Question by biteme13: Ferret with Brittle dry coat?
I’ve never seen this. My boyfriends parents ferret had adrenal and she had the swollen vulva, her hair loss started on the bottom of her back by her tail and went up and down. She was bald except her head until she passed on. My second youngest girl is now getting a dry brittle coat.
Its breaking off. She is going through her summer to fall molt and the others are doing the same. I keep up on their hair ball treatments, and having been out of work I had to put them on a cheaper brand of food. Her coat is breaking off near her ribs and on her belly. I called our vet and spoke to them on the phone and she said it doesn’t sound like adrenal. She’s active, playful, and eats. No lethargy, or any of that. She’s not balding near her tail and its just like the hair is breaking off.
I plan this weekend to start them on an expensive brand of food since I finally found work, and their litter will also be switched back to the yesterdays news. (I had to put them on aspen/paper mixture) because the youngest was raised on it and refused to use anything else. I’ve been slowly adding some of the yesterdays news into the box and its nearly full yesterdays to no aspen.
Has anyone else had a ferret with a brittle coat. Again the vet doesn’t think its adrenal…she said try switching their food slowly and using a free and clear detergent on their sheets when they’re washed.
Any advice would be great. I do know my ferret information/knowledge but its hard to find out a brittle coat issue. Most sites scream ADRENAL and then barely touch on other possibilities. Her skin looks to have dandruff. Its a bit dry and I’m wondering if thats what it might be. The vet said if it were skin parasites like mites or fleas my others and the cat would more than likely have them. I’ve checked them over and over….nothing. Our oldest lost quite a bit of hair suddenly and then grew in her coat. She was VERY sparse. The ferret with the brittle coat never did have that “supermodel” coat to begin with. My one has a very short thick coat, and the other two have very long plush coats. This little one with the brittle coat has always had a very “fine” coat from the day we got her. She’s never really gotten very full in winter and has always been a skinny minny.
Best answer:
Answer by C Lemmon
If it is not adrenal, it may that the cheaper food is causing her to possibly be malnourished. Ferrets should really have a minimum of 40% protein and 20% fat. I have seen some foods with as little as 8% fat and less than 20% protein. This kind of Tone Detox can slowly starve a ferret.
You probably already know this, but no fruits, grains, nut, peanut butter, milk, vegys…
I use Innova Evo ferret as one of my foods. It is 51% protein and 22% fat. They will eat less of a food like this and more of the cheaper brand so you really do not save anything.
i also know that Marshal’s ferret food, besides making them stink horribly, makes their skin itchy and dry and their fur dry and brittle.
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to call:
Cheryl
757-463-8942
ferretsanctuary1@aol.com
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