ferret illness

[andy mecca 5]

had too take two of my polecat jills to the vets last night vet had too PTS.went to feed them and found both of them shaking violently and unable to move when placed on the floor they could not lift themselves upand where just rolling around they where arching their heads towards there backs vet said it could be distemper or some other nuerological problem these two jills where from the same litter. there was a hob running with these two at the time but he is ok the five ferrets housed above there hutch are all in good fettle they are fed the same food so i have ruled out poisoning vet said too keep an eye on them if no other problems they will send one away to edinburgh university on monday to see if they can find out what it was just keep my fingers crossed the two jills were five year olds just wondering if anyone could shed any light on this or have had this before

[Kay 3,709]

Symptoms Of Distemper

When ferrets contract distemper, the first signs are loss of appetite, lethargy and depression. Fever, skin rash and a clear to pussy eye and nose discharge soon follow. The characteristic rash of distemper in ferrets is present on the chin and between the rear legs. Many ferrets develop a dry cough, which soon becomes a moist cough as secondary bacterial pneumonia develops. Their eyes and nose become caked with brownish crusts and scabs. After this respiratory phase of the disease, the distemper virus invades the ferret’s nervous system causing twisted neck, cross-eyed gaze, muscular twitching, convulsions and incoordination. Some ferrets develop brown tarry stools and diarrhea. In some, the skin of the foot pads thicken and harden.

 

I found this if its any use

[bill88 6]

Sounds like distemper to me mate,i lost 6 ferrets to the disease in the early 's.The ferrets were bouncing with health at 6pm on the tuesday,when i got in from work on the wednesday at 5pm,1 was already dead and the other 6 were as you described.Only had 1 survive,and that was treated with steroids.

[andy mecca 5]

thanks for those reply's read that same information from a book ive got this morning but they did'nt have any of those symptoms even in the vets there eyes were clear and shining just paralysed they were also still drinking water dont know what to make of it really

[Kay 3,709]

had too take two of my polecat jills to the vets last night vet had too PTS.went to feed them and found both of them shaking violently and unable to move when placed on the floor they could not lift themselves upand where just rolling around they where arching their heads towards there backs vet said it could be distemper or some other nuerological problem these two jills where from the same litter. there was a hob running with these two at the time but he is ok the five ferrets housed above there hutch are all in good fettle they are fed the same food so i have ruled out poisoning vet said too keep an eye on them if no other problems they will send one away to edinburgh university on monday to see if they can find out what it was just keep my fingers crossed the two jills were five year olds just wondering if anyone could shed any light on this or have had this before

 

would you say they were having a sort of fit

[andy mecca 5]

more like muscle twitches but they were responding to being stroked and focusing on you just unable to stand on their feet like they had lost all use of their muscles

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

And exactly what Were ye feeding them all, mate? Very precisely, please, for about the last week?

 

And how about their digestion / shit? Think back. Notice anything?

[andy mecca 5]

all fed on dry cat food biscuit no raw flesh given in the last week. the food is 15kilo sacks breederpack obtained from a livestock feed supplier i have used it for over 10 years with no problems all other ferrets are in pristine condition im about half way through a sack so its notlike its a bad batch or something ferrets are in a shed that is locked and my father was in the shed next door all day so no chance anyone got in to tamper with anything no change in there food consumption no excessive drinking just normal faeces are light to dark brown solid in formation nothing out of the ordinary you have an idea ditch?

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Sorry, mate. No. I just wanted to eliminate, as best I can, another possibillity. But it sounds, from what ye saying there, like it's eliminated.

 

I've really no idea what's happened there, mate