ferret gone skinny..

[Col_c88 41]

one of my hobs has gone really skinny.. when i went in this morning to feed them and give them water he didnt run out like normal so i looked in the bedding part and he was there.. obviously i just woke him up..

anyways i picked him up to check and he didnt budge a bit (all my ferrets.. they dont mind being picked up but they wriggle alot after about 20 seconds).. he just stayed still... he felt very skinny.. could feel and see his shoulders.. and his back end was very wobbely... i brought him in the house, he wasnt interested in any water.. so i mixed a tiny bit of milk with water.. he wasnt interested until he yawned and it touched his tounge.. he had a small drink then just lay on my leg.. which is really odd for my ferrets there usually hypo.

 

weird thing is on saturday i went in and he was fine.. i didnt go in yesterday though..

 

i rang my dad to ask how his ferrets were because he had his round the other day and he said there fine and it could be cold getting into him?

 

his box is full to the top with straw.. ive put an old t-shirt in there this morning too,

 

im got a rabbit clear out at a caravan park to do on friday .. i still have the other 3 ferrets but hes also my best worker.

 

any idvice on what i can do to pick him up or what could be wrong with him... I will check in on them again later today.... will be gutted if its worse case scenario cos' as i say, hes my best worker and was my first ever ferret

[Richie10 345]

Sounds like ADV, a virus which ferrets can catch and live with but if they go downhill then they lose weight and feel like a bag of bones, once one has it they all have.

Doesn't sound good.

[Col_c88 41]

Whats ADV and how do they get it? i havnt had them working in a while due to injoury (still!) a good couple of months.. (they do have the outside run).. i saw a rat in our garden for the first time ever about 2 weeks ago (when it snowed) if thats got something to do with it.... if so i will be sat there with the nutella on the path and the dog at the ready!

[Richie10 345]

It's a virus that came from mink farms, you can catch it at shows or meeting different ferrets, nothing to do with rats.

[Malt 379]

Try getting him on some meat with a high fat content (Minced up chicken portions with plenty of fat and skin) and feed him separately. The most important thing is to keep him warm and hydrated until you can get him to a vet. I lost a hob in similar circumstances a few years back, even after fast veterinary intervention. All it done was dragged it out for a few days. Whatever it was wasn't contagious, he lived in a court with 4 females and they were all fine. It's probably not what you want to hear, and maybe it's something different with your ferret, but if I ever had a ferret go downhill with the same symptoms again I wouldn't hesitate to have it PTS rather than drag out the inevitable..

[joe14 98]

None of us are vets. I would get him to the vet mate preferably one that knows abit about ferrets. As soon as possible aswell as they go down hill very fast, could be

something simple. I had one that went realy weak she looked like she was on deaths door, wasnt drinking or eating, turned out she had a bacterial

infection. Probiotics sorted it out and shes fine now.

[Col_c88 41]

yea Joe i understand that and dont want you all thinking im being stupid... anyone who knows me knows i look after me animals..you guys have sorted out alot of problems for me in the past and im going to hostpital about my foot very soon so thought i would ask here since the fast response usually... other wise i would be at the vet.

 

the thing thats confusing me is hes picked up a little bit in the past hour (not totally but had him in the run while cleaning out the hutch and he didnt just lay down.. he didnt bounce around either though) and is having a quick drink then going back to his bed. poo was fine.. not too much of it not runny not solid not white etc. etc. very odd.

 

hopefully he picks up by tomorrow since theres nothing i can do for it today .... vets tomorrow if not :S

[Jamie m 668]

How old is he col ??

[Col_c88 41]

hell be about 2 - 2.5 yr old.. had a castration (to stop the brothers fighting they both got it done).. hes fed chicken, mince, phesent when ive got it, pigeon, rabbit obviously, an egg every now and then.. and dry when im out of meat or its very hot.. dunno what else i can tell you

 

hes drinking a bit more and licking ferret paste off the bars now seems to of picked up a fair bit since i went in but im not gonna be positive just yet

[joe14 98]

Is he eating and drinking? If not you need to syringe water into him regular, or cat milk as they normally take that more willingly. (Dont use normal milk it will go streight through him)

[Col_c88 41]

yea hes started to drink out the bottle now and he was nibbeling some chicken and licking paste off the bars.

 

I've got to go to the hostpital now so i will have to check whenever i (if i do..) get home

 

I'll let you know

 

thanks guys

[Tallyho 181]

It could be canine distemper which ferrets can get, which i dont think it can be cured and it can be passed on to other ferrets , if it gets any worse the best thing would be to knock it on the head .

Hopefully it wont be as it aint nice to see them with it.

[joe14 98]

Grea idea ^^^, NOT. "knocking an animal on the head" when you're guesing whats wrong with it and could be easily fixed

Another example of the pricks who treat ferrets as "disposeable" pets. Dont deserve animals.

[Tallyho 181]

yeah what ever you cock put your dummy back in . :feck:

[Jamie m 668]

It's good to see all the trained thl vets giving a diagnosis and advice without seeing the animal in the flesh ,?????????