From: smt2626@hertz.njit.edu (sylvia m tou mfen stnt)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: ferrets
Date: 12 Jan 93 17:30:55 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <C0pDAn.Mn1@news.udel.edu> graziano@ravel.udel.edu (Lisa Marie Graziano) writes:
>
>Sometimes there seems to be more general ferret knowledge in the newsgroup
>than at the vets, so...  My female Hava seems to be getting bony but the
>scale says she weighs the same.  Also, her fur has been getting _very_ thin
>over the past few months.  No big patches missing, but still lots of pink
>skin to be seen.  The vet says her coat is thin but 'normal'.  Well, she
>always had nice thick long fur.  Is it an age thing? She's 5 now.  We
>checked out the adrenal gland tumor possibility but that doesn't seem to
>be it (slthough, she did have some of the other symptoms).

My female ferret also suffered from a similar affliction but for her it
was a side effect of the medicine she was on for her insulinoma.  I personally
would try some other vet, preferably one who knows ferrets (even though
they are hard to come by)


>	And the other one- Cheerio.  He's acquired a _huge_ lump on his
>shoulder.  Been there for 6 weeks.  Its filled with clear plasma fluid, no
>infection whatsoever.  The vet said he banged himself and broke a small
>vessel, without breaking the skin.  But everytime he (the vet) drains it,
>it just comes back.  I can't beleive he keeps on banging himself in the
>same spot that hard.  Is a ferret more succeptable to such things than
>other animals?  I've banged myself pretty hard and never gotten such a
>lump! (2.5" diameter, 1.5" tall!!)  Cheerio's gotten tired of it and now
>scratches and I'm worried it'll open up and make a big mess.  It'd be a
>huge wound if it got infected.  Anyone else encounter this sort of thing? 
>Sorry for making such a big deal out of it, but I can't help worrying when
>my baby gets a bump half the size of his head.
>Lisa, Chavelah, and Cheerio
>
> 

Again my female ferret had this.  Her's was a hard lump on her back.
We had the vet check it out if it was a maligned tumor or otherwise.
Fortunately it was beniged (sp?) and we simply had it surgically removed.

One comment on vets: when our ferrets had insulinoma, the vet we at
that time went to had us spend hundreds of dollars (I am talking
triple digits here) to find out what was not wrong with them.  I was
able to make a better diagnosis (that they were suffering from
hypoglycemia, a side effect, result, whatever, of insulinoma just from
reading articles on common ferret aflictions my husband copied from some
vetinarian(sp?) journal on ferrets.  They may also mention the tumor Hava
has.  I will try to remember to check and if they mention it, send out a
copy.  If you are interested it the whole thing, send me your street
address and I will try to mail you a copy of what I have. (Warning: this
sucker is rather on the technical side)

Nancy Hartman could probably tell you more than I or recommend a 
possible alternative vet closer to you (the only ones I trust are in
Virginia and Florida).

		-- sylvia (owned by my last geriatric ferret, Felix)
Newsgroups: rec.pets