Loss of mobility

Question
I made an emergency vet appointment yesterday for my 3 1/2 yr old ferret Forrest. When letting him out yesterday, I quickly realized that he was having difficulty walking. He seems to be dragging his back end around although he can still move his back paws. I thought he might have broken a leg, but the vet said it appeared as if he slipped a disk and gave him a short of steriods advising me if he wasn't better on Monday to bring him back. It has been over 24 hrs since he's shot. I don't see much improvement, but he does not appear to be in pain and the injury has not slowed him down or affected his eating habits. It is like he doesn't even notice. Is it possible he will gain full mobility?

Answer
Hello Farrah,

Poor guy!  It was great of you to bring him to your vet right away.  Hind limb weakness in ferrets is a serious condition.  

Did your vet check his blood glucose?  Hind limb weakness can often be attributed to insulinoma.  A normal bg level is around 100, and ferrets with insulinoma often slip dangerously below this.  If your vet has not run a bg, I would bring him back to have that tested.  It is a relatively cheap test and only takes a moment.  Knowing this will rule out insulinoma, which is a progressive condition.  

How was the slipped disk confirmed?  Did the doctor take x-rays? Slipped disks can be viewed through radiography, and sent to a radiologist for confirmation.  My concern is disk disease is usually VERY painful.  Does he seem in pain or uncomfortable?  Also, did your doctor proscribe muscle relaxants?  

Hind limb weakness can also be caused by underlying organ failure.  Kidney or liver disease builds up toxins in the body, causing the hind end to function abnormally.  The good news is by the time they get to this point, they are usually very depressed and lethargic due to the toxic levels in their blood.  If he is acting normally, this is most likely not the case.  Some blood work might be a good idea to rule this out.

Since there has been no improvement within the 24 hour period, I would have him seen ASAP.  Hind end weakness is unlikely to get better on its own and he needs more diagnostics to determine the cause.

-Cindy P.