Why is my older ferret losing hair, stiff, wobbly, and losing weight?

Thanks for reaching out about Pepper and including photos. With the hair loss on the tail "rat tail", this is highly suspicious of an adrenal disease. A veterinary visit is recommended as soon as possible to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. These endocrine problems are very common in ferrets and only start as hair loss, but other internal changes are likely occurring. Treatments are possible. Good luck.

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach. I would be a bit worried about this. Hair loss in ferrets can be a sign of many different ailments but the most common is adrenal disease. The one with the rat tail may be seasonal hair loss but I cannot be 100% sure of that just by looking at a photo. In females, hair loss can be hormone related if not spayed. I suggest a vet visit so you can get some answers. If you don't already have a vet you use be sure to use one that is used to treating ferrets. I would suggest this one that I found in your area: ( http://www.islandexoticvet.com/ ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Sometimes ferrets will loose hair due to trauma or chewing in their tail. I would make sure that Freya does not have any skin mites or fleas which might cause her to be itchy. I would recommend taking her to the vet for a good physical exam. The vet can do a skin scrape to look for mites. If the scrape is negative allergies and endocrine disease like adrenal disease can also cause hair loss. Hope that helps. thanks for using pet coach

I am sorry to hear about Slider! I would recommend bringing him into the vet for examination with these symptoms. Though he is young we do worry about Adrenal gland disease in ferrets with hair loss and decreased appetite https://www.petcoach.co/article/adrenal-gland-disease/ . We can also have things like external parasites, allergies, and nutrition issues cause hair loss https://www.petcoach.co/article/causes-of-scratching-licking-in-ferrets/

Thanks for reaching out about Sally. Itchy skin can be due to fleas, bacterial or fungal dermatitis, adrenal or other endocrine problems and more. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Falling over and wobbly, could be a low blood sugar, possibly an insulinoma. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Naag. The best thing to do would be to see a veterinarian to diagnose the cause of weight loss. Dental disease, metabolic concerns (liver or renal function) intestinal problems (bacterial, parasitic) are just a few on the possibilities. Could it also be fur loss that is appearing as muscle or fat loss? Be wary of inducing weight gain, increases of fat should not be the concern. Good luck.

Hi there! It sounds very much like Odin's hair loss could be from a flea problem. Have the fleas been treated on your pet as well as in your home? While ferret's can very well have seasonal allergies, this is more unlikely than just a residual problem from fleas (going on the information you have supplied). The shoulder area redness, especially is probably from scratching since it is an easy place to reach. A heavy burden of fleas can cause weight loss as well as anemia and can become very serious for your pet. I hope this helps! Best to you and Odin!