bald spot followup question

Question
QUESTION: Thank you for taking my question.  We have had fuzzies for many years.  Always 2.  All but the first ones have been rescues.  We have had Max and Rocky for several years.  I believe Rocky to be 5 or 6.  We have always fed Shepards & Greenes food.  They both seen to be very healthy and playful,and have a 3 tiered large home. But when we let them run around tonight we noticed a bald spot on Rocky's back. He is his fat sassy self.  No other symptoms that might be associated with adrenal problems.  We live in southern Arizona and it has been very hot.  We keep the coolers on for them, but I was wondering if the bald spot could be caused by heat?  Are there any other reasons that a bald spot would suddenly appear?  Thank you

ANSWER: Hello Karen,

I'm so sorry to hear your little guy is having some trouble. Normally, bald spots mean adrenal disease and the balding usually starts at the base of the tail where it meets the body. Since that is the norm, I'm not quite sure if your little guy has adrenal disease. Have you noticed any behavior change at all? He hasn't gotten aggressive with you or his cagemate? Have you noticed any sexual behaviors at all because that is usually a sign of adrenal disease as well. Given that you are estimating his age as being on the older side, then it very well could be adrenal disease.

Adrenal disease is when a ferret develops a tumor on his or her adrenal glands. That tumor is usually cancerous, but it has a pretty low chance of spreading to the rest of the body in most cases, to my knowledge. Adrenal disease causes the ferret's body to overproduce sex hormones, which in males leads to a swollen prostate which is a big problem because if he has a swollen prostate, that means its hard for him to urinate and that urine can get backed up in his bladder and in extreme cases, that bladder can burst and that is, obviously, a very serious problem. Like I said, adrenal disease is usually characterized with balding starting at the base of the tail, but with this kind of situation, we don't want to take any chances!

Then again, it could be a seasonal coat change. There is no way to know for sure unless you get him in to see the vet as soon as you can. Talk to them about running some blood panels to check his hormone levels and all that stuff. Share your concerns about adrenal disease and your vet should know what to do! If (s)he doesn't, then you should probably find another vet in the area and if you need help with that, just let me know and we can find one together!

I hope this information helps you and again, I'm so sorry Rocky is having some trouble. Please let me know if there is anything else you need.

Also, just as a side note, ferrets are obligate carnivores, which means their bodies are only able to digest meat and nothing else. I am telling you this because the food you're feeding your kids, while probably not the absolute worse food out there, isn't the best either. A good ferret food won't have corn or corn based products in the first three to five ingredients. Here is a food chart that you may or may not already have:

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html

I would stay above a nine in the ranking of the food you feed your ferrets. If you need to switch food, this should be done gradually to avoid any stomach problems. You should start out with about 85% old food, 15% new food and feed that for about a week. Then, you should try about 25% new food, 75% old food for about a week and so on. You may see some looser poops than usual and this should be fine. That is just their tummies getting used to the change. Make sure they are staying hydrated by checking the scruff of their neck. If you scruff them, and the skin stays tented, then that is pretty severe dehydration that can only be helped by sub-Q fluids (delivered under the skin), so you don't want to let it get that far. Make sure your kids keep drinking water regularly. Also keep in mind that a ferret needs about 34-36% protein, 20-22% fat and no more than 3% fiber. Also, taurine should be in there somewhere for heart health!

Again, if you need anything else, please do not hesitate to ask!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have checked all the web sites that list vets in the Arizona area.  We live south of Tucson and the closest is in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert area.  About 200 miles north.  I can find no one in southern AZ.  Do you have any other information?  Thank you

Answer
Hi again, Karen,

I am sorry you're having trouble finding a vet! Here are some links that I have. Maybe you haven't looked through these websites. Unfortunately, if you can't find one that is nearer through these sites, you may have to go a bit out of the way, so let's really hope you find something through here!


VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

If there is anything else I can do, please let me know and keep me updated on how this turns out!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews