Worried About Ferret's Coat

SigersonCup

Hi, I have two ferrets who I go out hunting with.

The last few weeks they have been losing hair and their hair on their back is falling out.

I asked a fella I know who knows a lot about ferrets and he said that it might be a disease which ferrets can get off of cats around the place.

I'd like to know if anyone on this knows what is wrong with the ferrets before I go to the vet because as you know they are very expensive and money is hard to come by these days.

Shanao

Never heard of a ferret catching diseases off of cats- i keep my two with the cats and never any problems. They can catch canine distemper alright, but it would different symptoms. How old are they, males or females, and what are you feeding them? They are very prone to adrenal disease so you may need to take them to a vet

lily4

I don't know anything about ferrets but are they losing the hair in circles?

As in bald circular patches?

If so it could be ringworm, which is annoying but not serious and is easily treated.

I say this because my cat has ringworm at the moment..:rolleyes:

lily4

Ps - you will need to bring them to a vet though to be diagnosed..

SigersonCup

Shanao wrote: »

Never heard of a ferret catching diseases off of cats- i keep my two with the cats and never any problems. They can catch canine distemper alright, but it would different symptoms. How old are they, males or females, and what are you feeding them? They are very prone to adrenal disease so you may need to take them to a vet

That's it, couldn't think of the name. But a fella I was talking to said that it could be distemper. They're young still I only bought them last year, not even a year and a half I'd say. 1 male and 1 female. Getting fed milk and hearts and water.

Shanao

Well get rid of the milk first off anyway, unless it is lactose free because they cant digest it very well. They'd be much better off with just the water and maybe supplement the hearts with chicken wings/necks, a bit of liver and maybe some tinned kitten food of high quality meat. They should be getting 34% protein+ and i'd say they're probably not getting it on their current diet.
How long has this been going on?

These are the symptoms of distemper in ferrets below so I doubt they have distemper if its only hair loss. Just to warn you as well, distemper has a 100% fatality rate in ferrets so if they're not vaccinated, I'd reccomend you get them done.

• Discharge from eyes - generally foul smelling, yellow or green
• Swelling, rashes and thick brown crusts on the chin, lips, and nose
• Severe lethargy
• High fever
• Loss of appetite
• Drooling
• Dehydration
• Coughing
• Hardened, thick paw pads and swollen feet
• Crusting and redness in the abdominal and anal areas
• Muscular tremors
• Seizures
• Vomiting and diarrhea may occur
• Eventual coma

SigersonCup

Shanao wrote: »

Well get rid of the milk first off anyway, unless it is lactose free because they cant digest it very well. They'd be much better off with just the water and maybe supplement the hearts with chicken wings/necks, a bit of liver and maybe some tinned kitten food of high quality meat. They should be getting 34% protein+ and i'd say they're probably not getting it on their current diet.
How long has this been going on?

These are the symptoms of distemper in ferrets below so I doubt they have distemper if its only hair loss. Just to warn you as well, distemper has a 100% fatality rate in ferrets so if they're not vaccinated, I'd reccomend you get them done.

• Discharge from eyes - generally foul smelling, yellow or green
• Swelling, rashes and thick brown crusts on the chin, lips, and nose
• Severe lethargy
• High fever
• Loss of appetite
• Drooling
• Dehydration
• Coughing
• Hardened, thick paw pads and swollen feet
• Crusting and redness in the abdominal and anal areas
• Muscular tremors
• Seizures
• Vomiting and diarrhea may occur
• Eventual coma

But is it curable with ferrets if they do have it?

SigersonCup

Shanao wrote: »

Well get rid of the milk first off anyway, unless it is lactose free because they cant digest it very well. They'd be much better off with just the water and maybe supplement the hearts with chicken wings/necks, a bit of liver and maybe some tinned kitten food of high quality meat. They should be getting 34% protein+ and i'd say they're probably not getting it on their current diet.
How long has this been going on?

These are the symptoms of distemper in ferrets below so I doubt they have distemper if its only hair loss. Just to warn you as well, distemper has a 100% fatality rate in ferrets so if they're not vaccinated, I'd reccomend you get them done.

• Discharge from eyes - generally foul smelling, yellow or green
• Swelling, rashes and thick brown crusts on the chin, lips, and nose
• Severe lethargy
• High fever
• Loss of appetite
• Drooling
• Dehydration
• Coughing
• Hardened, thick paw pads and swollen feet
• Crusting and redness in the abdominal and anal areas
• Muscular tremors
• Seizures
• Vomiting and diarrhea may occur
• Eventual coma

It's only been going on for a few days.

Shanao

Unfortunately, no there is no cure once they have it. If they have no other symptoms though, I wouldn't be inclined to think it is distemper. Oh and distemper isn't just carried by cats, its an airborne virus so even we can carry it if we come in contact with it. Hence why they need to be vaccinated against it.

Again though I would be more inclined to think possibly adrenal disease but most definitely a change in their diet.

SigersonCup

Shanao wrote: »

Unfortunately, no there is no cure once they have it. If they have no other symptoms though, I wouldn't be inclined to think it is distemper. Oh and distemper isn't just carried by cats, its an airborne virus so even we can carry it if we come in contact with it. Hence why they need to be vaccinated against it.

Again though I would be more inclined to think possibly adrenal disease but most definitely a change in their diet.

Ok, I suppose we should still take them to the vet to be sure.

This is molting season for ferrets , they should be getting darker coats right about now.

SigersonCup

Just to let you know we brought the ferrets to the vet, and he told us that what was actually wrong with them is that they stayed in heat and that is why they were losing the hair. The vet said this is very common, and that what we would have to do is get them neutered or else he could "service" them there and then, so we got that done as it was the faster option.

Shanao

Ah, i should have asked if they were neutered or not, assumed they were. In saying that though, i would still change their diet as they cant properly digest milk and they aren't getting as much protein as they should be from just hearts. Good to know that they're okay though.