My ferret has a smelly, tangled coat with bald spots. What can I do?

Thanks for reaching out about Loki and including photos. Could be a spider bite or other injury? Concerned that the black area is dead (necrotic) tissue. A veterinary visit is recommended, even though does not seem painful. Some spider bites contain toxins that can spread. Histiocytomas are other common dermal lesions but are usually very pruritic. Good luck.

It is important to find out why they are itching first before putting anything on them. They could be suffering from a mite infection, a fungal or a bacterial infection. All of these cause serious itch and each of these is treated differently. Please take your ferrets to your vet for an exam to determine why they are itching. Mites itch terribly, the skin gets scabby and fur gets lost. Mites are easily treated with avermectin injections. A fungal infection may need oral medications or antifungal shampoo or both and a bacterial infection is usually treated with oral antibiotics.

I am sorry to hear about your problems with Loki. I would be concerned the spot on the back of his neck could be an abscess from a bite or a bot-fly larvae. Hair loss around the face could be a sign of skin mites or ringworm. With all of these concerns, Lokie should be seen by the vet. If he is anxious, you can ask your vet if there is a sedative you can give Loki before his appointment. There are several different medications we can sometimes give cats your vet may prescribe, a common one is a drug called Gabapentin that can come in a capsule you sprinkle on their food the night before and morning of their appointment. Your vet can let you know if they think this is an option for Loki or if they have another recommendation. Best of luck to you and Loki!

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!

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.

Hello. A ferret that is pruritic ( itchy ) without signs of ectoparasites ( fleas, lice ) is adrenal gland disease until proven otherwise. It is not uncommon for very itchy ferrets to have no obvious signs of hair loss. Occasional, cutaneous mast cell tumors can be very pruritic. These are almost always benign in ferrets & removal is curative. I would encourage you to have your ferrets evaluated by a veterinarian & have some diagnostic tests done to find the underlying cause of the itching. Then appropriate treatment can be started. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

No, do not use coconut oil. He will lick it off and ingestion may cause pancreatitis. Not only that but it will be extremely messy and everything will stick to him. Not a good plan. He is scratching for a reason and rarely will they scratch so much from dry skin to make sores like that on their skin. If you are not treating him EVERY month for fleas then I would be doing that. It looks and sounds like a flea allergy. Even if you are not seeing fleas, I suspect they are there. Fleas usually will bite ferrets but not stay on them too long so you may not find them. Treating for fleas is easy and inexpensive so I suggest you try this plan. It is not going to hurt him and it may very well help. You can use Advantage II for small cats. https://www.1800petmeds.com/education/ferret-flea-control.htm Don't forget to treat his environment for fleas too! So, could it be dry skin.....sure, but I really doubt it. Like I said above it is really rare for the skin to be so dry that he would scratch that much unless you were feeding a very poor diet (which I don't think is the case) . His coat looks soft and shiny from the photo. So, be sure you are feeding a good diet (like Mazuri, Marshalls or Oxbow). And you can try this supplement for his coat if you want. https://www.petsupplies.com/item/8-in-1-ferretone-skin-and-coat-supplement/650101/ For the current sore - you can treat it with this. Just use a very thin layer 2-3 times per day until healed. Hope this helps. Best wishes.