Ferrets are very active animals when they are healthy. They enjoy playing and moving around constantly when they are not sleeping. So when your pet ferret starts randomly losing its weight or hair, it will quickly become noticeable. Their bones and ribs become visible and their body shape starts looking weird as well. Their activity level may decrease. This can make any ferret owner panic and want to investigate what could be wrong with their ferret.
Your ferret can become skinny and lose its hair because of many reasons. It can happen due to bacterial disease, chronic colitis, Lyme disease, valley fever, scabies, and ringworm.
But sometimes things like age and seasons also affect the weight and hair of a ferret.
Therefore, if your ferret is skinny or losing hair, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is dealing with some medical condition.
It is normal for a ferret to shed hair in winters and get a thick, fluffy coating again in summers. It is part of their growth process. Similarly, ferrets’ body shape is different. They are not supposed to look thick or fat. If you can’t see their backbone or ribs, they are still in good condition. Don’t assume that they are losing hair or getting skinny. You can learn more about winter weight here.
Sometimes ferrets lose weight because they don’t get the right amount of protein. You just have to change their diet to make them gain weight again.
But there are still some common factors that make ferret go skinny and lose hair.
Let’s discuss them one-by-one.
Ringworm
Ringworm in ferrets is a fungal infection that affects the layers of their skin. When this disease is present in your ferret, you see patches where it started losing its hair. The patches are probably the biggest sign that even a novice can notice and comprehend that his ferret needs treatment. Apart from the patches, their skin gets reddened with scabby edges.
Keep in mind, if your ferret has ringworm, you can get this affection.
Since this disease can be spread by direct skin-to-skin contact. For that reason, stop petting or grooming your ferret if it has signs of ringworm.
For treatment, the vet uses a combination of topical therapy. He can recommend creams, ointments, and shampoos. Furthermore, he often compels you to get rid of those environmental contaminations that are causing ringworm disease in your ferret.
Chronic Colitis
Chronic Colitis is a digestive disease.
In this disease, the infection takes over the large intestine of the ferret and becomes thick. This makes it hard for a ferret body to absorb water or fluid. Some experts call it Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) or Gastrointestinal Disease. It is very common in ferrets. When they get it, they lose weight and become skinny because of diarrhea and dehydration.
Deaths from this disease have been reported, therefore, you have to take it seriously and contact the vet right away so that he can opt for a thorough examination and treat it quickly.
If it is identified in the early stages, a vet can treat it successfully particularly through long-term antimicrobial therapy.
Valley Fever
Fortunately, this isn’t very common in domestic ferrets.
Valley fever is mostly found in the wild ferrets as it is caused by the fungus that lives in the soil. It is not only for the ferrets, humans can contract this disease also by breathing in the fungal spores from the air. Ferrets don’t get extremely sick by this disease. Most of the time they get better on their own, but when they catch valley fever, they lose weight and get skinny.
It is pertinent to diagnose this disease as soon as possible even if it is rare and not as lethal as other diseases. Since you don’t get whether your ferret is healed or not. It gradually attacks all the insides of the body and affects all the organs.
Mostly, the vet treats the valley fever with antifungal medication.
Scabies
Ferrets usually get scabies when they come in contact with other infected animals. They don’t get scabies from humans because their scabies has a different strain which doesn’t reproduce on a human’s skin. So, you are safe if they are losing hair because of scabies – but your ferret is not.
This disease is also famous as ‘Mange’. It is often caused by a teeny mite that makes your ferret scratch his skin violently. The symptoms go far beyond the scratching. If you don’t treat this disease, your ferret gets redness and swelling on his feet. It becomes tough for him to play; he will be in serious discomfort all the time.
The swelling on a ferret’s feet due to scabies can damage his feet permanently also. That’s why call for urgent veterinary evaluation.
If you have a group of ferrets, all of them can contract this disease from a single infected ferret. Be careful to make sure this doesn’t happen and spread to your other ferrets, if it happens to one!
Bacterial Diseases
Any type of bacterial disease in ferrets can reduce their weight. Though bacterial diseases aren’t common in ferrets like viral infections, you still have to be extremely careful about them. If you won’t treat them on time, your ferret will keep on dropping weight and they can be killed as well. The bacterial diseases in ferrets are often caused by uncooked poultry meat.
To fatten up your ferret, first, contact the vet so that he can start the treatment process and kill all those bacteria that are causing harm to your ferret.
Next, you have to decrease the amount of exercise your ferrets get.
Your ferret’s calorie intake may be good, but the extreme amount of exercise and playfulness are making him skinny. For more information on some of the main types of ferret food, check out our food chart here.
Lyme Disease
This disease is very rare in ferrets, but you can’t rule out its presence.
Ticks in your ferret’s skin cause Lyme disease and make him lose hair. Your ferret doesn’t only lose hair, he also gets unusual lumps and bumps which are quite visible. You feel them clearly while moving your hands on their skin.
Lyme disease looks simple, however, if it is untreated for a long time, it leads to damage to the kidneys and nervous system.
The course of treatment for this disease is 2-4 weeks.
If your ferret is losing hair particularly in summer and has a loss of appetite also, there is a high chance he is struggling with Lyme disease.
Conclusion
If your ferret is losing its hair, you don’t necessarily need to panic, especially if it is an older pet. It may not be a very serious disease like some of the ones we listed here. But it’s a good idea to get it checked either way. Sometimes an illness can develop quickly if you spend too long waiting. If you were wondering why pet ferrets can be expensive, this is unfortunately just another one of those reasons.
For more information on the diseases associated with ferrets, refer to the CDC here.