question

Question
I have a 7 year old male ferret that has been getting little mass cell tumors on his neck for 3 or 4 years now. They come and go. Now they are starting to appear on his whole body. They look like little bumps, he itches them and they bleed and scab over. They usually disappear after a few days. These new ones are all over his body and look like dry skin. Could these be caused by a certain disease or could blood tests help? Any thoughts?

Answer
Hi Becky:

The fact that they are appearing all over his body concerns me that maybe it's not mast cell tumors that are spreading.  Sometimes when ferets get adrenal disease, they get scabby, itchy skin.  The fact that he is scratching them (mast cell tumors don't itch) and appears to be itchy again points to adrenal disease.

Since your ferret is a male, especially, it is very important to get a full exam and make sure he doesn't have adrenal disease.  In male ferrets, adrenal disease causes the prostate gland to swell, which can pushing against the urethra and make it difficult to impossible for him to urinate.  If you see him standing in the litterbox and straining to pee or being unable to pass urine, you have a real emergency because the bladder can actually rupture.

For the above reasons, I sincerely think he needs to be examined by a vet who is experienced in ferrets.  If you have a good vet already, that's great. If you don't have a good, experienced ferret vet, write back to me with your city and state and I can check my resources and try to get some referrals for  you.  It's really important to have a good vet who sees ferrets regularly, so he will recognize the symptoms.

I could be wrong - but I am totally unaware of any  other thing that would describe the symptoms you are describing, Becky.  I hope you'll follow up - write me back if you need to - or just write me back and let me know what you find out, but I think it needs to be checked right away.

sincerely,
jacquie rodgers