please give advice for Sonny's friend Badnews Bear

[miamiferret2]

here is the story with Badnews Bear, sonny's friend on facebook. i know we have alot of expert ferrents on here and i am sure we will have good advice for his worried mommy:

Hello Everyone!

I have a situation in which I need some advice from experience ferret owners. I hope I can get some input from everyone if the behavior I'm about to list is normal or abnormal. I just want to add, I only have this bulleted so it doesn't run together haha
As some background, I am a ferret owner of seven. I recently adopted a barely two month year old ferret who wasn't even weaned. His name is Mimzy and he is an albino. I get the impression he is blind and although not deaf, is very vocal. When introduced to the crew, he was vocal and jumped at everyone playfully with open mouth which I think made everyone angry. However, Mimzy has simmered down around the others. Hes a very sweet little man.
I also have six additional kids. Mina who is five, Fiasco who is three, Peach & Badnews who will be three this year, Plum who is two and Pepper who is one. Peach is an alpha and is always rude to newcomers. She definitely has an attitude and has since I got her at 12 weeks. However, the remaining kids I listed are very docile.
Prior to the newcomer, my ferret Badnews had been very stressed out. The ferrets had the flu, had a course of antibiotics and then we had an outbreak of fleas which we have been treating. Badnews is very sensitive and I noticed a thinning of hair at the tip of the bottom side of his tail.
Badnews is normally WONDERFUL with newcomers. He was my second fuzzkid, so he has met his fair share of boys and girls. He normally is very gentle. We even adopted a ferret named Fiasco in January and he was wonderful with him. However, he was very rough and domineering with the little man. I have been keeping them seperated since and only allow little sniffs.
I also need to add that Badnews is very sensitve and very attached to me. He is incredibly empathetic and in tune with me. For instance, when I lost my Gram in January, he got stressed out as well. I'm not sure if he may feel threatened and establishing dominance. Pepper and Fiasco were bigger than him when he came into the house. Also, since everyone is so angry about the newcomer, Mimzy has been getting the most attention though I have been making sure to shower Badnews with a lot of attention.
I have noticed Badnews tail has looked a little worse since. I am now wondering if it could be an adrenal issue. He also has black heads on his tail so I'm not sure if it could be alopecia. His tail is FAR from rat tail but just thinner on about a third of the underside of the tail.
HOWEVER! It is not only Badnews who is being aggressive. Peach (as expected) is and so are Plum and Fiasco. Pepper and Mina are fine with him but the rest attack him any chance they can get. Peach, Fiasco and Badnews start shaking if they smell him on my clothes and they tense up. Could they just not like this ferret? Could Badnews be Adrenal? I am planning a vet visit but I wanted to get some input from experienced fuzzparents!
I'm going to include a picture of his tail. He was NEVER aggressive prior to this and he is my baby. I'm not sure if I'm overreacting and I don't want to start a course of Lupron prematurely. All in put is greatly appreciated
Thank you everyone!


¢¾ Steph

[Deleted]

RR for everyone. Adrenal could be an issue with the aggression. It is also springtime and everyone seems to be more rough this time of year.

[Heather]

I would look closely at the pattern of the hair loss vs the actual fact that he's loosing hair on the tail. His aggression plus the pattern described of hairloss over hips and down the tail would lead one to think adrenal he is the right age for this. His changed attitude also is an indicator. I would make use of either lupron or Des implant to see if there is some improvement in his behaviour. You can test using the Tennessee panel but I find the whole waiting for results and the cost is far easier dealt with by just using an implant. If he responds favourably to this then you know he's adrenal and needs to either have surgery (not something I advocate but this is up to the individual) or chemically. If he doesn't respond (with the Des it takes 3 or 4 weeks, the lupron you often have to go to the second dose to see positive effects though I've seen positive behavioural effects within the first dose and the first couple of weeks of the des) then you will have to go further in the testing. There is indeed something wrong. I'm going to think adrenal
ciao

[Sherry]

The hair loss, although it could be adrenal, could also just be the beginning of rat tail. On that one, I'd take a wait and see approach. I also second the rescue remedy.
With Mimzy, it's possible they are establishing dominance, or could also have decided their business is at it's maximum size.
Peach, being your alpha, would make that decision, and the ones she runs with the most would likely reinforce that fact. When they "attack", are they scruffing and dragging, or grabbing and shaking him rapidly? The first is dominance, the second is telling him to go away.
Since he's just a baby, I think I might keep him separate, and slowly introduce him to the calmer ones of your ferrets one by one to see if you can find him some companions. You can always reintroduce when he's a bit bigger.

[taratee]

both of my boys who usually have real bushy tails are loosing it on the bottom side like a baby does with its hair on the back of its head

[miamiferret2]

interesting. Taratee how old are they? can you take a picture of their tails?

[miamiferret2]

I just wanted to update you all on this story. Unfortunately, the tiny baby ferret, Mimzy, was found dead on Thursday. He was just about 3 months old. I wonder if there was something wrong with him that the others could sense and maybe that is why they responded this way. Anyway, it is very sad. I do mot have details. She wrote that she suspects maybe juvenile lymphoma but have any of you heard of JL striking a baby this young? I hope the little one rests in peace. We year so many stories here of illness and death in our older ferrets. But a sudden unexpected death is just awful. especially to a baby. It makes me so sad to hear stories like this. I get so angry when a young ferret dies. Anyway, rest in peace, little Mimzy.

[miamiferret2]

BTW, mimzy was the new ferret that was "stressing" the others. As far as I know, badnews bear was going in for a Melatonin implant and his mom was looking to buy some RR.

[fearless]

Oh wow that's such a scare... they don't know what caused his premature death? That would be a major red flag for me.

[Deleted]

Oh, Gods, no :'(I wish this was more anomalous, but I've heard of a higher incidence of mortality among kits --

DIP, little one

[miamiferret2]

He showed no signs of illness. Definitely no signs of JL. He was playing yesterday, eating and drinking. It sounds like a congenital defect. He was an albino. He was a loner the whole time he was with her bc the rest of the ferrets rejected him and attacked him. He had the top part of the cage to himself. She found him dead outside of his little bed. The poor girl feels terrible. She was already bonded with him.

[fearless]

That is terrible =[

[crazylady]

I am so sorry for the loss often ferrets can sense when something is seriously wrong ( mom's often dispatch young kits in the nest if they feel they wont make it to adult hood or they have a serious defect if this was a fur farm kit it would of been taken from mom before she had the chance ) as for the tail on the other boy what you are describing I see most years its a slight case of rats tail ( most ferrets loose fur from the underside of the tails during shed its more noticeable on lighter ferrets like albinos sandys and silver but it does happen to polecats /sables too ) often they don't do the full blown rats tail they simply blow the underside grow it back the upper part of the tail thins down a little but then comes back in once again I am so sorry for the loss of the kit take care bye for now
crazy lady

[Sherry]

Oh, that's horrible Such a tiny baby, and to lose him like that, with no warning.

[Heather]

I'm guessing that this little one was never given autopsy (I know only on humans ) I would be wanting to know. It sounds to me as though this little one has had problems from the beginning (total rejection by the business would indeed give an appearance of perhaps some anomaly). Being an albino isn't going to be the issue, but being blind might be a clue
ciao