Ferret, Bum hurts

Question
Hey, I bought two sister (We think, they are identical and have been kept together all of their life) ferrets at Cadbury Garden Petshop & Outdoor Leisure Centre at 5 months old, they might of been taken away from their mums at about 4 months we presume. I know Petshops arent the best place, but we did our research and nothing appeared to be wrong (No discharge in eyes, clean nose etc) and after their arrival about 2 weeks later, I noticed my fav ferret (lol) Honey had a swollen, infected anus. So we took her to the vets asap where they prescribed us with this pink fluidy stuff that they use to wash their hands there. But this irritated so they gave us anti biotics which went down well with a bit of kibble, it got better but she became inmune to the anti's. So they decided to give her anti biotics and flamatries of a stronger dose. It got better, but she was really in pain a few weeks after stopping it.
We went to a different vets this time the RSPCA and they gave us some even STRONGER ones and cream for her bum, is getting better but we are really annoyed. We think there wasnt as long of dose to completely clear the infection.
Apart from that, her sister Cinnamon is absolutely fine and a lil overweight and huge size more than her sis Honey.
Honey loves her food and weighs about 2.4kg already and is 7 months now, shes my favourite ferret because she is very playful and sweet, unlike Cinnamon who is a lazy boistrious girl.
I really cant stand it when she screams in pain when having med on her bum, and if there is anything better. I feel like I'm hurting her and shes like a little friend of mine.

the vet said she had never seen this in a ferret before and suggests her going into season too early, but she hasnt produced any blood yet.
Please help me and my little best friends :P

Answer
Hi Bea & Honey:

I hope by the time you get this reply the problem is all gone and Honey is all better. So sorry it took so long for me to get this question!  

It is imperative that she remain on antibiotics until the infection is completely gone, but the anus can also be "prolapsed", which happens when they feed ferrets who are too young dry kibble instead of wetting it down. This is something that would have happened long before they came to you - when they were 4 to 8 weeks old or so. Pet stores get in a hurry to wean the ferrets and toss them in to sell them and expect them to eat the same dry food in the cage that the adult ferrets eat.

The best treatment for a prolapsed anus is medication they use for hemorrhoids - we call it "Preparation H" here in the U.S. - not sure what it would be called in the U.K.  But hopefully you can find something similar and try that and see if it will help with the swelling. Apply it directlly to the reddened anus 4 or 5 times a day for a week or two and see if it doesn't get all better.

Best of luck - I hope it's already better, but if not, please try the hemorrhoid medication and see if that doesn't help.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers