Ferret is losing his hair.. Adrenal Disease?

[HisNameIsHarley]

I didn't know if anyone here has ferrets let alone has dealt with this problem but I thought I would try. I'm afraid that Ferret is developing adrenal disease.. Only two days ago I didn't notice any hair loss problems but today during playtime I realized.. wow.. his tail hair is gone. Now, his mate Ewok is a year younger than Ferret (Ferret is about 2 years and Ewok is maybe a year old) and his hair is fine. Both have lost weight which is probably because they have their seasons mixed up. Typically, ferrets are supposed to gain weight in the winter and lose weight in the summer. But since during winter we jack up the heat and because during summer we pump up the a.c. they probably have their seasons confused. So because of that I haven't really worried to much about the weight loss. Now Ferrets weight loss is much greater than Ewoks and much more obvious. I know there's no real test for adrenal disease in ferrets but I think I can have a urinalysis on him to try and determine what's going on. The real issue is that I don't have the funds to spend on surgery or expensive treatment.. I feel guilty just saying that.. But it's reality.. Has anyone ever experienced this with their ferrets? I just need some advice if anyone can offer it.. Thanks.

[debbie4946]

first things first is it a m and f ferret you have as my man was a breeder and keeper of ferrets . if yes its coming in 2 breeding season and that could be the reason for this , and the male ferret always losses some pounds at this time , if you want y could put up some pics and tell me a bit more and ill pick his brains, as he was great with ferrets and always new what was going on , its could be worth a try ,, money isent always at hand when y need it so dont feel sad about it ,, will be ok

[HisNameIsHarley]

Both my ferrets are males and neutered. I would love to get more info. That would be wonderful

[Patti]

My girlfriend has Ferrets and has had many develop the Adrenal disease with the hair loss. Some have done ok. One had successful expensive surgery and one didn't make it through the surgery. It is a very hard decision to make as the surgery is expensive and not all pull through and most of hers have been close to 5 years old which is at the far end of their life expectancy. Maybe you can wait and see how he progresses. Good luck

[debbie4946]

Originally Posted by HisNameIsHarley

Both my ferrets are males and neutered. I would love to get more info. That would be wonderful

Hi my wife asked if I would take a Couple of minutes to answer your thread as you are quite worried about your ferret, firstly as I believe it your ferrets are quite young to develop Adrenal disease as normally it effects animals of at least 3 however there are many reasons a ferret loses hair from his tail particularly (hobs) males with adrenal disease the hair loss begins at the base off the tail working up to the tip this will usually be accompanied with flaky red inflamed skin and will cause your ferret to be irritable and itchy (but remember ferrets tend to scratch quite a bit anyway) it is also common for the infected animal to be lethargic and disinterested and finally even in a nuetered male there will be aggresive sexual behaviour i.e will be mounting everything aggressivley.
Some of the other reasons he could be losing hair would be the approach of breeding season (although he has been neutered its possible he is still going through the hormone change acompanied with the breeding season as some ferrets will continue for some months after nuetering. if he is also changing into his summer coat it is common for hair loss on the tail however this is normally accompanied with black dots on the skin, simply wash his tail using antibacterial soap daily until the black dots dissapear also i,ll bet he is fed on dry food ferrets are designed to kill and eat meat and it will be to his benefit to give him some raw meat i.e chicken, or better still rat if you can accquire it finally how rough are your ferrets playing as i,ve had ferrets who were bald on both the neck and the tail purely as a result of over rough play, anyway hope these ramblings are off some aid to you and i hope your wee guy gets his hair back on his tail soon if for no other reason but to put your mind at rest, if you have any further questions ask my missus and i,ll do my best to get back to you A.S.A.P i,ve kept and bred ferrets for 25 years but always as intact working animals fed on thier own natural diet of rabbit or rat and have always found they relish this food and fare well on it best of luck

[HisNameIsHarley]

Originally Posted by debbie4946

Hi my wife asked if I would take a Couple of minutes to answer your thread as you are quite worried about your ferret, firstly as I believe it your ferrets are quite young to develop Adrenal disease as normally it effects animals of at least 3 however there are many reasons a ferret loses hair from his tail particularly (hobs) males with adrenal disease the hair loss begins at the base off the tail working up to the tip this will usually be accompanied with flaky red inflamed skin and will cause your ferret to be irritable and itchy (but remember ferrets tend to scratch quite a bit anyway) it is also common for the infected animal to be lethargic and disinterested and finally even in a nuetered male there will be aggresive sexual behaviour i.e will be mounting everything aggressivley.
Some of the other reasons he could be losing hair would be the approach of breeding season (although he has been neutered its possible he is still going through the hormone change acompanied with the breeding season as some ferrets will continue for some months after nuetering. if he is also changing into his summer coat it is common for hair loss on the tail however this is normally accompanied with black dots on the skin, simply wash his tail using antibacterial soap daily until the black dots dissapear also i,ll bet he is fed on dry food ferrets are designed to kill and eat meat and it will be to his benefit to give him some raw meat i.e chicken, or better still rat if you can accquire it finally how rough are your ferrets playing as i,ve had ferrets who were bald on both the neck and the tail purely as a result of over rough play, anyway hope these ramblings are off some aid to you and i hope your wee guy gets his hair back on his tail soon if for no other reason but to put your mind at rest, if you have any further questions ask my missus and i,ll do my best to get back to you A.S.A.P i,ve kept and bred ferrets for 25 years but always as intact working animals fed on thier own natural diet of rabbit or rat and have always found they relish this food and fare well on it best of luck

Thanks so much for all the info. I have been told that I could try feeding them the live mice/rats but haven't had the guts to try it yet. I feed live mice to my snakes but am afraid that they would either get hurt by the mice or they would only play with them then I wouldn't know what to do with the dying mouse.

I also wanted to tell you that he does have the black spots all over his tail where the hair is falling out. Someone else on a ferret forum told me to wash it with face wash daily. So they're clogged pores I guess? I don't mind if he has a naked tail heck I wouldn't care if he was totally bald but I bet he would be really chilly! hehe I think I'm going to go ahead and take him to the vet next week if I can to have them run a urinalysis just to be sure things are ok. Thanks again for all your help!

[BamaFan121s]

I don't know anything about ferrets, but I hope that you get it figured out and I hope they are feeling better soon.