condition causing baldness.
I very highly suggest you join up with a ferret group – check YahooGroups — and get your new pets some vet care. Call around, using the vets numbers in the phone book, and find a vet trained in exotics, they’ll have the full knowledge to evaluate your ferret’s physical condition.
Just please get these animals in, they’ve been neglected by their previous owner to the point of severe abuse. Both have untreated conditions and this is inexcuseable!