Ferrets Losing Weight - Hind Leg Weakness

Question
i have four ferrets, two i bought at a pet store and the other two i recieve from a guy at my dads work. the two i got were very bad off, with fleas and low weight. the male of the two wasnt able to walk on his back legs very well. both are happy and plump (for lask of better word since they're not fat) my other two though have lost some weight, enough to where im starting to worry. my male's, podo, coat has gotten shorter and alittle rougher but no hair loss. they are both active and happy, have good stool and eat, alot. i cant place why they would be losing weight and the other wouldn't. can you help me?

Answer
Hi Ryan:

Sorry to hear that your ferrets are losing weight.  I'm curious if you have all four in the same cage?  If so, maybe you *think* they are all eating when actually they aren't?  Just a possibility.

A ferret's coat is a good indication of their overall health.  If it has gotten shorter and rougher, that's not good (unless it's just a regular coat change, but I don't get that idea from you; plus new coats are usually very soft).  

The fact that they are active and happy - I would give very little weight to that because ferrets will *act* happy and healthy until they are so sick that they are falling over dead....that is so they don't look vulnerable to their predators - a built-in safeguard for them.  They have good stools and you say they are eating a lot, and if that's so, I can't figure out why they would be losing weight either.

Ferrets do NOT get worms, so this is something that will need to be checked over by your vet. They *can* get other parasites (that are NOT treatable with anything you can buy at the pet store), so again, I would highly recommend a visit to the vet; take a fresh stool sample if you can - with four ferrets it could be hard to know which poopie goes with which ferret!  IF you can watch them, or see one actually poop, immediately scoop it up into a plastic ziplock bag and write the ferret's name on it. You can hold the stool sample in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours and the vet can run tests on it for parasites.

If that seems too unpleasant to do :-) you can take the two ferrets that appear to be losing weight to the vet and have the vet take their temperatures rectally.....almost always, when the rectal thermometer is removed, the ferret with push down to try to push it out of their rectum  - and voila, you have your stool sample - just like magic! :-)

I am also concerned with the ferret who has weakness in his back legs. This  is often a sign of low blood sugar and sometimes you don't get a second chance to test them, so I would STRONGLY recommend you take that ferret to the vet also. Hopefully your vet is used to working with a lot of ferrets and will know how to check for low blood sugar - he will need to let the ferret go at least two hours without any food, THEN check his blood sugar level.  During that two hours, since he has had hind leg weakness before (VERY strongly indicates a blood sugar problem), the ferret needs to be watched very closely to be sure that he does not go into seizures from low blood sugar. This can be a life/death thing for ferrets, so it's really important that you follow thru on this little guy because there isn't much else, except serious injury that would cause his back legs to be weak; and IF it's low blood sugar, it would only be an off and on thing, but can be deadly at any time, so PLEASE do get him checked, okay?

I really think that a vet visit for the THREE (you might as well TAKE ALL FOUR just to be safe - that way they can get checked for parasites, etc and you'll know they are all a-ok :-)  

Best of luck - I wish it was something I could fix over the internet, but these little ones definitely need to have a vet visit.  If you don't know of a good ferret vet (not all vets are trained to work with "exotics"), write to me again with your city and state; and what the nearest large city to you is - and I will give you a list of ferret vets in  your area.

Stay in touch!

sincerely,
Jacquie Rodgers