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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 21:46:48 GMT -5
I've been asking a lot of questions about Watson's health issues over the last few weeks, and this last weekend we made another trip back to the vet to get him his first Lupron injection to see if Adrenal is what we are dealing with, which the vet seems to agree with.
Something dawned on me last week, as I was thinking of all of the changes we've seen in him with his coat, and weight loss, and then it dawned on me - he did this last year. Not all the scratching we have seen this year, but his coat got thinner, and he dropped a ton of weight.
During the warmer weather he is a tubby little guy, and his fur is about as thick and soft as you can imagine.
I think he has his seasons backwards for some reason. Anyone else see this in any of their ferrets?
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Post by Celene on Jan 26, 2015 21:59:58 GMT -5
I've heard of it happening, I believe some people think it has to do with Marshall farms forcing their ferrets into season all year 'round. Some of the admins, mentors and breeders on here would probably know more though. I believe I saw Heather post something about it before. |
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Post by gfountain on Jan 26, 2015 22:14:48 GMT -5
My little girl is backwards. I think bitbyter has a backwards girl also. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 22:16:16 GMT -5
He is a Marshall's ferret.
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Post by gfountain on Jan 26, 2015 23:03:54 GMT -5
When was he born? I believe the seasonal switching occurs most commonly in ferrets born during the winter. My little girl was born last February. She has a long, luxurious coat until November/early December. When the boys started putting on weight and gorgeous coats, she was busy taking hers off. Right now, the 3 guys are floofballs, and Minnie is tiny, sleek, and shiny! (And extremely hyper!)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 23:43:29 GMT -5
His B-day is march 10 according to the pet store.
Hadn't thought about the year-round birthing being an issue. It does make sense though, and yes he is very skinny and much more active when he is awake right now compared to how he is during the summer.
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Post by bitbyter on Jan 26, 2015 23:43:50 GMT -5
Yep, Wilma is backwards. She never really varies much weight wise between seasons but her coat does change. Thick coat in summer, thin coat in winter.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 23:53:52 GMT -5
Our female Moriarty doesn't change much between the seasons. Our boys on the other hand... Sherlock is packing on his winter weight right now and his coat is getting much thicker and softer. Watson is a porky lil guy throughout the warmer months here in AZ. Drags his belly everywhere he goes. Here is a pic of him over the spring/summer time frame from 2014 - i.imgur.com/tHhWymK.jpgHe is sleeping... licking his chops, probably dreaming about food at that moment. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 23:55:01 GMT -5
All this talk of flip-flopping seasons has me wondering if we jumped the gun too soon, and its just his seasonal flipping to his "summer" coat and weight, and this year he just has dry skin.
Will try the humidifier again every evening for the next few weeks and see if he seems to be doing any better with his scratching.
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Post by gfountain on Jan 27, 2015 1:22:32 GMT -5
Yep, Wilma is backwards. She never really varies much weight wise between seasons but her coat does change. Thick coat in summer, thin coat in winter. When is Wilma's birthday? |
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Post by gfountain on Jan 27, 2015 1:27:48 GMT -5
The scratching... Little Minnie scratched for weeks, incessantly, during and after her shed. I thought she was growing her winter coat because I could see dark hairs coming in, but as they came in, her undercoat fell out. I assume the reason for her itchiness was the new growth because the scratching has finally subsided.
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Post by raynebc on Jan 27, 2015 2:38:29 GMT -5
When I first started transitioning mine to raw, my boy ferret Copper was chunky and his sister Reska was skinny. At this point, those roles have reversed so it's hard for me to tell if they're going off a different calendar or if Reska simply likes the raw food much more than her brother.
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Post by bitbyter on Jan 27, 2015 8:00:00 GMT -5
gfountain I have no idea as she is a rescue. She was found on the streets and take in to FerretAid. I adopted her from there.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2015 8:19:00 GMT -5
Watson has been on a raw diet since day one with us as we brought him him home when he was very tiny.
I don't remember him scratching this much last year while he was going through his seasonal change but I may just have been more focused on his weight change at the time as it was his first time to be skinny since we first brought him home.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2015 8:55:06 GMT -5
Backwards here,too. Starting to put on more hair now that it is getting later in winter----spring is getting closer ---maybe? worse coat loss was first of winter it seems.
Annabelle has short hair and senior Abbey has a nice coat. Best coat i have ever seen abbey with---1st yr on raw too.
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