Worried

Question
I have a ferret who is now 6 years of age. I have just noticed that he is losing his hair on his tail and has cuts all over him like he is picking at himself.. I am currently almost 9 months pregnant and think maybe I have ignored him to much and he is made?.. I am not sure if he is sick or just trying to get attention. He is eating, drinking and going to the washroom like normal. He is just sleeping a lot of floppy. Any advise on this situation and what I should do??

Answer
Hi Stephanie,

The main flag that goes up for me when I hear about a ferret that is around that age that has hair loss is adrenal disease. In adrenal disease, a tumor grows on the affected ferret's adrenal gland. The disease can be cured by removal of the tumor, if possible. A major symptom of adrenal gland disease is hair loss starting with the tail, usually. Another symptom that occurs in males is a swollen prostate gland. Has your little man been having trouble urinating lately? Has be been more aggressive than usual? These are all signs of a possible adrenal gland tumor. That, however, does not explain the scratches on his body.

Have you noticed him biting himself? Are there any other ferrets in the house? Have you noticed fleas or anything like that? That could be the cause. Has he gotten into anything dangerous, that you know of? Are you sure the area he plays in is absolutely ferret proofed?

I think you should take him in for a vet visit to check up on his health. Like I said, ferrets his age are in serious danger of coming down with adrenal gland disease, which needs to be caught in time.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews