Panda's Symptoms

[nephthyr]

So, I've been discussing with Tara and Kattrina about my sable ferret, Panda, for a while now. They both wanted me to post this on here along with the video I recorded to show Panda's behavior.

So, her symptoms are:

- loss of hair (though, I think this may be shedding)
- greying of hair
- general weakness
- slow
- lethargic
- extremely thin
- eye gunk build up
- sleeping regularly

We tossed around a few ideas such as an infection(on account of eye gunk), insulinoma, adrenal, and IBD. I said her poops were normal so Kattrina stated it probably isn't IBD then.

After looking up symptoms of insulinoma, I think it may be that, but I'm not really sure. Help would be appreciated. Regardless, she'll be seeing a vet. Will also be trying Tara's friend, Amy, who frequently treats ferrets and stuff.


I showed Panda to my mother and we instantly gave her duck soup(a high calorie blend for fattening up ferrets). She tried to blame me for not caring for her and not feeding her, but I said I'd been feeding her duck soup twice a day and she has access to kibble 24/7, as do all the other ferrets.

I tried to explain it could be insulinoma or adrenal and hair loss is often a symptom of adrenal. I also mentioned her hair is greying, so she could be old. We have no idea what her and her brother's(Sid) ages are. We adopted them as adults. She said greying hair and hair loss are symptoms of malnourishment, so I obviously wasn't feeding her enough.

I further stated that she used to be fine on kibble and maintained a healthy weight and then, one day, she just suddenly started dropping weight, so obviously something happened to her. Plus, if it was the kibble, then all the others would be in bad condition as well.

At first, she dropped weight. Put her on duck soup for 1 - 2 weeks, she fattened back up, took her off it, then she dropped the weight off in a week or two and is back in horrible condition. I'd say worse than before since she's now developed all these other symptoms. Weight was the only thing she had wrong previously.

Here's a video of her:



Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be wrong and what I could do to help, besides a vet visit?

Also, Tara suggested giving her a little karo syrup to see if she livens up a bit afterwards and that may tell if it's insulinoma or not, but she wasn't sure on that suggestion.

Edit: Additionally, Panda has always been a small ferret, but she hasn't always been this thin.

Edit 2: She has now seemed to developed bleeding from the urinary opening and the area seems to be swollen. I'm extremely concerned about this, I know that's a really bad sign. Help would be much appreciated, ASAP.

[Deleted]

Just a curiousity, does you duck soup have garlic as an ingredient? If so, I'd stop feeding it - garlic is toxic to ferrets.

It is spring time, so I would be expecting weight loss (that can be pretty dramatic) and shedding. I am thinking that your baby is roaning out a bit. My girl Trixie was a very light champange, and now has lots of silverish fur all over her. So I wouldn't base her age on her coat color. The age should be determined by her teeth. I'll have to find that thread....

How long has she been with you? Has she seen a vet recently? Honestly, with the eye build up, I'd take her in to get looked at. It could be an eye infection, or possibly pink eye. When there, I would have the vet age her teeth and that would give you a better idea.

[Deleted]

holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=talk&thread=62&page=1

Link to "Aging your ferret by their teeth"

[Deleted]

Just saw your edits - I'd get her to the vet today. If she does has insulinoma, she needs meds to help control that. I wouldn't use the syrup unless you have an emergency on your hands, so if you feel like she is seizing, etc, then use it.

As for bleeding, could she have injured herself on something? Maybe something sharp on the cage, litter box, etc and she rubbed herself on and got cut? I would say she needs to see a vet.

I'll be praying for you girl

[Sherry]

It is possible it's both adrenal and insulinoma. Not uncommon for them to go hand in hand. And you really shouldn't give karo unless she crashes, and then it MUST be followed up by a high protein meal, like chicken baby food, or the duck soup if there's a good bit of meat in there. Otherwise she'll crash again, and much harder because the karo spikes the blood sugar. Not a good thing to have happen in any event, and why it's only used in an emergency.
For now, I'd keep hand feeding her the soup, and get her into the vet ASAP.

[nephthyr]

Yeah, I was wondering if maybe the eye gunk could be pink eye or not, but I wasn't sure if ferrets could get pink eye.

My parents are at the gym right now, meaning they don't have their cellphones, so I'll tell them she needs to see a vet asap when they get back.

I found her in the closet, today, so I'm kinda glad she's adventuring a little... just at a slow pace.

And no, the duck soup doesn't have garlic.

[Sherry]

The eye gunk could be her eyes watering and drying. If she's having pain, that will happen.

[Heather]

I just watched the video....get that ferret to the vet NOW. That is insulinoma...your little one's blood sugar is so low that you're bordering seizures at the moment. That by the way, in my opinion is the scariest part of almost all the diseases I"ve treated for ferrets. There is nothing more traumatizing to a ferret owner than to have their little one in a full seizure and having to stand by or try and get hold of a vet and try and bring the little one out by using Karo. BY the way unless the ferret is in a seizure never give Karo.
As far as adrenal, I suppose...the symptoms are a possibility but one thing for sure, I would be almost positive that is insulinoma if not your little one is very sick
ciao

[xeopse]

#1 that ferret needs to see a vet ASAP. Like NOW. Your posts were yesterday so I hope you brought her whenever your parents got back.

#2 I don't know what you feed for food, but malnourishment is not the AMOUNT of food that you give, but rather the quality of food given. What kind of kibble are you feeding? Brand and name? Cat foods are pretty inadequate most of the time. Most of the commercial ferret kibbles are also inadequate with LOTS of sugars. There are few out there that some people use on this forum with great success though. So even though you were feeding plenty of food, it might not have been quality foods. It's kind of the same as eating nothing but junk food/soda and McDonald's/Burger King/Wendy's for all your meals - you're technically eating plenty of food but it's not quality so it makes you feel like utter crap and can give you lots of problems.

[maddy]

I hope that little baby made it to the vet... insulinoma is NOT something that you can put on hold. Minutes, even seconds count DRAMATICALLY. It is something horrible I unfortunately had to deal with and is almost ALWAYS going to be a guarantee at one point or another if you feed kibble.

[katt]

Any updates?

[Heather]

Has anyone heard anything?....she been on skype?? Her little one is very sick
ciao

[taratee]

she hasnt been on skype but she had said she had an appointment this morning i believe but i think katt convinced her the situation was serious enough to go last night, she also didnt know how fast ferrets health went south.

[shilohismygirl]

I hope Panda is OK, and I am glad that she scheduled a vet. If she's worried about expense, I think I gave you my vet Tartee. For each ferret visit, it was 35$ for the first and then 17$ for each subsequent exam; I don't think that was too bad. Plus, Fiddler's ear meds were very reasonable.

[taratee]

she took him to a family vet from what i understand, i dont know that he specialized in ferrets or knows anything about them. i gave her the information