jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118 
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 9:57:46 GMT -5
Hello! I have a 1 and 1/2 year old female ferret and she's been having hair loss on her tail. I noticed blackheads so I thought, no biggie, right? Wrong. Last night I noticed that her fur seems pretty.. Thin. I'll be taking her to the vet soon anyway (most likely on Thursday this week, I've already requested an appointment) but I just wanted some input. Could this be adrenal? I haven't really noticed any behavioral changes but she has begun to lick me more, like on my arms and legs. I did, however, just have surgery so I'm not sure if it could be that. Any advice? If you think it is adrenal, how long do they normally live after the diagnosis?
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Post by Sherry on Jul 20, 2016 10:13:26 GMT -5
Extra grooming CAN be a sign of adrenal, but not necessarily. Pick her up and blow gently against the fur on her shoulders. You shouldn't be able to easily see skin. If you see thinning fur there, and/or hips, base of tail on the top then you are likely dealing with adrenal. Has she had a shed yet this year? If she was late with her shed it could be that also.
At this stage without the above clues it will be hard to tell. But either/or she can have a des implant as a preventative as well as to treat adrenal. As a preventative it is given once a year.
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 11:06:37 GMT -5
Her fur is very thin, and I can see her skin. It's less localized though, it's pretty widespread through her body. I don't actually think she had a coat shed yet. I didn't notice any change in her coat over the spring. She's always had pretty thin hair but this is still worrying. I just checked her skin and there's these weird scab looking things? I'll link a picture from imgur because I'm on my phone right now. m.imgur.com/7vu3Prm (The scab-like thing I'm talking about) m.imgur.com/6jSzBhg (How thin her fur is) |
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 11:29:28 GMT -5
You know what? Could be it be a Mass Cell tumor? I vaguely remember seeing a scab-like thing on her neck a long while ago, but it disappeared. At the time I just thought that maybe she got scratched on something.
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Post by Heather on Jul 20, 2016 13:03:42 GMT -5
The scab could be a MCT. One of the problems with silvers/DEWs is that they often don't carry a thick undercoat. As Sherry mentioned the DES will not harm her, so using it is a good option. I find the DES along with Melatonin often helps with the MCT's and itchies accompanied with adrenal. It's also a very good coat enhancer. If the coat comes back thick then you will know it's adrenal. If it doesn't then you can continue to use as a preventative annually
ciao
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 13:29:04 GMT -5
The scab could be a MCT. One of the problems with silvers/DEWs is that they often don't carry a thick undercoat. As Sherry mentioned the DES will not harm her, so using it is a good option. I find the DES along with Melatonin often helps with the MCT's and itchies accompanied with adrenal. Are MCTs often found with adrenal? I have a vet appointment for her tomorrow so I'll tell you how everything goes. I'm pretty worried now. |
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 13:35:56 GMT -5
Pick her up and blow gently against the fur on her shoulders. You shouldn't be able to easily see skin. If you see thinning fur there, and/or hips, base of tail on the top then you are likely dealing with adrenal. Like I said earlier, she does have these weird speckled-scab things on a few places on her body. (There's a picture linked to my other reply if you didn't see it.) I have an appointment for her tomorrow I scheduled around noon today. She doesn't have hairloss at the base of her tail. It started near the middle on the underside. I don't say it's gotten worse-but it's not getting better either. Today I noticed her fur was thin everywhere except for her head. I'm really worried. |
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Post by Heather on Jul 20, 2016 14:33:39 GMT -5
It's hard to say. This may sound weird but what does she smell like?
ciao
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 14:42:25 GMT -5
It's hard to say. This may sound weird but what does she smell like? ciao She smells like a normal ferret, scent is the same to my other ferret that I have. She's not acting weird or strange, either. I did just move houses though, do you think that might've done it? I checked her skin again and in a tiny place on her hip it appears there are some new hairs coming in, but it's only that one spot. |
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Post by Heather on Jul 20, 2016 19:28:36 GMT -5
Some people can smell adrenal ferrets. They smell similar to dirty gym socks. It's nothing.
ciao
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 20, 2016 20:02:43 GMT -5
Some people can smell adrenal ferrets. They smell similar to dirty gym socks. It's nothing. ciao Okay thank you so much! I knew about the scent change with adrenal ferrets. I'm sure when I take her to the vet tomorrow I'll find out what's going on (even if it's just stress) I'll post what I find here. Thanks again! |
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jerkk
Junior Member
Posts: 118
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Post by jerkk on Jul 21, 2016 10:49:47 GMT -5
Yep. Just what I was not hoping for. She was diagnosed with adrenal.  Hopefully we'll be getting the implants, I'm really pushing my vet for those. She's only a year and a half. Does anyone know how long she would have left to live? |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jul 21, 2016 11:03:48 GMT -5
jerkk, how did they go about diagnosing her?
What tests?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2016 11:19:16 GMT -5
I'm sorry your wee one is adrenal. I'm not sure on the time frame of how long they have after the diagnosis.
Do you have a black out sheet for your ferret enclosure? There's so many reasons why ferrets go adrenal, over exposure of light is thought to be one of the reasons.
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Post by crazylady on Jul 21, 2016 12:29:54 GMT -5
Hi Jerkk what did the vert say the lumps were ? could you do me a favor and dip a q tip in some warm water and roll it over and over a cluster of the lumps it may sound stupid but they looked a lot like sweat balls to me ! ferrets push out excessive amounts of hormone especially one who is 1 1/2 and having her first big breeding season ahead of her the hormone sticks to the base of hair follicles as it is expressed looking like gunky sweat balls they vary in color from yellow to dark brown if it is excess hormone you will see a little color on the q tip where you have swabbed fingers crossed this would also account for the thinner hair as she would be experiencing a massive coat shed on your pic it looked like she was loosing guard hairs not the undercoat this is normal during a big shed fingers crossed your vet got it wrong take care bye for now
Bev
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