ferret losing hair

Question
my ferret is 3, and has always had a healthy coat of white fur...recently he is losing most of his hair only on his tail...when i first got my other ferret this was the case, but now he has a healthy full furry tail...just curious if it is something serious, or if it will just come back like the other ferret.

Answer
Hi Kasey:

The thing we worry about when ferrets lose their fur is adrenal disease.  I have heard of ferrets losing fur on their tails, then re-growing it again without incident. This is *usually* when they have what appears to be blackheads on their tail and the tail gets really oily, sometimes even gets a an orange colored sticky discharge. This can just run its course and the fur can regrow, OR it may continue to affect the tail area, then the base of the tail and move its way up until it engulfs the entire body.  I've seen ferrets with nothing  more than about three little hairs coming out of the top of her head. It a very sad situation, especially when it IS very easily resolved with removal of the adrenal glands.

The best thing to do is to examine the tail very closely where the fur is missing and see if you can find blackheads. If you can, take a soft toothbrush and any facial scrub (like a teenager would use for acne) and gently work up a lather on the tail, rinse well and dry well. Do this daily for a week or two and the tail should stop looking and feeling greasy and the blackheads should disappear and fur begin to grow.  However, if the fur doesn't grow back, the ferret *probably* has adrenal tumors that will need to be removed surgically.

Adrenal tumors can be benign, especially if they are caught in the early stages, so it IS important to try to determine early on what you're dealing with and if surgery is going to be necessary, locate a good vet and get it done as soon as possible. Surgery costs vary widely and can run between $200-$100 depending on where you live. If you're lucky enough to live in a larger city with more than one vet who specializes in "exotics", you will probably be able to get a better price. If you live in a smaller community, sometimes it's even worthwhile to go out of town for a few days to get your ferret's surgery, stay overnight and let the vet examine the ferret 24 hrs after surgery, then return home and wait for the pathology report to find out if it was benign or not.

Here are some great websites with information about adrenal tumors:

ADRENAL DISEASE:
* http://www.petcarevabeach.com/adr.html
Adrenal FAQ from Ferret Central:  
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/med/adrenal.html

Since your ferret is young and healthy, he can most likely undergo surgery without incident. However, for older ferrets or ferrets who have other health problems, you may want to consider Lupron injections. Lupron is a hormone that is injected into the ferret and it causes the symptoms of adrenal tumors to cease. For a male ferret - adrenal disease can be very very serious because the adrenal glands can cause the prostate gland to swell and pinch off the urinary tract, which can be very serious, even fatal. So, the concern with male ferrets with adrenal disease is much greater. Female ferrets will show an enlarged vulva if adrenal disease is present.

If you can't determine easily that your ferret has a simple case of 'blackheads', you should definitely get him to a vet for an exam. The University of Tennessee has a panel of tests they can run that will tell you whether your ferret has adrenal disease or not, but the test is very inaccurate, so most vets opt to just go ahead and remove the adrenal glands if there are symptoms pointing to adrenal problems (swollen vulva in females; swollen prostate and difficulty urinating in males).  The majority of ferrets who get adrenal disease do get it between 2 and 3 years of age - which is good because they are young and healthy to withstand surgery and have many many more years with you.  

Here are some lists of ferret vets just in case you don't have one, and hope you will follow up if necessary. Adrenal disease is 100% curable, but the glands MUST BE REMOVED for the ferret to be cured - anything else (lupron) is just cosmetic or to help an elderly ferret have up to a year or so more of comfortable life that he wouldn't have had otherwise.

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/

Best of luck to you and your little one. I hope it's just a case of blackheads that will resolve with some cleaning of the tail. If it turns out to be adrenal disease, at least you have a nice young ferret who will have many more years of life with you after surgery. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your babe.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers