the older ferret: he may not be the energizer bunny

My ferrets have always come when I call them. So I guess I should not have been surprised when I challenged Buddy to follow me around the house and he did. Both ferrets have supervised out of cage time every evening for about an hour. Buddy, being the older ferret that he his, would mosey a short while then head back to the hammock. Knowing how important it is for him to keep moving, the two of us do several laps around the house together. My first few attempts were trying as I coaxed him to keep going; at every pass of the cage, he tried to sneak in. Now it is a routine — I walk and he follows... slowly. I’m just happy he will keep going and going and going...

the older ferret: prostate infection

Knowing Buddy is an older ferret, I keep a close eye on him in order to head off any poor health developments. Recently, I could hear that he was making a noise as he tried to use th litter box. It sounded like somewhere between a whimper and a squeal. My heart sank — he was clearly in pain. In between his many unsuccessful, uncomfortable attempts in the litter box, he did not seem to be in any discomfort and carried on doing all things ferret — eating, drinking, playing. These activities were frequently interrupted and it was back to the litter box. As hours passed, I considered everything from an intestinal blockage to his adrenal tumors getting the best of him. Come the next morning, he used the litter box just fine. However, future attempts continued with the whimpering. I made an appointment with the Vet the next day.

I was very glad I made the appointment — his health had taken a turn for the worse, but by knowing the facts I can take action to help him.

He has now developed lymphosarcoma. (It was probably there for sometime but he was not showing any symptoms.) In turn, lymphosarcoma was the reason his adrenal tumors were smaller during his last Vet visit. Since the lymphosarcoma is now advancing, it is now involving the adrenal tumors and the lymph nodes adjacent to the prostate. The cortical steroids (Prednisolone) that he has already been taking for some time now were effective in reducing the size of the adrenal tumors now compounded by lymphosarcoma. On top of this, due to his age, his prostate is enlarging and hardening. This enlarging is exacerbated with the fact that he has developed a mixed gram positive/gram negative infection.

Treatment is to continue on the steroids (Prednisolone) indefinitely to keep the adrenal problem under control. The progression of the adrenal problem should slow. In turn, it should also help to slow the progression of the lymphosarcoma.

Because the urine analysis read the prostate infection was both gram positive / gram negative, Clavamox antibiotic was chosen — 0.5ml orally twice a day.

With the antibiotic, we should be able to cure the prostate infection but all his other ailments are incurable. We are focusing on controlling the advancement of the adrenocortical disease and the lymphosarcoma. Both adrenocortical disease and lymphosarcoma are very common in ferrets and also brought on by age.