Ferret Has Flakey Skin, Itching, Biting, Scratching. Can You Help Me?

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5 Answers

Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Sounds like your baby is adrenal hair loss and itching is two of the  main symptoms give him 1 mg of melatonin found in drug stores crush it and mix it with ferretvite or ferretone stop spraying him with chemicals as it will not help , Get him to a vet ASAP prostate problems are the next thing he will be suffering from and he will die if you wait to long if your in Pa here is a ferret vet expert #Dr. Goodman 610-494-2811 Or Dr Gold In Maryland he too is a ferret expert 443-512-8338Also ask any vet if they do adrenal implant of melatonin and lupron if not take him else where they know nothing of the ferret anatomy and it would be unwise to let him/her see your baby, Go also to groups on yahoo and type in ferret and there should be several ferret groups you can join ferret whisperer in one natural ferret2 is another adrenal ferret and natural ferret plus a few more
Good Luck and keep me posted you can email me anytime about him or any questions
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Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Thanks for the info. I'm not new to ferrets and my last ferret had Adrenal Gland Disease. He exibited ALL the symtoms and I KNEW he had it. I just answered above, stating that I take my ferrets to the BEST Doctors, only Exotic Vets and this time, it's so different? I have Cancer, been on Chemo for more than a year, trying to sell my condo, so and also looking into Ferret Insurance so I can get him help. Because of my Cancer and Fibromyalgia, I have vacuumed little. Since I began to pack, and vacuum, I found carpet beatles and lots of baby crawling larva! If it grosses you out....then think about how I feel!!!! I am trying to vacuum, and steam clean. When he started this, my last cat died and I'm sure she aquired ear mites. I also put him on ferret food and then it started. So Petco told me to change his diet back to what he was eating and I did. It helped some. I don't like spraying him, so I use mineral oil, sometimes baby oil and Vitamin A oil. His skin has big flakes and he scratches or bites until the undercoat is gone. I'm installing pergo and NO CARPET when I move! I think the Beatle larva is biting him? He is absolutely NORMAL except for this problem. He just started scratching his ears again so I may start the ear mite treatment again? I found out that because ferrets tails curl by their ears, the ear mites lay eggs there and when they hatch they find their way back to the ears. I was a dog groomer so I know what to look for and also made myself knowledgable on Ferrets and Cats, since they are my primary favorites. Thanks for your advice. I will try what you mentioned. PS...he doesn't like Ferretone! lol! They tried to give him some at the vets last time and he actually gagged and shook his head. It was too funny! www.youtube.com/rayvinsrainbow
Jacquelyn Mathis Profile
Jacquelyn Mathis answered
Sounds perplexing. If you can't afford to take the ferret to the vet, I would at least call a vets office and talk to an assistant there. Sometimes they can help with minor things like that. They also know how expensive it is to bring the animal in. Hope this helps, good luck.
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Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Thanks! I have Cancer and on Chemo for more than a year. I only take my ferrets to an Exotic Animal Doctor and he has one, but this doctor is Mobil and also takes care of our Zoo Animals. I'm packing to move. When I sell my Condo, I will pay anything. My mom loves him more than any of my previous ferrets!
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Have you been washing it in ferret shampoo too often cause that can make their skin go all flaky! Go to your vet and they'll probably know!
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
It sounds like he has ringworm
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
 
I'm not a ferret person... But I'll answer as if it were a dog or cat, 'cause I'm pretty sure they'd end up with the same kind of problems in captivity... First thought is always diet.  If he's not getting everything he needs nutritionally it will show up first in the skin and coat..  do research and make sure he's getting everything he needs, and if there are ferret suppliments you might want to consider that as well... With dogs, adding beneficial oils to the diet really helps with this sort of thing (Lipiderm)... As well as using a protien & lanolin shampoo...  if it's not nutritionally related, my next thought would be, mites (not ear mites) or mange,.. Cheyletiella mites look like tiny spiders under a magnifying glass and are often called "Walking Dandruff" because upon close inspection it seems like little flakes of dry skin are actually moving about... Because they live on the surface of the skin, these tiny critters can be eliminated fairly easily by using any common flea shampoo... And here's a creepy thought… Cheyletiella mites can be transmitted to humans where they create, just like on the dog.. Hair loss, with a dry, flaky, itchy skin.

Then there are Demodex mites - also called "mange".  These little rascals live and reproduce just under the skin surface in the tiny hair follicles and oil glands of the skin... So demodex mites have to be seen by viewing a skin scraping under the microscope... Then there are about a dozen other possibilities... But I'd start there... Keep in mind that any thing whose skin and coat are not in optimal health needs attention because he surely doesn't feel well.. So you're right to keep searching for the cause. 
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Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Thanks! You are thinking like me! If you read my comments to the above, I absolutely think it's mites or the carpet beatles and larva I have because I don't vaccum, due to Fibromyalgia and Cancer. I'm moving and there will be NO CARPET! I have a scope for ear mites and he got them from my last cat who passed last year. I read that the ear mites lay eggs at the base of their tales because they often have there ear over the tale when curled up sleeping. Then when they hatch they migrate back to the ear. He is just now beginning to scratch his ears again, so...I will treat him again. On a ferret site, it mentioned to use a ferret safe flea spray around the ears after treatment, but I opted for a flea shampoo for puppies and kittens with conditioners. I have NEVER seen this kind of flaking in a ferret????? And...while I was leaning my right arm on the carpet stairs, while using a toothbrush to go along the edges to remove the cat hair and other debris, I got a rash and it itched. I was kneeling on the livingroom carpet a few weeks ago, picking up some of my craft beads and got it on both arms but not as bad. Thanks for your thoughts. If this doesn't resolve in the next few weeks, he will go to the vet. I'm on Social Security Disability and that doesn't help.
Anonymous
Anonymous commented
I hope you're moving soon! make sure you launder or get rid of as much as much of the soft surface materials associated with your ferret as you can so that you don't take the problem with you... I'm not an insecticide advocate, but in your case it may be necessary... evidently ferrets are very resistant to the toxic effects of insecticides,... cats are very sensitive to it.. so any product intended for cats will be more than safe to use for your ferret.
here's an interesting site if you haven't stumbled across it yet..
http://www.peteducation.com/category_summary.cfm?cat=1290
I will agree that adrenal disease has many of the same symptoms... they include pruritis (itchy skin), swollen vulva (females), return to sexual behavior in neutered males, skin that is thin and dry, and abdominal distention... which you didn't mention... but given that you've suffered some of the same symptoms... I'm still inclined to thing it's a pest of some kind.

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